I remember- The joys of being a child in Africa

I remember as a child, the many times myself and my siblings would walk about our neighbourhood exploring the different places we could find
I remember when the Muslims used to celebrate "idr-fetir", the festival after their fasting period.
It was always fun because we used to see the many different cattle and how big they were. Some with horns, others without and some so strong, it took more than 5 men to bring them down before they could be slaughtered for the festival
I remember the many different coloured outfits people would wear out just to display the festive spirit.
I remember the foods which were sent over by the Muslim friends which the whole family enjoyed .

I remember Easter, when we used to make palm nut soup and different decorative items with the palm branches
I remember when the church would walk around the neighbourhood singing songs of "hoseana, (Ashanti way of pronouncing hosanna" just to commemorate the entry of Christ into Jerusalem
I remember Christmas  It was a beautiful time to have chicken. Yes Chicken!!! and all the many meals which we could eat just because it was Christmas!
I remember 24th December, the night before the real day of Christmas  when music would be played so loud and Christmas lights would be displayed infront of our family house; many neighbours would walk past and some would stay just to enjoy the festive spirit
I remember when we were bought beautiful dresses and new underwear, socks, shoes and jewellery just to go to church on Sunday to celebrate Christmas
I remember when we used to go to the rubbish dump site to explore the surroundings. It was always a fun opportunity to find objects which we could play with on our return home
I remember when we used to make little soups and stews in empty cans of tomatoes which we could find in our little pretend kitchens
I remember when we used to play "mum, dad and family" with our cousins and sometimes one of us would get upset and decide not to play
I remember when my grand mother would buy us little mortars, pestles and ladles to make our own "fufu" and soup
I remember when she used to go to the farm and return a few days later with bananas, plantain and other food stuff.
I remember the plant she called "see koto" which we used to knock each other on the head with just for the fun of it
I remember when my cousin would intentionally drop his meat into our soup just so he could pick it up and scoop some of thesoup up whilst doing it
I remember when my auntie would leave some of her evening rice till morning and the first person to find it would have the right to eat it with the tasty tomato stew from the previous day
I remember when my aunt used to go on her trips and we had to clean up the house and set it in order before she arrived to avoid gettingtold off
I remember when my teeth used to hurt in the evenings because I had stuck tooth picks in the gaps to get out locked up food.
I remember the times I cried and my older sister would pick me up andgive me a "piggy back" just to calm me down
I remember when my sister, myself and my cousins would sing and drum on anything we could find just to make music
I remember the ants in Ghana which would bite us and leave bumps which itch so much so that we immediately developed hatred for them and wanted to squash them the moment we found the "culprit ant"
I remember the times when we were told scary stories of the Ghosts of people dying in one town and being found in another
I remember the Nigerian movies that used to scare us so much because of the "Juju" which was portrayed in them
I remember when life was so simple, beautiful and fun without costing money
I remember the good old days and now I thank God for bringing me up in Africa to enjoy the simplicity of life in my childhood.

By Trudie

What do you remember as a child?