Social Status

Jenny, Sonja and I went to Akatsi for the weekend: the place where the Volta River and the sea meet each other!

We went on a boat to the Rum Island. Once there the chief of that community told us about the Rum he was responsible for; how it was done and its benefits. Apparently it is believed that Rum can cure diseases: it’s the best of all medicine. It “cures” colds, stomach pains, headaches, and, the best of all, it gives the so called “man power”. As the “man power” was followed by some proud laughs we understood those are the words for sexual performance ahahah!

At a certain point I was asking the chief about his family and about his children. He said he had 6 kids: two living in the island with him and the rest living in Accra. That’s when I asked:

-          Are they working? What do they do?

-          Oh no! The girls got married – he proudly said – and the boys are working, yes.

That’s when I become conscious about the fact that social status might be very different from country to country. My question was based on my perception of social status and his answer based on his concept of social status, even though probably none of us was aware of that during the conversation.

The simple fact that I asked if they were working and what they were working on shows that for me - and probably for most of people in developed countries – that is what defines that person’s success; his/her social status is based on the kind of job he/she has even though that happened  unconsciously for me. As for the Ghanaian culture getting married is the best social status once can get. That was pretty obvious not only by his answer but also from his body language.

Now I understand why I keep on getting marriage proposals J

20/08/2012