Supporting Local Craftsmen
Woodcarving in Ghana is two things -- a craft deeply rooted in tradition and a way for people to make a living in the global economy. As the tourism industry in Ghana has grown, people from around the world have discovered the beauty and variety of the country's wood carvings, and the crafting and selling of carvings has become an important economic activity for many.
The Yonso Project sells handmade carvings (such as the one at right) in the US. Our main goal is to raise money for our education and microlending programs, but we also seek to support the artisans who created the carvings. We buy them directly from craftsmen in Yonso and neighboring towns, paying the full price that the carvings would normally fetch in Ghana and also passing along some of the money generated by their sale in the US.
The Yonso Project sells handmade carvings (such as the one at right) in the US. Our main goal is to raise money for our education and microlending programs, but we also seek to support the artisans who created the carvings. We buy them directly from craftsmen in Yonso and neighboring towns, paying the full price that the carvings would normally fetch in Ghana and also passing along some of the money generated by their sale in the US.
To purchase a wood carving, or for more information, please contact Nick Caccavo or Benji Hardy.
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One wood carving commonly sold in Ghanaian markets is the game of mancala. The rules of the game are below:
- Mancala is played with seven pits per player.
- Your pits are the 6 small pits on your side of the board, and the larger Kalaha pit on the right hand side.
- Each player starts the game by placing 3 stones into each of their 6 small pits.
- A turn consists of taking all the stones from one of your pits, and then dropping a stone into each successive pit in a counter-clockwise fashion
- If the final stone is placed in your Kalaha, then you get another turn.
- If the final stone ends in one of your empty pits, then that stone plus any stones in the opposite pit are placed into your Kalaha.
- If you drop a stone in your Kalaha, and have stones left, then you continue dropping stones counterclockwise into your opponent's pits.
- The winner is the person with the most stones in his Kalaha. The game ends when all of a player's pits are empty. At that point, the other player places the remaining stones in her Kalaha.