An Obruni Eating Fufu in Ghana

Visiting Ghana 40 years after serving in the Peace Corps

Photo by Author of Fufu and Groundnut Soup

Obruni is a word I became very familiar with while serving as a Peace Corps volunteer in Ghana, West Africa, in the mid-1980s. The word can have different meanings but mostly refers to a “foreigner” or “white person”. It had been 40 years since I experienced children calling out “Obruni” as I walked down the dirt road of a village. Kids greeting me was just one great way to reconnect with my past. Another recollection that occurred on my trip was eating fufu again.

Fufu is a traditional meal in many countries in West Africa. The origin of the name fufu is Twi, from the Akan language. As a cuisine, it starts by pounding boiled cassava, plantains, and cocoyam into a sticky, doughy ball.

While living in Nsawam, I would hear the pounding sound of a heavy 5-foot-long wooden pestle crashing down on the cassava and plantain mixture being pulverized in the large wooden mortar. It was a two-person job, traditionally with a woman turning the fufu while a young male operated the pestle. It was a well-choreographed dance between the partners. If the rhythm was off, the one turning the fufu could end up with a finger or hand injury, resulting in a broken bone.