Anibuei: Civilization and the Opening of Eyes

Abstract

All 15 Asante women use the words anibuei, or enlightenment, to describe the eye-opening experiences that they had had in many different contexts, especially during the process of travel to improve their lives. These eye-opening experiences are said to change character, enable personal growth, and reconstitute Asante identity. From the women’s accounts, anibuei can be simply defined as the derivatives of exposure to, and encounters of, difference. From this basis, anibuei for these three different generations of women² is said to be derived from instances when they traveled from place to place; when they were sent to stay with and be raised or trained by enlightened individuals; when they learned how to comport themselves as ladies, for example, by studying other enlightened role models; when they attended boarding schools that were mainly Christian;³ when they encountered diverse others who had traveled to live in their hometown or the place where they were living and/or attending school; and/or when they learned different languages that provided access to alternative worlds or commercial enterprises (i.e., other Ghanaian languages or, in today’s global world, English).

ani-bué, anibuèí, the opening of the eyes; civilization (Christaller, 1933, p. 339).

You know, at first the Asante didn’t take education seriously. It was only those people on the coast, Cape Coast and all that. So that is why you had the Fantes, lawyers and doctors. But now we al so know that when you study hard you become somebody through education. So now the Asantes, you know, took to learning and now they are better off. So you have lawyers, doctors and it’s here in Accra that all the… everything is centered. So they’ll like to come here. If I can come and then make a living, my family too should join me.¹