Ghana; What I Learned About Life In Africa From Children, Animals & Pets

Saturday, 11 November 2023

By: TB Obwoge

I've often questioned humanity, my own mostly. How would it be different if I was born and raised in Africa. Even Asia or other parts of the world. But of course as 74% West African, as a person that lived in 2 African countries, I focus on how my being would be differed had my ancestors not been sold into slavery.

How would I look at the world, death, life, children, I love children and I'm a sucker for them even.

From my broad shoulders for a large (fat) woman, to my many tattoos covering 55% of my uncovered skin. Things that have followed me from every country, I’ve been to or through which has been fine.

Even with this DNA of 74% African, with a large portion from Nigeria & Cameroon (Also in West Africa) I’m robbed of my Blackness because I am not “dark enough” for them to give me that respect.

To escape the racism & hatred of America, only to land on the shores of a place that feels so much like home. Yet I’m also feeling un-welcomed & unwanted.

It breaks my heart, yet my physical differences it’s become a case of a totally different mentality & emotions too!

From Kenya, to Canada, London to South Korea breezing through horrifying searches and strip searched in Germany & Belgium of course I’m different!

Once watching children ride their bikes on an unpaved rocky road, next to a cliff with which was more than a 50-foot drop, I was scared, I said “be careful!” Kwabena laughed so hard at me, I was extremely nervous.

He thought that I was so funny, he then made these atypical comments about being an American. He said they’re used to this, they’ve been doing this all their lives. I saw his comment false, I can prove it but didn’t want to argue.

You and I know damn well that these children had not been riding bikes all their lives, they were from 3-years-old to, 12-years-old. The older ones, ferried the younger ones on their bikes, at times there were up to 3 children on one bike.

The thin, unpaved rocky road made their bike ride shaky, to say the least.

I often questioned my humanity, was I this way because I was an American? Living in Ghana, the first 4 months I stayed with a family, I write about what I learned about Africa in the way the family treated their pets.

Pets like this. Alfred kept rabbits, he loved the rabbits. He loved them so much I saw humanity in the way he cared for them. He had to find odd jobs and do everything to feed them and even repair and keep their cage. He built the cage, he had to keep a lock on it as well, unlike most homes and apartment buildings in Ghana they had no huge wall and gate. People could walk right up and touch their door without being stopped by a gate.

The rabbits had babies, however for some reason the babies all died. One day I went to pet one, it was in Alfred’s hand, it was shaking so I touched it. He was sad and I asked what was wrong, he simply said, “dead!”

After looking into his face I realized the rabbit was dead, it was Alfred’s hand that was shaking because he was upset. Soon they all died, he was sad for a while.

Others in the home laughed and mocked him for being sad over the rabbits, they made jokes about eating rabbit for dinner too. He would hit them. But this was common, people thought it was weird that I had kept a cat in the house. I was often asked where it used the toilet, I explained cat litter and cat litter boxes more than I would’ve ever imagined.

I spent over 2 months watching the treatment of house pets, this has shown me all I need to know about the treatment I’ve been receiving.

The treatment children in Africa receive is much of the same as the abuse, neglect and harsh discipline shown towards cats, dogs and various animals. Caning children in school is perfectly accetable and legal in many African countries. Kenyans went to social media once and decyed the fact that caning was outlawed.

There have been so many Kenyan children to die after being beaten by their teachers, it's recently happened in Ghana. People blamed the fact that the child had a prior fall, as if the beating was called for and didn't end the life of a human, of a child for Christs sake.

Shortly before I arrived there were five kittens born in the house I currently call home. One day I heard a lot of whining, when I went to check on it I was told, “Maybe they’re hungry!” I had no idea that they even existed, nestled away in an unused part of the home.

There was a mother cat with five kittens. I went out one day to slip my feet in the “Chaley wotes” (pronounced as Charlie Wa-tay) slang for flip flops. I noticed they were being used by the tiny residents as a play place.

Needless to say I took my journey to the toilet bare foot that day instead of disturbing their fun. I enjoyed playing with them from time to time, the tiny meows were a bit annoying but I definitely welcomed their presence.

I’m a cat person. I enjoyed every moment with them, as well as watching them try to accomplish new goals.

One day however I left the house for about nine days or so, when I returned I found out that they were gone all but one kitten remained. I asked about them, a child living in the house informed me that a man had asked momma for them. He wanted two, however his aunt suggested that her mother give him four out of the five.

