Allabar Women's Islamic School
The wife of an Islamic teacher founded this school in their home, in one of Kumasi's oldest Muslim neighborhoods. A long front room holds beginning, intermediate and advanced groups. It offers Arabic, English, math and sciences classes, and she has hired Muslim and non-Muslim teachers to present the full public school curriculum, although the school gets no government support. The students are mostly married women, who attend part time in between their family and work responsibilities.
Bantama Women's Fellowship
Bantama mosque serves a central Kumasi neighborhood that historically contained a large proportion of Muslim families before colonial rule. On Fridays, a group of women gathers under the supervision of the local Imam, to study the Koran and learn basic Arabic. On two Fridays they heard an explanation of this website project and were invited to record interviews for posting on it. Interviews were held in the large women's side chamber of the mosque before prayers began.
Tafo Women's Fellowship
Old Tafo lies along the main highway north from Kumasi, and was one of the earliest settlements for immigrant Northerners. As an old Muslim community it has several neighborhood mosques, and the imam of one founded a government-supported primary and middle school that offers instruction in the Koran and Arabic language along with the standard national curriculum. This group of women attends that mosque and meets on Fridays to learn Arabic and read the Koran. After hearing about the website project, those who agreed to record an interview for it met us in an empty classroom.
Women
Date: 2006
Format: Image-MovingImage/mp4
"My Mum never gave up."
Date: 2006
Format: Image-MovingImage/mp4
"My uncle saw that I was not interested in marriage, so one day he just called me and said 'I want you to be married to your brother [cousin],' and it worked."
Date: 2006
Format: Image-MovingImage/mp4
"As I understood the teachings of Islam, I pledged to let my fellow Muslims also know more about Islam and the Koran. That is why I prefer teaching."
Date: 2006
Format: Image-MovingImage/mp4
"It is only me, a woman selling these double axles here. My family are proud of me as a woman selling this, because it is not easy for some women to learn this trade."
Date: 2006
Format: Image-MovingImage/mp4
"Next time that I greet you, with the grace of God you will also be a Muslim."
Date: August 21, 2009
Format: Image-MovingImage/mp4
"I don't think I can marry again."