The Baobab Shrine and other Lassa, Togo Local Custom Tips

The Baobab tree is sacred to the Kabye people and they will always ensure that they build their village adjacent or near to a baobab tree. They also worship the tree and will build shrines at the base of the trunk, where offerings are placed and sacrifices made.

When a new baby is born, the parents will present the child to the shrine and kill a goat or chicken in respect to the gods. This will ensure that when the child grows up, he or she will never forget the village, regardless of how far they travel, and will always come back.

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The so called calabash container is named after the calabash tree. It is the fruit or gourd which is used to make the containers so widely used throughout Africa (and other parts of the world), and is one of the earliest cultivated trees in the world grown not for food but for utilities. The fruit is hollowed out and dried and it is used for cleaning rice, carrying water and also just as a food container. Small gourds are used as bowls to drink palm-wine (see Off the Beaten Path tips for more details). It is also used to make certain musical instruments.

The calabash is considered sacred, and will not be thrown away, even if damaged.

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Noah told us the name of this medicinal bush was ESRON - but I have been unable to find any details about it on the net since returning home. He told us it has antibiotic qualities and is used by the locals to treat all manner of diseases.

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The ubiquitous goats are found everywhere – every village has them and every available pieces of land, be it beside the road or between the buildings in the town had one or more goats grazing on it. Goats are one of the oldest domesticated animal species, being kept for their milk (of which you can also make cheese), meat (which is more nutritional than mutton), hair (there is less fibre per goat than per sheep) and skin. Goats are favoured over cattle as they are easier to manage, cheaper to purchase, more versatile in their diet and they have multiple uses.

For some time I did have a real problem distinguishing between sheep and goats in West Africa. Goats, however, have a coarser, straighter coat than sheep and the ears are often different.

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Many families in the village would have their own gris-gris in the corner of the house to protect them from evil. Gris-gris is basically a talisman used in animist religions such as voodoo, and in this case it is a collection of stones, herbs, oils, bones, hair, nails, and feathers. It can be other personal items relating to the family or any of the family members. The gris-gris will protect the inhabitants against evil and bring them luck.

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