I was confused & honestly angry as shit, like why not leave one to keep the last company? Or why not just give him all five? Or possibly give him the two he asked for leaving the other three in the house.

So there I watched over the next two weeks as this one remaining kitten searched for someone to play with. The kitten had its mother, which was feeding it, would regularly bathe it, as well as play with it.

That was not the same as having your age mates learning & exploring the house with. The two dogs of the house were always being hit or kicked within my ear range but only a few times had I caught this action taking place. Something which I would always speak on, if I could I would stop the act.

Once while seated outside with several children, two from whom I shared the home with, three were neighboring children.

I watched as one ‘small boy’ living in the home went to hit one of the dogs.

I stopped him, then stopped the dogs actions by simply yelling to the dog “Hey stop it!” Just like that the dogged looked at me, stopped what he was doing then walked away.

The children for some reason all put their hands together to applaud me. I asked why, they just said that was “amazing!”

When I asked how it was amazing they just replied well he stopped. I asked them how they called the dogs, they then opened their mouths to summand them, then I asked their names.

They used verbal commands for everything except to address negative behavior in the animals. After a month here I learned that they too (the children) were met with physical hits when they did negative (or normal things that annoyed an adult) things or actions. Instead of verbal commands or corrections, the fist or sticks were used on them.

It was no wonder why these animals were being physically abused when all along this was how the children were being raised as well. Even in school, children are caned by their teachers.

I was horribly abused as a child, my mom beat on us for fun, for punishment, for sport. My sister was not always a good child, I was most of the time yet it didn’t matter, good or bad we were beaten severely. I can’t get the sound and images of my sister’s some time swollen and bloody face out of my mind some days.

I’ve heard of this happening more than too often in Africa, in India and some other places. Would I have still been abused? Would I be untouched had I been born in Africa?

I know my education was free and that’s not the case in most African countries. I know I was never made to lay on a dirty floor in school because there were no desks, I know I was never forced to walk long distances either. I was not forced to shave my head because of an old colonial law for Black girls.

I've seen so many infants, babies with broken limbs while living in Ghana. When spending the night with a friend in Adenta, Accra, I would cry everyday the woman in the house next to him would beat her child, the child would stop breating from crying so hard. You could hear her fists hitting the baby, Ghana is such a lawless country, there is no one to tell, nothing would be done.

A group of Ghanians bullied me on social media claiming child abuse was a white persons made up term. That there was no such thing in Africa, they might be right for several countries the abuse of children means nothing.

I can hear many people making stupid comments about them just being animals, who cares about animals after all, right? These same people that were never taught that humans are animals, the same people that have no idea about that biological fact.

I wish all of those people to be reborn in their next lives as a pet that is treated poorly. Because after all we are all animals even humans. The way you treat life no matter what form it comes in shows a lot about whom you are and your humanity.

I’ve gone to bed many nights hungry, with pains in my stomach, head hurting from the lack of food. The same as with many of the house pets here, as they are only fed the scraps of what remains.I would feed the cats with what I had left over, surely we all could use the food.

After this incident, talking to the children I learned, they’re hit or scolded for asking questions. Parents claim children have no place questioning adults, even something as simple as “What’s this? Why is this like that?”

Everyone knows questioning is apart of life, learning and growing up but because many Africans think children have no rights to question they’re not allowed. Sadly often they’re physically beaten for doing so.

Just like talking to the animals was considered strange, or odd to those children, them having talks with their parents wasn’t common place. This is all from these children’s perspective as I don’t have African parents.

Over my time I started asking more questions about life for the children. It is sadly much like the animals, they’re property. Expected to do what they’re told nothing more. nothing less.

Also note children in many parts of the world have limited rights. In the United States of America child abuse laws are based off of laws that were first enacted for animals. Animals in the US had more “human” rights than American children. In current day school shootings are common place in American schools.

Both dogs were purposely killed after being attacked by a neighbor’s dog that was infected with rabies. They had never given it a rabies vaccine as many do in the United States. On this day Sunday 10th of January 2021 I cried harder than I’ve ever cried in my life.

Thank you for reading 🙏🏽 Please consider buying a coffee for Lacey's House efforts in Gender Equality & Children's Rights as it tries to move international.

©️TB Obwoge 2023 All Rights Reserved