AKVAMEDIA.COM

Prof Dr Jeff Akvama

A human is born a free individual with equal qualities, equal rights, equal opportunities, equal wisdom, and equal sense of right and wrong. They include but, are not carried out in accordance with established or prescribed rules of education, scientific researches, high academic status, and liberal fields and particular technical skills. We have a limited period during which an action, process, and condition exist and take place.

Prodigious, emotionally resilient and intense changes in society and the collapse of some of our valued principals have often produced a belief that poverty should be regarded as immoral and wrong in a tolerant way without criticizing it but, richness should be considered as good practice. Moral principles governing appropriate conduct of human beings should be honesty, open-mindedness, respect, and the hope that things will turn out well.

There is a great sense of adventure and pioneering enthusiasm among human beings. It is from our deep desire for life that we should pose to grasp the meaning of life of those who from years of unsuccessful attempts in life, and who wish to end their suffering, should know that we care about them.

Poor or rich, perfect or not, we have at least deepening knowledge of life because we endeavour to start life afresh.

For us to grasp the meaning of existing in this physical world from a sound judgment, we must look into the past for the foundation of the present. There are far too many disasters we must try to survive them by taking precautionary methods. You must listen to your instincts.

There are vast areas in which civilized initiatives, inventiveness, and creativities demand direction and control. We must not desist because the duties and activities to be accomplished are so vast and that the aid we offer would be a drop in the ocean. No, these little drops will make an Ocean. There should be meaningful achievements and should not be incorporated with profits and oppressions.

It is in the light of our meaningful doings that the generation that would come into control of life, the generation that will question the whole kit and caboodle, will make an attempt to shape the future and device ways of achieving a clever and honest world for the betterment of humanity.

Time changes and natural catastrophes have had devastating effects on human lives and economic growth but we must survive. The moods of people have changed. Security and livelihood of societies are damaged. Success of individual efforts to help can only be achieved by smartened understanding. Our vitality, ability, zest, affinity of the mind, spirit, and temperament can help to defeat grief and to achieve spiritual dimensions and a level of existence. The dead cannot be revived and financial problems incurred cannot be dealt with so quickly but as long as there is life there is hope. Our attempts to survive would be an achievement to be admired and respected as a proof of victory, liberation, vitality and passion and humanness.

Society’s mercy is in the hands of the Maker, a fight for achievement should accompany a search for a road that would make the future a living journey, undimmed by shadows of social and natural calamities. But first, we must make right decisions in our lives. Problems arise especially for many for whom it is all too easy to misinterpret life; thus, their selections, choices and interpretations are sometimes too demanding to accept and too problematic to agree to their decisions that seem right. However, we must endeavour because it may leave them with loneliness, frustrations and self-pity. Their impulses in life may vanish with their perception in destruction. We all live in a world in which determinations and selections, though shadowed by unpredictability, remain the only comparative means of existing. People learn to live.

Hopeful impressions of our conscious minds can be helpful towards these rejections. Some sections of people should not become inventors and others recipients. Conflicts should not lead people in darkness and devious paths. We should not act contagiously and destroy all that is good, healthy, peaceful and beautiful. Demoralization follows unemployment, unemployment follows poverty, poverty follows criminality and criminality affects all of us. People with acrimonious life, who turn anger to ferocious deeds, find no relief in themselves. They smile hypocritically and with unfailing discomforts because there is no quality of life in them to rebuild. To maintain intellectual equilibrium, people should search for availabilities and which make them stay alive. Others have tried successfully.

We do not have powerfulness; we must hope that relief will save us from the dinginess and cheerlessness of the stultifying and deadening conditions. We should not display signs of negative resignation due to hopelessness and despair. Society cannot maintain life and develop effectively if we give up.

If it happens, the whole meaning and purpose of life will fall to the mercy of accident. Society’s hope for the future is anchored upon self-dignity and knowledge which corresponds to our personal beliefs. Nobody holds life cheap. Sometimes, a structured community of people may be weakened. Some of us are mono-idealistic and dictatorial thus; the rest of the society hides themselves in solitude with grief, weariness, angst, depression and ambivalence and have no freedom of mind, spirit and inward peace. Human beings want peace and tranquillity.

