Happy Valentines Day

My phone was set blazed with Valentine day wishes from friends and family all over the world the first text coming in at midnight and I received the last of about twelve at around 6am, I did not think I know that many people. Saint Valentine’s day is the traditional day on which we express our love for each other, although I think we should be expressing our love every single day. Approximately one billion Valentines Day cards will be exchanged worldwide, making this the second largest card-exchanging day of the year behind Christmas. A heart shaped chocolate covered with red foil was sitting at my desk on Valentines Day morning, the company I work for put one on every employees desk wishing all a Happy Valentines Day.

Halfway across the world in my other beloved country, Ghana, my country of birth, they observed the first National Chocolate Day a day design to boost the sales of cocoa and the consumption of Ghana made chocolates. Cocoa is Ghana’s largest cash crop dubbed “Black Gold”. I think I love this new tradition that has evolved out of Valentines Day that will hopefully see the cocoa industry in the country grow and also promote local processing and manufacturing. My grandma use to always tell me that culture is alive, it lives, grows and evolve just as any other living thing and that there was a deeper reason behind everything cultural even, if I do not see it at first glance.

Ghanaians embraced the first National Chocolate Day proudly marking it with activities - chocolate producers in the country, distributed confectionery to children. A centre given the name “Chocolate Avenue was officially opened where all cocoa products as well as a cocoa museum were on display for chocolate and cocoa lovers. In the opening speech it was said -->

“The National Chocolate Day celebration was being celebrated on Valentine Day to tell the world that love was not just lust or carnality but sharing”

I have been told that The Ghana Chefs Association members took turns demonstrating the preparation of chocolate dishes on TV’s Breakfast Shows elsewhere in the capital city in Accra a chocolate pool party was also organised by one of the FM stations.

The birth of a new tradition in Ghanaian culture a country located on a continent where almost all the news covered by mainstream media is of poverty, diseases, killings and civil wars.

Happy Chocolate Day - Ghana & Happy Valentines Day - World