Where we live

We live in a small village called Kuga just outside the district capital Yendi in the northern part of Ghana. Yendi is approx 1 hour’s road journey from Tamale (the capital city of the northern region), which in turn is a 12 hour road journey from Accra (the capital city of Ghana) situated on the south coast.

Most people in the village of Kuga live in compound houses. These houses are made up of a number of square or round rooms built in a circle. The houses are built with mud and roofed with thatch.

Those who can afford it build one structure comprising of a number of rooms instead of several separate rooms. They use a mixture of mud and cement for these buildings and use corrugated roofing sheets instead of thatch, as the sheets last much longer. Although the houses and rooms often look relatively small, it is amazing to see how many people gather in them at night to eat and sleep. It is not uncommon that one room accommodates more than 10 people (including children).

our house in the village of Kuga, Yendi

a neighbour's mud and thatch compound house

a neighbour's house with corrugated roofing sheets