Cultural Partnerships
No matter one’s place in life, to engage with the people of Ho and the Volta Region will be life changing. Ghana Beyond Subsistence has a decades-long relationships with cultural producers who have the charge of maintaining and promoting Ghanaian culture. Our emphasis on cultural immersion makes it possible for travelers to learn about local life by engaging with the people who make Ghana a destination.
GBS Travelers will interact with and get to know Ghanaian scholars, traditional leaders, teachers, farmers, artists, and musicians. They will experience (and join in!) Ghanaian dance and drumming. They will learn important phrases in the Ewe Language, They will visit critical sites of history and natural beauty. But most importantly, every connection with people of Ghana—from village farmers to cab drivers to restaurant servers–can spark awareness and understanding in unexpected ways.
Cultural Preservation
Francis Yao Dzormeku
Asofo Afede, Royal Drummer of the Asogli State
Francis Yao Dzormeku's life centers around cultural preservation. He comes from a family of musicians and for more than thirty years has taught Èwè drum-dance to hundreds of children and youth. Moreover, traveling across Ghana, Francis has traced and preserved the drum-dances of dozens of other ethnic groups.
He serves as Asofo Afede, the Royal Drummer of the Asogli State, the Traditional Area centered in Ho, Volta Region. As a carpenter, Francis also fashions fantasy coffins to honor the last wishes and memories of deceased friends and neighbors.
Surviving the Famine of 1983
Togbe Samuel Kojo Acquency
Radio Announcer & Development Chief, Ho
Togbe Samuel Kojo Acquency, met with Ghana Beyond Subsistence travelers in 2017 to tell us about his experiences in Ghana's Famine of 1983. His detailed account showed us the difficulties faced by subsistence farmers. Near the end of our trip he arrived with a notebook he had painstakingly researched and compiled of the actual scavenged foodstuffs the sufferers ate.
Traditional Storytelling
Regina Darkey
Traditional Storyteller, Farmer
Madam Regina Darkey is a life-long resident of the Kpenoe Traditional Area, where she is a farmer, trained seamstress, and storyteller. Regina acquired her storytelling skills at an early age from one of her uncles who would gather the youth in the evenings to tell them stories as a means of education, and entertainment, and also to prevent them from succumbing to peer pressure.
Chieftaincy & Traditional Leadership
The Very Reverend Japhet Ledo
Retired Moderator of the
Evangelical Presbyterian Church
The Very Reverend Japhet Ledo, retired Moderator of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church, himself a royal and brother of a chief, explains that the Èwè people are open to change. Over the centuries, they have successfully blended the influences of the Western world and Christianity with traditional ways.
Education & Development
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Lydia Aku Adajawah
First Presbyter Executive of the E.P. Church of Ghana & E.P. University College Lecturer
Lydia Aku Adajawah is a lifelong teacher. When she was in kindergarten, Lydia Aku Adajawah’s teacher graded class tests, wrote the sole number one on her slate, and directed her to take the report home to her parents. Lydia noticed that her friends all had two numbers, and she started to cry. Her friends laughed, but her teacher reassured her that she was first in the class.