Quality of life is a quality to be resurrected. In hypothesizing quality of life, it is complex and composed of multiple dimensions. It means different things to different people. We all want to lead a normal life others, in addition, have personal aims. Each of us wants to achieve security, position in life and to apply our intellect and physic to obtain our aims. There should be gender equality.

Human beings perspectives, feelings, beliefs, desire, conscious minds, values, life-satisfactions, happiness are, refined and dignified. These are the qualities of life human beings should adopt to achieve satisfaction. One may feel sad and downcast if one were to wake up one morning to hear that one’s next door neighbour, whom he had never hailed for many years, had died. Terrible!!!

To find some general truth in our misfortunes in life one must gain practical wisdom, constructive hope and changes upon which this impotent and powerless stigma and dishonour may swing into defeat.

Our minds must not be put in dismay. There are a lot of life’s minute pleasures to enjoy. The weak is always at the mercy of the rich. If only the sensitivity in us becomes aware of the condition, society will create new ideas and humanity in us will create understanding, harmony and peace instead of confusion and egotism which destroys spiritual lives and renders human beings powerless. Hopeful impressions of our conscious minds can be helpful to bring out our humanness.

KWAME, THE LAST SLAVE FROM WEST AFRICA

KWAME, THE LAST SLAVE FROM WEST AFRICA

History of pre-colonial period of Ghana and the slave trade is, not completely known in details due to lack of archaeological evidences and neglect of western historians. Storytelling is the conveying of events in words, images and sounds, often by improvisation or exaggeration, lacked amongst African ancestors. Stories are oral and there is no evidence of documents unlike the Dead Sea Scrolls. However, Accounts written by Europeans often tone down the tragedy.

The goal is to retrieve the slave trade from some historical neglects and the loss of memory, and reinstate it to its rightful place at the forefront of modern history and current issues.

This book is to honour the 54th anniversary of Ghana’s independence and the 400th anniversary of the Jamestown settlement in this same year. My aim is, geared to recognize and scrutinize the many issues and effects that the trade brought to the African World and black people, and to search for ways and means to make this information relevant and widely known in our generation. Books written by Africans on the subject are unprejudiced.

This book provides the reader with basic understanding of The Transatlantic Slave trade in especially Ghana, West Africa.  It provides the reader with the background of the nation Ghana, tribal wars and the role played by the chiefs and kings during the slave trade. It was European trade. As quoted by a freed slave from Ghana, “If there were no buyers there would be no sellers.” By, the same token “if there were no sellers there would be no buyers”. Whatever philosophy one formulates, the cries of agony, the putrid smell of feces, urine and vomit along with decaying corpses come alive in this book as they combine into a powerful force to hit every sense organ of the living.

The story is, based on oral narrations. The roots of antagonisms amongst various ethnic groups and lineages within Ghana and the impacts of the social disruptions created in the past due to the slave trade are, portrayed in the book.

The Africans enslaved adopted a new culture, Neoethosm based on their African heritage.  An arrangement where an individual is bought, and sold, by another individual for the purpose of compulsory labour is slavery.

The triangular trade barred Africans from developing their own although, Africa was rich in labour, wealth, natural resources and good weather conditions. There were abundance of money fetching crops such as cotton, rice, corn, hemp, sugar, tobacco and workforce consisting of people with physical and mental ability directed to work in West Africa, yet, Africans were brutally, shipped to other continents.

Thus, in the late 1700’s to early 1860’s    4,000,000 people were transported to the United States to be sold as slaves, the chiefs, and the kings, with their superciliousness, unaware of the suffering of their own people were happy to get rid of their enemies.  It was easier to get rid of strong enemies and be, salaried.

The enslaved were, kept in dungeons under terrible conditions before being, transported and passed through a horrifying Middle Passage during the Triangular Trade before winding up on plantations in the Americas.

