Bisa Aberwa Museum reaches out to children

The Bisa Aberwa Museum at Nkotum Mpo, Sekondi, in the Western Region, will bustle with the excitement of children at play on May 1, 2024, and every Saturday, as the outfit brings on the initial edition of its ‘Hen Mba Ye Hen Daama (Our Children Are Our Future)’ programme.

Established in 2019, the museum is where people from all over the world have visited and marvelled at the massive amount of historical African treasures on display. It celebrates the diversity of achievements of Africans and those in the diaspora.

The museum regards it as a duty to promote knowledge about our heritage and history to our children to help instil pride and connection among them. The ‘Hen Mba Ye Hen Daama’ (Our Children Are Our Future) weekly event aims to teach our children about the worth of the value systems they have been born into.  

The children will learn to play games like Ampe, Kwaakwaa, Tumatu, Aanto W’akyire, Oware and Alokoto. There will also be fun for them on swings, trampoline and slides as they take part in traditional dance and song competitions.

Traditional foods like Mpotompoto, Epitsi, Bolongo, Boodoo, Gari Foto,  Akyeke, Waakye, Tuo Zaafi, etc., as well as drinks like Sobolo, Zonkum, Ahe, Samia and Lamugin would be on sale at reasonable prices.

The programme starts at 10 a.m and closes at 6 p.m, with activities including a tour of the museum and a film show. “Our children are confronted by a barrage of information from different sources, most of which overlook or look down on aspects of our culture, such as indigenous games and dances and telling of Ananse stories,” says Kwaw Ansah, the museum’s founder.

“Our grandmothers who felt it was their responsibility to the community to pass on knowledge about the past have all been consigned to witch camps. We at Bisa Aberwa Museum believe it is time to reach out to our children about who they are and how to sustain their pride,” Kwaw Ansah added.