Beads - The Enduring African Heritage

Ho, Sept. 13, GNA - Beads are important icons of the African. In many communities in Ghana for instance, this ornament is the first thing a new born baby wears and one of the last adornments used to bury the dead.

A bead could be said to be a small decorative object usually pierced for threading or stringing. Natural materials such as bone, coral, horn, ivory, animal shell, seeds and pearls could be used. Synthetic materials including glass, plastic and alloys are also used.

In most cultures in Ghana, it is a quintessential property bequeathed from one generation to the other, explaining the several traditional significances of beads that underpin the very indigenous identity of the African.

They are believed to give protection to babies against evil spirits, give good (coca-cola bottle) shape to girls and to help mothers to monitor babies' growth in weight and size.

Anyone can wear beads-the rich; the poor; the important; the unimportant and all others. The size, shape, arrangement and sometimes colour of beads mostly depict the mood of the person wearing it and indicate one's social status or achievement.

Beads can be worn any day on any part of the body - neck, wrist, waist, knee and ankles - and on occasions such as naming ceremonies; performance of puberty rites; funerals and traditional festivals in Ghana. Sometimes several strands are worn.

Women seem to have special interest in the wearing of beads and are encouraged by men. Some men take offence if their wives or girl friends do not wear waist beads.

A friend, Francis, said a woman without waists beads is "empty", saying it is worthless to woo a woman to bed only to realize that she has no beads around her waist.

Another friend, Mawuena, also known as "Molar" said he once lost erection after realizing that the woman he was about to have an affair with had no waist beads. "I nearly went mad. But you know another girl also nearly drove me crazy when she put on nine strands of beads, which were in Ghanaian national colours -red, gold and green. So you see waist beads could make men potent or impotent."

Beads such as "Bodom" in the Ashanti Region are believed to have fertility qualities.

Mr Ransford Kani, a Senior Officer at the National Board for Small Scale Industries (NBSSI) in the Volta Region said: "I love beads and will always encourage ladies to wear them…I'm happy our girls and even the elites are now wearing beads. No wonder we now see beads markets everywhere.

The love for beads apart from its traditional significance is due to its durability as compared to other jewellery.

However, until recently, only old women, preferably called old ladies were into beadwork in a subsistence manner in spite of its economic value. But now, many young girls are venturing into the sector making beadwork an industry to watch out for in few years to come.

It is gradually becoming the second "gold" for Ghana as the elites, Christians and Muslims alike want to be identified in beads at least every Friday in their "Friday wears".

The local and international demand for the product has led to the springing up of beadwork training centres and beads markets across the country including Cedis beads market, near Kpong; Koforidua beads market -the biggest beads market in West Africa; Agomanya beads market; Keta beads market; Kumasi beads market and Makola beads market in Accra.

There are also thousands of beads selling centres or sheds in all markets in the country with emerging training centres. Some individual itinerant sellers mostly from Niger also roam selling beads all over the country.

Reports from NBSSI indicate that beads-making is among the top handicrafts attracting unemployed girls/women in the country. Established training centres equip these girls with bead-making skills and employ them.

Others are also employed as retailers and agents for exports.

Mama Attratoh II, Queen of Ho-Dome, said beads-making is a cultural heritage and expressed joy that the emerging interest of the populace in beads and its business would take some girls off the streets.

At the last Volta Trade and Investment Fair in Ho, seven out of the 23 Small and Medium scale Enterprises (SMEs) exhibited various kinds of beads-local, exotic and blends.

Currently, almost every district in the Volta Region has a beadwork, batik, tie and dye training centre.

Madam Love Attah, Chief Executive Officer of Dits Wear, a Beads-making; Batik, Tie and Dye Training Centre at Sokode-Gborgame, near Ho, said " bead-making business is picking up very fast and overtaking carving and batik, tie and dye…,it is truly a viable venture and I'm already being driven crazy by the work. I have attended several national and international conferences and trade fairs because of beadwork".

She said few months after relocating to Sokode-Gborgame from Tema to do beadwork, she had already trained nine girls and was about to open an "African Shop" to enrol more trainees.

The challenge in this sector, however, is the usual lack of credit facility.

GNA investigations have revealed that the sector is still on the low key due to lack of credit. Many in the business complained that credits in the system were too costly for them. Others complained that some of the credit facilities have been politicised - "If you do not have a political party membership card, you cannot access those credits," some told GNA.

There is also the issue of some criteria being demanded before certain credits are given which many people in the business find difficult to meet.

The good news for people in the sector and for all SMEs in general, however, is that, the NBSSI has now been given the authority to access the Micro-finance and Small Loan Scheme (MASLOC) for onward lending to SMEs. This means that no criteria would be demanded and every business would be given the amount of money it needed and monitored by the NBSSI to pay back on time.

Hopefully, this would empower all SMEs, especially people in beadwork, to expand their businesses and entice girls, who remained hooked to using metal chains on their waists to appreciate the beauty and "powers" of beads. This will "deliver" them from health problems such as reactions and cancers associated with metal chains on the human body.

Beads are gifts from God and gifts are items which need to be taken good care of, used and passed on to other generations.

Ghanaians must, therefore, appreciate beads as special gifts, use them and pass them over to younger generations, for they give us the true African identity. So the next time you walk past a beads shop, buy some for yourself, your spouse and children and probably another one as a gift for someone you love.

This way, the African and Ghanaian culture would be preserved, jobs created and social vices reduced in society. Beads-wearing is indeed an enduring African Heritage that must be preserved.

A GNA Feature by Anthony Bells Kafui Kanyi