What's my name?

Aside from being a song by Rihanna that is fairly well-played in Ghana, I recently had a conversation with a Ghanaian about the significance of a name – the thought that goes into naming a child and how a name influences a person's character and personality. Most Ghanaians have several names – all my work colleagues had names at work that were different to the names they kept at home or on facebook, and everyone's middle name is linked to the day of the week on which they were born. For example, I would be Afia. Friday born.

In my last week, I attended a naming ceremony for a baby girl, Megan. Megan's parents run a project in James Town, a shanty town on the beach in Accra, for street kids to get them back into school, providing uniforms and meals. Click here for more info.

Naming ceremonies take place very early in the morning. We woke up at the crack of dawn, but an unexpected rainstorm delayed events and instead of leaving the house at 6am, we ended up leaving at around 7.45am. Armed with macs and umbrellas, feeling slightly chilly, the damp, grey overcast morning felt almost like being at home!

The small room was packed with visitors and well-wishers, so we peered in through the window as the priest finished off the ceremony. Everyone wore white, a few snacks and drinks were given out, including corn wine (non-alcoholic) that smelled of sweetcorn but had a very acquired taste and sobolo – a hibiscus drink with ginger that I much prefer when mixed with sprite.

Everyone brought a gift. Clothes, nappies, other baby things, money. There was a ceremony to say thank you for each gift where a lady stood in the middle of the room, with gifts held on her head, singing a long song in Ga, at the end of which the other women chimed in to a chorus of saying 'thank you' in Ga. This continued for about 45 minutes as there were quite a few presents to get through!

Megan and Jay with me