Adwoa Badoe - Between Sisters

review by Ro 'Guru' Bennett on show 11th Nov 2010
I found this to be a relaxing, easy read. It would probably most appeal to girls in their mid teens but I also enjoyed it. I loved the cover which is a photo of a beautiful young Ghanaian girl set against a bright red background.
Adwoa (pronounced Ajoa) Badoe was born and raised in Ghana where she qualified and practised as a doctor. Since moving to Ontario in Canada she has published several other books including Ananse Stories and twelve books for children in Africa. She is an artist and popular speaker who performs her stories orally and with African dance.
The front cover: When sixteen year old Gloria Bampo fails thirteen out of fifteen subjects on her final exams, her future looks bleak indeed. There may be no escape now from her hard life in Accra where running water is a rarity.


Daa is unemployed, Maa is sick with a mysterious illness and Gloria’s older sister Effie is suddenly busy with boyfriends and her studies at catering school. All at once Gloria’s dreams of becoming a singer or a clothes designer - of being a Somebody - seem impossible.


So she doesn’t have much choice when Christine, a distant relative and medical doctor offers to take her north to Kumasi to cook, clean and look after her toddler son. In exchange, after two years, Christine will pay for Gloria to go to dressmaking school.


When she arrives in Kumasi, Gloria can’t believe her good luck. Christine lives in a modern apartment and she has fine things. Most of all, she is so nice that Gloria practically thinks of them as sisters.


But life in Kumasi brings temptations too. New clothes, new friends and new admirers, including the smooth-talking young doctor Kusi, who lives in a neighbouring apartment. And when disaster strikes, Gloria wonders whether Christine ever really thought of her as a sister at all.


Set in modern Ghana, this novel provides a fascinating glimpse into their culture. I found it to be a page turner because of the dramatic tension, for instance, Gloria is very gullible, innocent and naive and gets drawn into potentially harmful situations but is unaware of the dangers she is exposed to - such as a slimy trader encouraging her to buy expensive clothes on credit. She can barely read or write so doesn’t read or reply to the letters her sister sends her concerning her mother’s increasingly serious illness and pleas for help. The story also deals with subjects like the Aids epidemic and the fear and prejudice surrounding it. Finally, there is a Glossary which is very helpful.


Background Information
Ghana is a West African country bordered by Togoland in the east, Ivory Coast in the west and Burkina Faso in the north. The English named Ghana “The Gold Coast” four hundred years ago and the Portuguese called it “el Mina” (“The Mine”) because gold was plentiful and the Europeans traded items for the precious metal.
Ashanti The Ashanti lived deep in the rainforest area of Central Ghana and are one of the strongest and most traditional of the Akan people. This is due to their geographical location – the forest protects them from outside influence and modernisation, which brought change to other people living in more exposed and coastal areas.
Storytelling In Ghana, there is a storytelling art called ‘Anansesem’ by Akan speaking people. The term translates to mean ‘Ananse stories’, and is used for both the body of stories told and for the storytelling performance itself. Although this storytelling is usually a domestic activity (Sam was taught by his grandfather) there are in existence some specialist groups who have given it a full theatrical expression with established conventions.
In Anansesem, the musical segments are called “Mboguo”. Many of the Mboguo are part and parcel of the stories themselves and are performed in context, led by the Storyteller. However, it is a convention for Mboguo that other people contribute to the performance.
A typical storytelling session opens with a series of rousing songs. Directly afterwards, the storyteller begins to perform and from this point on, the program is serialised, and the narrative is broken up at various moments with different songs or chants.

Naming
In Akan culture, naming children involves a given first name (depending on the weekday when one is born) and an inherited second name (which often includes paternal and maternal names in one word). First names are as follows:
Male Kwadwo (pron. Kojo) Kwabena Kweku Yaw Kofi Kwame Kwesi
Female Adwowa (pron. Ajowa) Aba Ekuwa Yaa Efia Amma Akosua
Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday

Ro Bennett