Washington DC Woman Crowned Queen of Ghana Village

Imagine getting a phone call out of the blue from a former lover asking you to become his queen. That’s exactly what happened to a Washington DC woman who was crowned queen of an African Village Friday.

Packer with African roots

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We’re looking for a West African country with Super Bowl bragging rights. That’s because one of the winners, Green Bay Packers’ safety Charlie Peprah has roots there. Download MP3

Meshack Asare and children’s books in Ghana

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Children’s books are huge in the United States and American children can see themselves reflected in those books, doing, well, just about everything. In the West African country of Ghana, children’s books that actually reflect African children are relatively new. The World’s Carol Hills has more. Download MP3
Slideshow: Illustrations from Meshack Asare’s children’s books

Remembering ‘Big Mama’ from Ghana

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Malkia Brantuo,a teacher from Detroit who moved to Ghana years ago, died earlier this week. The World’s Laura Lynch had met her last year while covering President Barack Obama’s Ghana trip. (Photo: Laura Lynch) Download MP3

Malkia Brantuo’s interview from last year

Ghana’s The Sweet Talks

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Today we give you the smoking sounds of The Sweet Talks, one of Ghana’s most successful and innovative groups from the 1960s and 70s. One of their seminal recordings, The Kusum Beat, has recently become available on CD. Good thing, the original edition on vinyl could put you in triple digit dollars on eBay. Plus, The Kusum Beat is just a super-groovy recording. Download MP3

• Audio: Listen to The Sweet Talks
• The Sweet Talks on Soundway Recordings
• The Sweet Talks biography by Jon Lusk
• The World’s Global Hit podcasts and more

Midwife of the Year

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Preparing for childbirth in rural Ghana, where clinics are scarce and ill-equipped, and roads are often pot-holed mud paths, is a frightening prospect. Mary Issaka should know. The midwife from northeast Ghana has received the Midwife of the Year award from the Johns Hopkins affiliated group Jhpiego because of the innovative ways she’s helped pregnant women. Download MP3

• Jhpiego

Between Ghana and Benin

For today’s Geo Quiz we’re looking for the country between Ghana and Benin in West Africa. One of this country’s most popular tourist attractions is the crumpled remains of an airplane…

Ghana concert for Haiti relief

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Reporter David Amanor reports on a musical fundraiser for Haiti relief in Ghana’s capital, Accra.

Ghanaian drummer Victor Dogah

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Back in June 2008, the BBC’s David Amanor introduced us to several musicians from the west African nation of Ghana. The men were attending an audition in the capital, Accra. They were vying for scholarships to the Berklee College of music in Boston. Berklee has long had contacts with musicians in Ghana. One of the percussionists we didn’t hear from that day was another extremely talented young drummer named Victor Dogah. Dogah ended up winning a scholarship to Berklee. Katy Clark caught up him with at Berklee. Download MP3

• BBC: Africa
• Berklee College of Music

Entire program – November 3, 2009

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Newly re-elected President Hamid Karzai is under increasing pressure to address corruption in Afghanistan, residents of Mexico’s most violent cities are seeking refuge across the border, and the story of Ghana’s first Winter Olympian.

Ghana’s first skier off to the Olympics

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Kwame Nkrumah-Acheampong was born in the Scottish city of Glasgow, but he grew up in Accra, Ghana. That never stopped him from dreaming of becoming a professional skier. He honed his skills on an artificial slope in Britain. And now, the “snow leopard” as he’s known will be Ghana’s one-man ski team next year at the Vancouver Winter Games. The World’s Alex Gallafent has the story. Download MP3(Audio available after 5PM Eastern)

• Video: The “Snow Leopard” in action
• Ghana Ski Team

Global impact of porn industry

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The idea of corporate responsibility is not exclusive to big global corporations. Some small business too affect the lives of others around the world. Tim Samuels found this out then he produced a series for BBC-TV about the impact of porn films in countries where those films are very successful.

40th anniversary of the internet

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It was 40 years ago this week that the technology that instantly makes porn from LA available in Ghana was invented. The internet was the brainchild of UCLA computer scientist Len Kleinrock.

Global Political Cartoons: July 11 – July 17, 2009

Cartoonists find humor — sometimes quite dark humor — in President Obama’s offer of hope on his visit to Ghana, Iceland’s interest in joining the European Union, the politics of fighting global warming, the 40th anniversary of the Moon landing, and the current obsession with facebook.

>>>Start the cartoon slideshow

A red, white and black river

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We’re following a red, white and black river for today’s Geo Quiz. We’re searching for a 900-mile-long river system that runs through western Africa…