In America, the   enslaved were material goods, not persons and were, treated as such. They were properties and any break of the slave owners’ laws was punishable by whippings, torture, imprisonment, or sold or killed.     Owning a slave was, seen as a symbol of wealth, supremacy and high prestige.  This kind of oddity has followed them the rest of their lives. Consequently, procuring a slave was getting rid of their inferiority complexes. Those who could not obtain a slave propounded a philosophy that although, they were poor, they were, not black, they were whites and their colour motivated them satisfaction in life.

Nonetheless, there were white slaves who endured the same punishment as the blacks as well as white children during the Industrial Revolution and in Australia and in America.

In this book, I have reviewed a short history of ancient empire of Ghana, settlements, wars, and animosities amongst the various tribes and amongst Africans in general.

Europe was economically and politically weak and could only trade around the Black and the Mediterranean Seas. Due to the political change in the Middle East, Europe had to look for somewhere else. That somewhere else, was Ghana and the West African societies. These countries are still not coming in terms with slavery and expansionism.

The slave trade had detrimental effect on long-term economic growth and development as well as political stability and psychological effects. West Africans were, sold on sale. The slave trade hampered the formation of larger ethnic groups and caused ethnic fractionalization. The young generations of the present inhabitants of modern Ghana are aware that there are overwhelming twists and turns in every human life irrespective of legacy, something that is, handed down from ancient Ghana, and which, has to be, fixed.  “Fragile local economy and societies are still, being severely harmed by the on-going trade.” The slave trade still exist in society. It has only taken another form.

As, Dr. David Livingstone quoted; the slave trade was, a joined venture by the world and has left Africans a scar- complex. Africans were, spread in millions into foreign countries and their descendants carried talents and communitarian ideals, rich cultural traditions and philosophies that transformed and enriched the cultures in the Americas. I have made efforts to encourage descendants of enslaved Africans to learn more about their history. Slavery is eradication of human stage, semantics, values, culture, development and humanity. The Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade begun from 1450 to 1874, 424 years, but slavery of Africans by Europeans and Americans was from 1450 to 1888, 438 years . It is still ongoing

Geoffrey Kofi Akuamoa (Jeff Akvama)

THE CAP-TRAGEDDY OF ERRORS-OF A SWISS FAMILY

THE CAP-TRAGEDY OF ERRORS OF A SWISS FAMILY

. Lynn and Brian are two young couples with two children, Jacob and Rita. They live in Appenzell, Switzerland. They are farmers but love skiing. The couple journey to ski. Their teenage children Jacob and Rita are, taken care of by their grandparent Wolfensberger. Lynn and Brian experience a horrible avalanche; a sudden huge rapacious avalanche engulfs them in Asia.  The couple is skiing when they are suddenly, bashed down on the snow. They submerge in snow.  Both of them tumble down the mountain, and are immediately, cemented by snow.

They are not wearing avalanche transceivers or shovels and probes. Enormous search for them proves of no avail. Their bodies are, never discovered. After many weeks of intensive search without results, they are, declared dead and probably eaten by wild beasts somewhere in Asia. Their children, Jacob and Rita have no idea about their parent`s tragedy. Months pass by and their parents never returned. They try to keep their spirits up and their memories alive. They are not expecting to lose their parents so early and consider their lost with intense sorrow takes them many years to conform.

Considerable number of years passed and Jacob and Rita mourn their lost. They finally realize that it is time to take control of themselves and live normal lives again. Their grandmother Wolfensberger takes care of them.

Rita completes her school and becomes a doctor. Jacob becomes a lawyer. Rita marries a doctor and turns the lemons into lemonade. From time to time, she thinks back, the beautiful years she had with the parents, the celebrations, the milking of the cows and the so many beautiful moments she had together with her parents, and how weird it was when they started to travel. Rita marries Dr. Dell and she is pregnant. She is emotionally afraid that she too will vanish like her parents one day. Her husband, Dr. Dell accidentally dies on the Swiss Alps.

