Mali and West Africa
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| Pirogues -traditional canoes (picture above) -on the Niger River |
Ghana, Togo, Benin,
Nigeria, the Islands of Cape Verde and Mali.
"The countries of French-speaking West Africa have inherited many food customs from their colonial past. Froissants, baguettes and cafe au lait are ubiquitous in restaurants and cafes -even in Bamako, capital of Mali, one of West Africa's poorest and least developed states. However the street food, cooked and served outdoors, belongs to quite another tradition: The ingredients and style are wholly African." -World Food Cafe
For our country study of Mali, we made West African Beans and Okra and Sweet Potatoes in a Cayenne, Ginger and Peanut Sauce. We liked these dishes better than the dishes from Egypt and Morocco but not as well as the dishes from Oman. Okra is one of the most common vegetables of the region, and both dishes were more like what we think of as traditional African dishes than the previous dishes we have tasted.
We studied the history of Ghana from 700-1240.
- Read from The Kingfisher History Encyclopedia, page 117. Made notes of key words as we read. Write a few sentences about what you have learned in your history notebook. Another option is to use the Medieval History Portfolio, Homeschool Journey.
- Colored an appropriate map such as the one with History Odyssey, Pandia Press, Level 2 (5th-8th grade).
- Included appropriate dates on the timeline.
books:
- The Hatseller And The Monkeys by Baba Wagué Diakité is from Mali and is the African version of Caps for Sale. It is the story of some monkeys that stole BaMusa’s hats on his way to the market and how he was able to trick them into giving them back to him.
- Beat the Story-Drum, Pum-Pum, Ashley Bryan, (age 8 and up), Nigerian folk tales.
