Majeed Suhuyini: A Travel Freak, Actor & Vegan Food Lover

MAJEED Suhuyini is a vegan activist in Accra, Ghana. An actor, filmmaker, model and Ghanaian travel guide, offering his services under the name ‘A Travel Freak’. We caught up with Majeed and spoke about life, vegan food and the state of veganism in Ghana in 2022.

Majeed How is Ghana right now?

Ghana is great. The harmattan is very challenging this year but climate change right?

Is vegan food increasing in Accra?

Just few days ago I had a box full of vegan cakes, donuts, cookies, cupcakes and all. I’m not a sweet tooth, but lord they were delicious! Haha. So that alone tells me that vegan food is becoming a thing in Accra. Now a couple of the restaurants are beginning to include vegan options in their menus. And the number of vegan restaurants is slowly increasing, compared to the past 5 years. So yes vegan food is on the rise I think.

What began your vegan journey?

Questions, Compassion, Curiosity… you know. I come from the Northern part of

Ghana where meat is very cheap, from a Muslim family which means our food is heavily meaty and traditionally my family are butchers. So that is almost impossible for someone like me to be vegan. But I just started asking myself questions. And ever since I have been a child I have always had a curious mind.

So imagine as a child your parents bring a goat home, and you were the ones to take care of the goat. Feed it food, water, take it around, and as playful as you are as a child, you create a bond with that animal, to some extent you don’t even have to leash it anymore but it still follows you around, as a friend. Then one morning you wake up and the animal is not there anymore. They serve you food and on top of the food is the flesh of your friend, the very same friend you were running around with just yesterday. So that was when I knew there is something up with what I was eating.

Easy to change?

Easy peasy. I mean I’m an OG now what do you expect hahaha.

Are you an actor?

Yes. I love acting, it satisfies my curious mind, and just the idea of playing different characters intrigues me a lot.

You’re a filmmaker too?

Yes. I started filmmaking along my journey when I realized I had a lot of personal stories to tell, so I had to share my own voice with the camera to tell those stories.

Modeling?

So I started modeling in my early days but then my conscience wouldn’t let me do a lot of the commercials that came my way because they were non-vegan products. So I don’t do a lot of commercials these days, al though I just finished shooting for one a week ago. Hahaha a network cable commercial though. Runway modeling? I have never done any, but I am not shying away from it.

What’s a typical day like for Majeed these days?

Meditate, write scripts, or be on set, or travelling. I travel a lot. I actually run a travel company called “A Travel Freak” which is a vegan travel guide for people who wants to see Ghana. The

website www.atravelfreak.com is going to be up soon to help guide vegan travelers around especially in Africa. So book me as your vegan tour guide if you look forward to coming to Africa, Ghana. So yes, my typical day is basically writing, filming or exploring.

And what do you find yourself eating lots of?

Ooo…. I eat a lot, I love food, I mean who doesn’t right? Hahaha but yeah Waakye is my all-time favorite.

Waakye is spiritual. I eat a lot of Waakye. Waakye is a kind of rice and beans dish in Ghana, for those who don’t know. Although on some days, I replace it with Kenkey. Another favorite dish of mine.

Is the film industry changing in Ghana? As in more eco-friendly, more progressive?

Not quite. I think as of now, there are just a handful of filmmakers who are conscious about the environment. I would say there are a few people that I don’t know yet haha, but just few days ago another filmmaker sent me a script to review which was about deforestation. A beautiful script and I was really impressed with him trying to tell such a story. But to be honest, it is not as progressive as it should be. I hope to bring the change with my works.

How would you see the spread of veganism change pace and speed up considerably in Ghana? What would be the ‘magic wand’ wish that would help the growth of veganism?

Oh I’d love to see vegan products on our billboards, on our local TVs, a lot of vegan options in our local restaurants… You know, in a nutshell, just normalize veganism here and make it even more accessible for people who want to transition. You know the main principle of veganism is beyond health, but a healthy lifestyle is mostly associated with being a vegan. Which to some extent is true. So personally the ‘magic wand’ I would say is a healthy lifestyle. According to my interactions with non-vegans, a lot of them are interested in the healthy aspect. A lot of people won’t even have a conversation with you when you talk about the pain of the animals they eat, and why? Guilt! But when you bring up how healthy a vegan lifestyle can be, then they become interested and start asking questions.

The vegan community in the UK is beginning to switch on to the growth of veganism especially in Africa and in Asia. What’s your message to vegans in the UK?

Vegans in the UK? Ay look, you guys should try as much as you can and come to Africa, Ghana to be precise. There’s a lot of natural vegan goodies here, all manner of fruits to vegetables right from the farms. I know you guys do have more vegan alternatives, it’s almost like every month there is a new vegan product in the UK. That is not fair on us haha! Just kidding. But yeah, you guys should

look at coming to Ghana. Hit me up when you want to come @a_travel_freak, I would be more than glad to take your around.

And of course you’re at Tivai’s vibrant vegan events – what are they like? And will events like that start spreading through Ghana do you think?

What are they like? Informative, educative and free vegan food! Hahaha. And yes I do believe with the right funding, his events can actually make a greater impact in the Ghanaian society. I mean it is already making an impact but I personally hope it gets to a ‘Vegandale’ kind of level. Which is very possible with the right funding. But generally, he is doing the best with what little resources he has.

Hope for the future?

I hope in the near future a lot of people become more compassionate. You know it all starts with compassion. The more compassionate you are, the more questions you ask about your environment, about what you eat or let me say in most cases WHO you eat. I hope for a more compassionate future.

Check out Majeed’s travel website, soon to launch:

www.atravelfreak.com