However, Dr. Rita tries to make two ends meet. She is a doctor and works successfully. Jacob the lawyer is, promoted to ambassadorial post in China.

Many Years later Rita`s daughter Ruth is studies as a nurse. She is a beautiful young woman.

Jacob marries and has a son, Peter. Immediately after the avalanche some Mongolians, caught in the avalanche but survive, find two people covered with snow. They are unconscious but they help them to survive. The Mongolians carry them on their horses to their homeland. Two separate Mongolian families take care of them. The couple is, separated, each of them recovers but with loss of memories. Because the equestrians find a cap with the name Brian inscribed in it nearby, they assume that the man they rescue is Brian but indeed, he is Adler from Dusseldorf Germany.  Lynn`s name is properly inscribed in her coat. She recovers and feels herself a single woman; she does not recall the incident neither does she re call that she has been married.

Brian too feels himself a bachelor and does not remember anything about Lynn. None of them is able to remember ever to have known each other. Lynn is brought to Bulgan Province in Mongolia which is situated north, in the territory near a mountain forest with its borders with the Russian Federation.

South of the region is dry grassland and the north is green and has abundant forest. The ethnic groups comprise of the natives and Russians.

Lynn regains consciousness many months later and she is, incorporated into the Bulgan Society of Mongolia. The assumed Brian is, brought to Moron Province in Mongolia, a town with a well-developed system of transportation. The town is, situated in the mountain ranges with a lake and a large forest area, which extends to South Siberia. He too, is unconscious but regains consciousness and he is, incorporated in Mongolian Society.

Brian finds a woman in Mongolia and marries, gives birth to a son, Janco. Lynn also marries a Mongolian and gives birth to a daughter, Jelena. Years pass. Back home in Switzerland, Jacob has a son Peter and Rita has a daughter Ruth. They are now prominent and influential people.  The grandmother, Wolfensberger, builds their livestock farm into a famous Cheese Factory. Peter and Ruth are cousins and close friends.

The children and grandchildren inherit their parents and grandparents skiing abilities. They often go skiing.

Brian, who is actually Adler, is a hardworking man. In Mongolia, he travels to the Gobi desert and learns much about Buddhism where his interest lies and travels to Cambodia to see the magnificent Buddhist temples. He lives with his wife Bayarmaa and their son Janco in perfect peace.

Back to the region of the avalanche, the avalanche hits the real Brian, Lynn`s real husband. He is together with Lynn during the accident, however, the real Brian he is, thrown to the opposite side of the mountain. He is, rescued, by a Mongolian hunter and taken, to the northwest of Mongolia.  Brian is, wearing; a cap with his name inscribed in it but loses the cap at location.

He is also semi-conscious and recovers after hospitalization. The Mongolian equestrians mistake Adler for Brian because of Brian’s cap with his name inscribed in it, found near Adler, who is on the mountain at the same period, Brian and his wife Lynn are skiing and when the avalanche strikes them.  Adler is mistaken for Brian, but Adler lives his life as Brian for many years in Mongolia before his identity is, revealed. The real Brian`s identity is also revealed. After the revelation, Adler admits, he is Adler because of his identical twin brother from Germany who searches for him. After Adler’s identity is revealed, he and his twin brother Mader stay in Mongolia, and Adler becomes a Buddhist whilst, the real Brian, Lynn and her second husband Bold, travel to Switzerland to help the aging grandmother Wolfensberger with the Cheese Industry.

Lynn`s child Jelena stays with them in Switzerland. Adler`s son Janco, travels to his grandparents in Germany, Dusseldorf, Germany but returns to Switzerland and marries Jocelyn, the Swiss girl they meet in Mongolia. The Brian`s family and the Lynn`s family build a pleasant cozy residence in Appenzell, sponsored by Jacob and Rita, who travel often from China and the Philippines to holiday with them.

