Dipo, Ghana- Sara

Sara Avalos-Paez
Mr.Roddy
IHSS
9/12/2020
Dipo Ghana

In the Krobos Tribe of Ghana, the coming of age ritual for girls is Dipo. Dipo has changed over the years, because of Christianity, modernization, formal education, and environmental changes. Before Dipo changed the girls had to prepare for a year, this changed because of formal education and teachers did not allow multiple abscesses, it changed to be a few months, to weeks, and now the preparation is for 4 days, with a parade on the fourth day. The preparation for Dipo isn’t the only thing that has changed, some other things that have changed are the age Dipo is performed, the number of people who still do it, and the way that the girls dress during the preparation. Dipo used to be performed by girls who had their first menstrual cycle so that after the ritual they would be ready for marriage and to have sex. If a girl was proven to have a child before the ritual they were punished and banished from the village. The girls that performed Dipo were half-naked for the whole time of the preparation. Now girls have the opportunity to use a dress for the preparation but for the parade, they still have to be half-naked with beads on their waist, neck, and heads.

I found that the way that Dipo has changed and been modified to fit the costumes of today while not losing some of the original customs is very interesting. It is also interesting to see that even though people have criticized that the girls are in the parade half-nude, the Krobos tribe has stayed true to their traditions. I find it a little sad that because of Christianity some families still have their daughters do Dipo but in secrete because they don’t want to be bad Christians.


Work Cited:

Rodulfo, Kristina. “12 Captivating Coming Of Age Ceremonies From Around The World.” ELLE, 23 November 2015, https://www.elle.com/culture/travel-food/news/g27293/coming-of-age-ceremonies-around-the-world/.


Akua Boakye, Priscilla. “Dipo: a rite of passage among the Krobos of Eastern Region, Ghana.” The University of Tromsø, Spring 2010, https://munin.uit.no/bitstream/handle/10037/2673/thesis.pdf?isAllowed=y&sequence=2.


Okumi, Rita Dede. “Ghana: Dipo (Puberty Rite of the Krobos).” All Africa, 2 July 2004, https://allafrica.com/stories/200407060145.html.

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