Wild Wacky West Africa
West Africa is a region of Africa that includes the countries Benin, Liberia, Guinea, Nigeria, Uganda, Ghana, and other smaller countries. West Africa is generally poor, but it’s filled with optimism. West Africa has it uniqueness, but is also similar to other parts of Africa and the World.
West Africa is an amazing place filled with cultural experiences. The tribe of Bantu loves clothes and often wears them for ceremonial dinners. Bantu who have gone to the cities have worked in a variety of labor intensive occupations. Their resourcefulness and hard work is evident in the refugee camps as well, where the Bantu have been engaged in physical labor as well as agricultural work. The Bantu have also been described as humble and hospitable. This is very common to other parts of Africa, especially Northern Africa.
West African people mostly eat cereals, roots, tubers, and animal products. This is very common in Africa and people eat a lot of this in every continent. West Africa also has very famous traditions. Naturally, singing is very important to the West African society because the melody and rhythm follow the intonation of the song text. The songs are often sung in call-and-response form.
Music is a form of communication and it plays an important role in African society. Songs accompany marriage, birth, rites of passage, hunting and even political activities. Music is often used in different African cultures to ward off evil spirits and to pay respects to good spirits, the dead, and ancestors. Singing is also as important as dancing. African dancing refers mainly to the dance of Sub-Saharan Africa, and more appropriately African dances because of the many cultural differences in musical and movement styles. Dancing is closely connected to African music, as many African languages have no word to define music.
Food is an important aspect to many regions, but particularly to West Africa. African cuisine combines traditional fruits and vegetables as well as exotic game and fish from the oceans that surround the region. Africa is a whole continent, from arid desert to sub tropical wetlands, and plains. Rice and meat are very big because this is what they grow and what’s available to them as resources. This is nutritious but also cheap.
West Africa must eat what is readily available due to their low standard of living. West Africans live a very difficult lifestyle with little transportation and a lot of litter. The people are always working to just put food on the table, but people are always dancing and having hope for their daughters and sons. Farming and agriculture are very common, and almost 70% of the population is farming, but not working at industrial work. Style is very important to West Africans, just as America.
For example, a chief might wear a leopard skin and brightly colored feathers of the bishop bird on his headdress. His shield and spear are for protection and are part of the traditional gear worn by the chief. A girl just entering her teens dresses in traditional clothing of a beaded bodice and characteristic double-layered cloth. This type of clothing is normally worn on special occasions like weddings or celebrations. All of these dresses and cloaks are traditional and are very important to Western African people.
West Africa is very unique in some areas, but also is similar to other areas of Africa. The traditions, culture, food, and lifestyle are very special and the people of the region have a challenging place to live because it is a very poor area of the world. However, the people are hardworking and optimistic for their future.