To the rest of their lives, they lived in a typical house  with great decorations on the facades that reminds people a lot of the gingerbread-houses of fairy tales in the so-called “Appenzell Land” a house one cannot find anywhere in Europe. Rita and Ruth leave their medical practice in Switzerland and continue their Women Human Rights mission in the Philippines but visit Lynn, Brian and Bold often in Switzerland. Jacob is in China but spends his holidays with his parents in Switzerland.  Peter, Jacobs son, who is an executive travels worldwide but lives with his wife in Zurich, Switzerland. The grandmother Wolfensberger is alive and well but she is up in age. Dorothy and Erick are, retired as florists; they live very near Brian, Lynn and Bold.

Jeff Akvama

TRIANGLE WITHIN A CIRCLE-THE GLOBE AND THE PEOPLE WHO LIVE IN IT

Like a Candle in the Darkness, the Past Can Illuminate the Future

 

Outskirts Press is pleased to bring you Triangle within a Circle, a new novel by Geoffrey Kofi Akuamoa that blends history and fantasy as it traces the adventures of a Portuguese family that settles on the West African coast in the fifteenth century.

Garriguesz, a poor sailor, convinces his sons Figo and Raul to sail with him from the city of Porto, in Portugal, to explore the unknown waters of the Atlantic. They experience firsthand many of the ocean’s deepest mysteries, encountering mermaids and sea creatures. Their journeys eventually bring them to the wealthy and exotic region of Edina, on the West Coast of Africa, to what is today modern Ghana. They choose to stay amongst the beautiful and good-hearted people.

Garriguesz and his sons experience the riches of life in Africa, and learn about the origins of the people, their languages, and t lifestyles, ever fascinated by the differences in customs, flora and fauna from their native land.

“The aim of the book is to provide an account of a little-understood region of the world, West Africa and Africa in general,” says Akuamoa. “The past defines our lives and brings meaning–the configuration of people on planet Earth did not take shape overnight, but passed through meaningful transformations.”

While Triangle within a Circle is a work of fiction, the historical events that make up the backdrop are real. For Akuamoa, the circle symbolizes the globe and the triangle symbolizes the people who live within it. Through the story of Garriguesz and his descendants, Akuamoa is able to show how encounters between people of the “old” world and the “new” bring about new ideas and change the course of human evolution. “Triangle affectionately recreates and captures the brightness of the region, the rise and fall of kingdoms, the decline of empires; mysticism, the supernatural, and superstition are all interwoven with wisdom,” says Akuamoa.

Triangle within a Circle traces the family through the centuries, ending in the 1950s, with the Independence of Ghana and the immediate aftermath. It is a stunning tale of beauty, one that urges its readers to look for some center of deepening knowledge and meaning in life, to discover the role each individual on earth is, meant to play.

About the Author: Geoffrey Kofi Akuamoa (Jeff Akvama) was born in Ghana and raised in Europe. He studied at the College of Science and Technology, Birmingham, United Kingdom; the University Medical School at Zurich, Switzerland; the Medical University of Kiel, Germany; the Medical University of Copenhagen, Denmark; and the Medical University of Oslo, Norway. He was, appointed; Professor in Education and Academic Affairs, Colombo and has, lectured a great deal. He is a general, medicine specialist and, has, received, many awards from the International Biographical Association as well as the American Biographical Institute. While he has written for numerous scientific publications, this is his first book.

Chapter 1.  Anno Domini 1436

On the Atlantic Ocean, in a small ship from Porto, Portugal Garriguesz and his two young sons, Raul and Figo sail towards the Gulf of Guinea in West Africa. They entertain no fear because Garriguesz is an experienced sailor. However, Raul, who is eighteen, is uncomfortable because he is aware of some Portuguese sailors who perish in the sea. To comfort his son, Garriguesz narrated some prominent and famous people in Portugal who have conquered some tribes in North Africa. He ensured his sons that he knows what he is doing. The sons put up courage and they are aware that they are creating a new and dynamic condition that will allow other young generations to follow and explore the world. Thus, with their religious beliefs, they sail on and Figo helps his father to navigate. They are prepared for the venture; they spend ten days to sail to the Canary Islands from Portugal. Here, they spend one week to recharge their energy. They experience the cold weather and observe how the tides behave. However, they sail on.

