Mother's Day: Who calls home the most?
| Accra, Ghana
聽Who phones Mom the most on Mother's Day?
Many offspring scattered across the globe make it a top priority to say hi to Mom on Mother鈥檚 Day. But none more so than Ghanaians living in the United States, according to a survey by an international calling services company.
VIP Communications, a US-based firm, analyzed the calling patterns of more than 30,000 expatriate customers from more than 100 countries over the past year and found that last year on Mother鈥檚 Day, phone calls increased by 40 percent compared with a normal day. The day ranked third, behind Christmas and New Year's Eve, in terms of volume of calls.
The bottom line: Africa puts the rest of the world to shame. The previous year, it was South Africans who got the award for thinking most of mom. But moved up to beat South Africans by 12 percent and take the No. 1 position, according to the survey, which found that the average amount of calls made by Ghanaians is 98 percent higher than it is on all other days in the year.Third place was also snapped up by Cameroon expatriates, who made 76 percent more calls than they did on an average day.
That raises a key question: do Ghanaians love their mothers more than the rest of us?
According to Mansah Prah, a feminist social scientist at the University of Cape Coast whose research focuses on gender and sexuality, Ghanaians are definitely mom鈥檚 boys and girls.
鈥淚t is because of the fact that many receive more love and care from their mothers than their fathers,鈥� says Professor Mansah Prah. 鈥淭here are many female-headed households in Ghana and many women probably do not live with their partners on a permanent basis."
鈥淕hanaian culture values mothers and motherhood, but women are still defined through their reproductive roles,鈥� she adds. 鈥淚t鈥檚 better to be a mother than to be unmarried, because being childless here is a very difficult situation for many women.鈥�
Caroline Ackah has received a call from her daughter, who is a medical worker in Texas, every Mother鈥檚 Day for the past 10 years. When asked why Ghanaians are so mindful of their mothers, she replies:
鈥淚t鈥檚 because of our tradition and the closeness that when they go away from home they miss us so much. We take our children to be our property, they become part of us, we depend on them and they depend on us.鈥�
And on whether they are momma鈥檚 boys and girls?
鈥淭hey are mother鈥檚 kids, because the men leave everything in the hands of the women and they grow to know their mother鈥檚 more,鈥� Ms. Ackah says. 鈥淲omen are not that highly regarded in society, but because we brought our children up and they are enlightened, they tend to appreciate what their mothers do for them, where the men don鈥檛 as much.鈥�
But like mothers all over the world, Ackah has experienced Mother鈥檚 Days where her five daughters failed to produce gifts, organize outing, or simply forgot.
Ghanaian comedian Nii Commey has been performing "Mommy鈥檚 Pimples and Dimples," a play he wrote for Mother鈥檚 Day that premiered at the International Women鈥檚 Forum, a four-day expo in Accra focused on women鈥檚 empowerment. The play tackles issues such as sexual harassment, domestic violence, and attitudes toward widows and women in politics, though the message is conveyed with laughter.
After performing his role as a sleazy landlord who preyed on his newly widowed tenant, Mr. Commey says in an interview that he is sorry he will not be spending more time with his mother because he has to perform two shows on Mother鈥檚 Day.
鈥淲e love our mothers generally more than we love our fathers, and even when you are independent and you are having trouble, you can always go back to your mother,鈥� says Commey. 鈥淭he African mother would die so their child could survive,鈥� he adds solemnly.
When asked whether Ghanaians were mommy鈥檚 boys or girls, Commey paused and considered the question a little too seriously, perhaps interpreting it as a slight. He attributes the phenomenon to broken homes where fathers were absent.
While Commey will not be available all day for his mother on Mother鈥檚 Day, he says that he will offer her gifts.
鈥淚 will give her some money, she loves the money, and offer her some sweet words,鈥� he says before getting ready for another performance of his play.
Out in the parking lot, Goldrick Thomas Agyemang, a teenager, offers some final meditations on the day and motherhood.
鈥淢other鈥檚 Day, I see it as being everlasting,鈥� he says. 鈥淲e should love, honor, and give respect to our mothers for everything they have done for us eternally.鈥�
