An African Christmas

Christmas for many people, is most special as a child. Not all children, however are fortunate enough to have their year long wishes come true, but they hang on to hope nonetheless. My husband is from Accra, Ghana and his childhood Christmases were quite different from mine. Here is a description of a Ghanian Christmas celebration as written on www..santas.net/africanchristmas:

"In Ghana, on Africa's west coast, most churches herald the coming of Christmas by decorating the church and homes beginning with the first week in Advent, four weeks before Christmas. This season happens to coincide with the cocoa harvest, so it is a time of wealth. Everyone returns home from wherever they might be such as farms or mines.



On the eve of Christmas, children march up and down the streets singing Christmas Carols and shouting "Christ is coming, Christ is coming! He is near!" in their language. In the evening, people flock to churches which have been decorated with Christmas evergreens or palm trees massed with candles. Hymns are sung and Nativity plays are presented.

On Christmas Day, children and older people, representing the angels in the fields outside Bethlehem, go from house to house singing. Another church service is held where they dress in their native attire or Western costumes. Later on there is a feast of rice and yam paste called fufu with stew or okra soup, porridge and meats. Families eat together or with close neighbors, and presents are given."

Although the Christmas celebrations of my husband's childhood are quite different from mine, we celebrate with shared joy and eagerness all the same.