Friends of Tafo, PO Box 43826 London NW6 1XG

Kwahu-Tafo is one of a group of towns on the high Kwahu plateau, about three hours' drive to the north of the capital Accra. It has approximately 7,500 inhabitants, who are mostly subsistence farmers earning very little income. This in turn means that many children cannot attend school for lack of money for books and uniforms, and many of the schools are in a poor physical and financial state.

Kwahu is the name given to both the area and the local tribe, the Kwahu people having established their identity when they separated from the belligerent Ashanti Empire and removed to the mountain range that lies between the Ashanti capital Kumasi and the great expanse of the Volta Lake. The indigenous language is Twi, one of the Akan family of languages.

The Kwahu Ridge contains some of the highest ground in Ghana, and some remarkable geological features such as Buruku, a towering sacred rock.

Click here to see the map of Kwahu-Tafo 

In Tafo the air is fresh, and the land was historically lush (the name Tafo means literally 'my ladle is full', indicating that originally there was good hunting in the area). In recent times, however, deforestation, bush fires and climate change have severely affected the cocoa crop and other farming, and reduced the people to their current impoverished state.

In Ghana, there being no written historical culture, the wisdom of the ages is enshrined in the oral tradition of proverbs. We have listed some here.