The word “Nsuo” (Twi word for “water”) is spelled out in Ghanaian Ankara fabric. The relationship I share with water and my culture, runs deeper than a liquid I consume daily, but rather a distant childhood memory of it being my first word learned of the Akan Language, Twi.

Nsuo. Meaning “water” in the Akan Language, Twi. growing up as a Ghanaian born and raised in America, my parents tried their best to incorporate my Ghanaian heritage into my day-to-day American lifestyle. I would always find myself eavesdropping on their phone calls with relatives and eventually I started to pick up on some words. “Nsou!”One afternoon, I remember shouting at my parents as they looked at me with confusion. Nsuo. My mom then reached out for a water bottle and handed it to my smiling face. Looking back on that moment, I think about the happiness I felt for saying my first Twi word. Nsuo. I think about the plastic bags of water, and energy in a bag, ranging from the golden lands of Accra, Ghana. Nsuo. The water I helped pump for my cousins and me to bathe with. Nsuo. The blue bucket in my family’s bathroom back in Maryland that we used to flush the toilet. Every time I use the word Nsuo or even think about it, all of these images come to mind as well as the feeling of the cool liquid touching my tongue.