Their original name is “Se” but due to pronunciation difficulties hundreds of years ago, the (occupying) Europeans changed the name from “Se” to “Shai.”  As the Se are advancing into an era of peace, progress, and prosperity, they are returning to their roots and retiring the usage of the term Shai for the historically correct term, Se.

The legendary Dodowa Forest has a mysterious history.  Until recently, it was a vast stretch of a thicket, into which the Se people, at the sight of an invading army, would run for shelter and protection. It was pitch dark in there and a few minutes was needed for the eyes to adjust to visibility conditions in the forest on entering it from the bright sunshine outside. Unsuspecting invaders who pursued their “fleeing preys” into the Dodowa Forest never came back alive to tell their story.

This gave birth to the rhetorical question on the lips of invading armies those days was: “WHAT IS IN THE DODOWA FOREST THAT DID NOT ALLOW INVADERS TO RETURN?”

Today, only an acre or more of the legendary Dodowa Forest remains.  The rest has been converted to farmland.  Even though the Dodowa Forest is almost gone, the proverbial question “What is in the Dodowa Forest?” still remains till today.

Other important landmarks in Se are the SHAI HILLS GAME RESERVE (a sanctuary for some species of monkeys and baboons), the CHENKUWATERFALLS at Dodowa, and the AHLIWATERFALLS at Agomeda-Ologotsohue.

The land is flat, and dotted with small hills, prominent among them being the Shai Hills (now a game reserve to serve as a sanctuary for monkeys).

Vegetation is coastal savannah shrubs interpersed with thickets. Because of its location within the dry coastal equatorial climatic zone, the weather is relatively dry with temperatures ranging between 20 degrees and 33 degrees Celsius.

Annual rainfall is from 635mm along the south and 1,140mm in the northern parts. Two rainfall seasons are distinct: major between April and June, peaking in June and minor between the months of September and October. The seasonal streams that flow from the Akwapim ridge include the Chippa, Joppa, Otsrimer, Popotsi and Dodowa