Dark Africa

                                                  Twins Capital of the World African Twins                "The best thing in life comes in pairs " Globally, the birth rate of twins differs by region and country. Europe boasts about 16 twins for every 1,000 childbirths and the United States about 33 for every 1,000 These statistics pale when compared to Africa where Scientists from Oxford and Radboud University found that Africa is home to the world’s highest rate of twin-births among regions in the developing world and the developed, with 45 sets of twins per 1000 births. By contrast, Latin America and Southeast Asia record fewer than 10 sets of twins per 1000 births. A research by British gynaecologist, Patrick Nylander, between 1972 and 1982, recorded an average of 45 sets of twins per 1000 live births in Igbo-ora a sle...

                  Love can be PAINFULL Love is Pain The pain tore through him like stepping on hot coal. He brazed himself through the pain as shouts of encouragement erupted from the crowd of villagers surrounding them. “My turn will come.” His mind told him to hold on. Another round of pain ran through his back but haven trained his mind to accept the brutality of the moment. Ali is a twenty-year-old young man belonging to the Fulani Tribe, the largest ethnic group in Africa. Nomadic pastoralist, the Fulanis, are spread across West Africa and the Central African Region of the Largest continent of the Black Race. They are major cattle rearers who drift with the seasons and the availability of forage for their animals. The Marriage custom among them is bizarre but a genuine test of manhood. Twice a year a celebration called the “ Sharo ” holds, and it is the passing rite into adulthood for the young men of the tribe. Suitors lined up to ask f...

                    The Mermaid from Africa Statue of a Maame Water in African Folkore Ghana is one of the countries that borders the coast of West Africa, with 18 million people and six dominant tribe ;The Akan, Ewe, Ga-Adangbe, Mole-Dagbani, Guan, Gurma.It is bounded on the bu Cote Voire or Ivory coast and Togo on the East. it is a prosperous nation by African standard. Formerly called ‘Gold Coast’ ;  a moniker signifying the prodigious amount of gold found in the country.  The Belief  In the coastal area of Ghana and among the Ga tribes, the water spirit or Maame Water is worshipped.The Mami Water is an aquatic deity venerated not only in Africa but in the continent of South America as well . Literatures and folklores say that this water deity may be androgynous. The worship of this water goddess by the people is important to their cultural belief, as her worshippers hold the conviction in her ability ...

                                                                The Royal Reed Dance As surprising as it may sound,the concept of dressing to send a message as being a part of the African Culture as a people long before the western world turn it into a fad.  The origin of the mini skirt has long lied in Africa amongst the Zulus whose maiden or unmarried spinsters are mandated to wear the “ isigcebhezana “ which signifies their ‘ singleness ‘. The rest of the body is left bare but the skirt usually made of Reed, animal skin and beads skin barely reaches the mid-thigh but yet covers the privates.  Engaged women wear hairnets to show their marital status to society  Married women cover the whole of their body in clothing and colourful headdresses as it is believe that they n...

                                    The Herald of Death A Picture of Kowee Kowéè  a specie of Starlin found all across Africa South of the Sahara is a beautiful bird . With over ten species and colours ranging from brown,to green and purple in some, it is a beautiful bird.  Traditionally known for its high pitch note when it sings, it is the harbinger or announcer of childbirth, house warming and death among the Yoruba traditional worshippers.  It is particularly known to be the precursor of death as it is widely held that if its sings seven times the same note, without changing it, a person must pass on before the morn . Read more of  Ancestral Worship If you see one singing near you, it is prudent to wait for it to change its note.  Maybe there is some form of truth in what the elders say.

Before technology became commonplace and electric powered blender, grinders and pounders the order of the day, the majority of African tribes had devised an ingenious way to blend and grind their various local staples. In came the mortal, a wooden cylindrical hewed-out timber . Africa, both the tropical rainforest and its many Savannahs, boast an abundance of trees , Iroko,Obeche,Mahogany e.t.c. These gigantic trees are usually the building block of a good mortar. Local carvers will purchase long and thick trunks of desired wood and then carve a cylindrical hole in it. It is then fired in a clay oven to dry the wood. The end result is a tall wooden bowl strong enough to withstand the pounding of the pestle and last some years.  The mortal, when not in use, is customarily placed face down, exposing a flat base which gives it an appearance of a stool. The temptation to sit on it when place like is always high and elderly women in the villages discourages the ...

                        Sacred Python of the East A Rock Python                                                                      @sharonmccutcheon Wild animals especially the reptilian kind are always avoided by humans. Crocodiles, turtles,lizards and skinks are just some of them. The snake however is another of the repilian group generally avioded by man. The good book blames it for man travails and it is not helped by its anatomy, lack  of visible arms and legs and offcourse it’s beady cold looks. That it is cold to touch makes it all the more distatedul to touch and feel. The Python one of the kind of snakes with no poison but packing some serious muscle is found on the African,Asia, Australia and the South African Continent. Some ...