Philemon from Ghana

My name’s Philemon and I’m a final year undergraduate student at the University of Ghana. I live in Amasaman which is a small town just outside the capital of Ghana, Accra. I live here with my parents and three siblings, who are all younger than I am. I’m a Ghanaian. 

 

I support...

...Manchester United. My hometown is Kwehu-Obomeng, in the Eastern region of Ghana. Kwehu is also called the young Manchester due to its cold temperature and one of the city’s football clubs is called Okwehu United, but is also known as Assaase Aban. Maybe the United connection and the cold weather is why I am a Manchester United supporter! Kwehu is also famous because of the mountainous nature of the land which hosts paragliding in the spring every year. Kwehu is also famous in Ghana for growing food. Almost all the people who live there have a farm. 

The most famous football team in Ghana is...

...Accra Hearts of Oak. I didn't support them as a boy, though. The first team I supported as a boy was Okwehu United. However, growing up, I changed my team and supported Accra Hearts of Oak, probably because I lived in Accra and I remember going to the matches with my dad to watch Hearts matches. Okwehu are not doing very well at the moment but I hope they get back into the top tier League of Ghana soon.

I love to eat...

...fufu and groundnut soup. Fufu is a mixture of pounded cassava and plantain. And when it’s ready to be served the fufu looks like an island with the groundnut soup surrounding it. Due to busy schedules it’s mostly prepared by a lot of Ghanaians on Saturdays and Sundays. It’s a heavy meal so just a little bit really fills you up! Having said that, Ghana has a wide range of meals and you can find these different types of meals everywhere in Accra. These meals range from banku, kenkey, yam, plantain, gari, konkonte, Tuo zafi, palm nut soup, groundnut soup, palava sauce, and tomato sauce among other dishes. Foreign meals are becoming more and more popular in my country as more multinational organizations start to open. They are used a lot by Ghanaians maybe because they want to satisfy their curiosity. 

I love to go...

... to the beach and biking. I normally go jogging on the beach whenever I have the opportunity and sometimes on holidays I can have fun on the beach. I sometimes swim in the sea although I don’t really like how the government looks after most of our beaches. They are not very clean a lot of the time. Instead of going to the beach, I often take my bike and often ride for a long while and do some sightseeing.

I would love to be...

...Abedi Pele. He was my football hero when I was a boy. While I was growing up, I didn't really see Abedi Pele play at the stadium but I heard a lot about him and I did watch him play for Ghana. The National team are known as the Black Stars here. He was great in possession of the ball and an excellent goalscorer too. He happens to be the father of the Ayew brothers who both now play in the Premier League - Andre for West Ham and Jordan for Swansea City. This goes to show what a great footballer he was and that football must be in his genes, too!

My favourite football quote is...

What makes the difference between a great player and  a normal player is dedication, work and commitment.

Theirry Henry

Six things you might not know about Ghana!

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