They encounter strange things. Fog piles up and over the ocean hangs a blackness that is deeper than cloud and the ship humps over some sort of mountainous floors d trenches which leaves Raul, the youngest, trembling through his body, which is being swallowed up in a countless sickening panic. He sees a woman in the middle of the ocean. His father, Garriguesz, who knows about them, discribes them to his son and the experience he had gained from them.  They have many strange encounters but under the father`s guidance, they finally reach the west coast of Africa. It was night and darkness lies thick on them. The next day they observe how, beautiful the region is, tranquil and the freshness of the air make them forget the perils they have experienced. They see the natives from afar, in the midst of gigantic trees. They wave to them and befriend them without any problem. Some of the strong natives help them. To the Garriguesz, the atmosphere is a paradise for everyman with a lively imagination and hankering for a new life.

They mount a tent and later build a home. They befriend the chiefs and the natives by using body language.  They visit Edina (El Mina). Garriguesz and his sons are the first Europeans to visit West Africa and as such, they are the contact point between the region and the western world. They are, energized, fulfilled and the bewitchment is to them too good to be true.

They survive on fruits, cereals, sorghum, rice, beans and other local foodstuffs. They are palm wine drinks, millet wine, maize and ginger wines. Vegetables are plentiful, such as pepper, onions, tomatoes, African spinach and many others. Dried and smoked fish are in abundance, snails, oysters, crabs and other shellfish are present. Tall kinds of fruits are plentiful such as oranges and mangoes. The family learns about the origin of yams, cassava, maize, and so on. They are flabbergasted about their slenderness, skin texture and their whitening teeth, which, Garriguesz family think, is due to their food culture and the sunrays.

Chapter 2

Garriguesz and his family have been in the region for three months. The father narrates about Portuguese history and narrates his experiences to his children and continues that they the first Europeans to settle in the region.

Fossils the father finds indicates that people have already entered the area around the 10^th century AD. He narrates a whole deal of African and European history He also has archeological experience. The family learn the language of the natives in Elmina, which is Akan because it is well established and widely spoken. They learn about the origin of the languages in the country. The family befriends the king of the region and they develop good relations between them.

In January 1437, walking on the beach, Raul, the youngest brother sees a native girl and falls for her. The girl greets Raul with a smile in the native language. Raul is mesmerized and hypnotized by her beauty. The father invites the girl home to them. The two young fellows start   romantic affair. The girl is Naana. To Raul, the native girl is his dream girl.

They live with the natives and Raul sails around the area to look for shells, unfamiliar stones, and artifacts to keep his mind off Naana because he has not seen his girlfriend for more than two weeks. Garriguesz comforts his son by citing some historical events and by advising him that thoughts are dangerous weapons and can be destructive, and if it does not destroy, it dies away. If it dies away, one may, be faced with desolation in knowing that one has wasted years of his life on nothing.

The family learns the rivers in the region and some historical events and attend some festivals and they feel blessed to be, invited by the chief in the region because they learn a lot about the region.

Chapter 3 Exploring rest of the kingdom of Ghana

March 1437. They have befriended the chief. They gather to learn more about the region and the vegetation. They explore rest of the country. Raul experiences a serious attack of malaria.  Herbalist, whose knowledge about herbal medicine is equal to none, helps Raul to survive.

The family encounters something strange at a specific area. They step on some skeletal remains, a related ancestry of a male, female and a child. The findings suggest Stone Age Sapiens and some fearful jungles. They also observe some strange behavioral patterns of some strange monkeys and birds, on their attempt to explore other parts of the country, Mankessim and Ayawaso (Accra). In each of the villages they visit, they learn about the custom, history and celebrations of the villages

Chapter 4.

