From Palm Branch Huts to Advent Wreaths: My Experience of Christmas from Ghana to Austria

The effects of childhood memories lingers on in later life. So, I want to recount a childhood Christmas tradition, which unfortunately is eroded in Ghanaian society because of globalisation. One of my childhood Christmas traditions that I relish and miss today is what we used to call in my mother tongue, Dangme “blonya tsu” (Christmas hut).

We weave palm branches, and then build a hut, which becomes a place for us to meet, play, sing, dance, and eat together. We set up a fire outside the hut, sit around the fire, listen to stories about Christmas and other folklore from the elderly. This was fun and a great way of building community and meeting new friends. A time to meet our cousins and relatives to share gifts and have fun. Unfortunately, this tradition is estinct, especially in the cities due to rapid globalisation. Only shadows remain in rural communities. With this childhood nostalgia about the festivities of Christmas, I arrived in Vienna many years after with my family a week before the first advent.

We were invited to an Austrian Church tradition where the whole community comes together to make “Advent Wreaths”- a giant wreath for the Church and then smaller ones for their families. There were sweets, cakes, tea and coffee.

This made me reminiscence in some ways the good old days of the building of the Christmas Hut. This reminded me of the essence of Christmas powerfully. Christmas, not just a religious or spiritual tradition but also a time for family and community. A way of coming together to build and feel our human connectedness and family-ness. Especially in this covid era, we are supposed to follow 1,5m rules, wear masks, not shake hands, hug, etc. Now we have reminiscence of the past and yet experiencing a new future. So let us find in the new-normal ways to stay connected and build something that we all can share.

Written by: Seth D. Adzokatse, volunteer at the ACRPJ