A chief narrates about the origin of the African ancestors who migrated out of Africa and, colour changing. He also narrates about the abundance of gold mines in the country. Garriguesz presumes, there is a lot of wealth in the area, which nobody collects. Although Garriguesz excitement is, dimmed with challenging alertness, he makes a solemn promise to keep his hands away from the gold mines. He remains honest and faithful to his Christian beliefs. They live through some experiences with hardships. Despite all the activities, Raul still missis his girlfriend, Naana. He cannot wait to see her again. He still has some turbulent emotions about her, feelings he does not believe exist except in fairy tales.

Chapter 5.

Garriguesz narrates about Portugal, Christianity and quotes Noah, his sons and the ark. From the Bible. Garriguesz and his sons keep on travelling and hears the history of the Soninke ancestors at Mampong- Akuapem. Both the chief and Garriguesz lecture on some historical events about Africa, Europe and the Bible.

Chapter 6

After the discussions with the chief Garriguesz itches to reach their camp in order to prepare for another journey into the forest, the Asante land. One of the sons, Raul is shivering with premonition of horror. Garriguesz angst to venture into the forest zone knows no respite, thus, they abandon the idea of traveling to Ashanti forest. They travel back from Mampong- Akuapem and head towards Edina. At a certain point, they think of returning to Portugal because of Raul. As good luck will have it, Raul suddenly receives his strength back. From their experiences they learn, that precious feeling has to be, renewed now and then because, with renewals, new impulses are, created and new and deeper forms of understanding arise.

At Edina, after series of considerations of not traveling to Asante land, they find some time at Edina to analyze the artifacts they have in stock. Time passes and Raul is fit and ready to travel, deep into the forest to Asante land.

Suddenly, they a hear rumours about impending royal marriage. It is about Raul`s girlfriend Naana, the princess, whom he has not seen for a long time. Raul does not know whether he should call his curiosity a sensibility, love, or disappointment that is, dwelling strangely aloof and silent in him.

Raul hears that, Naana, his girlfriend is to marry a prince from Asante and that she has, been, kept in the village the whole time Raul has been looking for her; it is, said to be the custom of the region.

Many people from Asante land arrive for the wedding which, is gorgeously and tantalizingly, celebrated, with ornaments of gold and pearls. Naturally, Raul is disappointed. However, they learn about the history of the Asante, the big lakes and their ceremonial kente cloth.

After a while, they explore other parts of West Africa, Abigyan, in Ivory Coast, Monrovia in Liberia, Freetown in Sierra Leone, Conakry in Guinea and Guinea Bissau until they reach Dakar-Senegal. They learn about the geography of the regions.

Chapter 7

They travel to Benin, Nigeria and other parts studying their origins, customs, food habits, fauna and sauna.

Chapter 8

After having traveled for a while In West Africa, on April 15, 1456 they travel back to Ghana through Aneho-Togoland.

Anno Domini, 1456-1470, Garriguesz and his family settle amongst the natives in Ghana. They are now farming, cultivating crops throughout the whole of West Africa. They are successful. Garriguesz marries as well as Raul; however, he travels back to Portugal with Raul and lectures on West Africa.  Figo stays in Ghana. Through intermarriages of the sons of Garriguesz and himself, they are not alone but have a large family in Ghana.

Then suddenly, there is foreign influxes in 1441 and 1471 as well as visits from Christopher Columbus. However, disputes break out between the Portuguese and the Dutch. There is complete confusion at the coast of West Africa as, the Europeans rush in to Ghana. However, the Swedes, the Danes, the British, the Portuguese, the Germans, bring their technology into the country.

Chapter 9

Missionaries arrive, and there is a fair amount of comings and goings. Construction of buildings begin foundation of infrastructure in the country, forts and castles are, built for trade purposses.

Chapter 10

The Dutch and the British form West Indian Company, they unite the Fante and the Asante because of wars and disagreement, after they themselves had had many disagreements with the Asante. Ghana begins with a booming economy. The name Gold Coast is, given by the British, but the country becomes ready for independence.

Chapter 11

Garriguesz family enjoys tours and important celebrations at Accra in Ghana. The family continues to flourish in Ghana.