Ghana was an eye-opening port for me. I experienced a great personal progression and evolution. We arrived in Ghana and as with all ports had to wait for the officials to come on and check our passports/visas. And for them to stamp them…YAY!!! So far our passports have been stamped in Morocco and Ghana…not Spain. In Spain we were pretty much set to get off the ship within an hour of getting to the port. It has been interesting to see the time difference in how long it takes for a passport check and it will be interesting to see in the days to come. In Ghana, they also needed to check our Yellow Fever Cards as well, so it took a little longer there.
As I said earlier, I went to the castles and slave dungeons on the first day. It was astounding to think that we were actually walking the same routes that many slaves had done so many years before. It was hard to grasp the concept of what we were looking at. At both Elmina and Cape Point we saw the “door of no return.” In Cape Point we actually were able to walk through the door. It was eerie to think there was a time when people would literally walk through the door and it would be the last time they would ever step foot on their home soil. I think it was important to see the castles and slave dungeons to understand how the history of western Africa especially has been shaped by the slave trades.
My second day I did a cultural immersion homestay. This was a really neat experience. When we arrived there was drumming and dancing for us. We also got to greet the chief and the elders of the village. This was a unique experience because after we shook their hands and they welcomed us, they in turn stood up and came over to us to shake our hands. There were also many children in the village. They loved the camera and would try to take your camera from you if you had it out. Some of them took some really good shots too. The little ones would also try to sit on your lap. At one point there were four children sitting on my lap and the same was for others in our group. We also had a naming ceremony where we were given traditional African names. My name was Ese Manan, Ese meaning Sunday born and Manan a traditional name in their tribe. It was intimate to be a part of this ceremony but it was also amusing because some things were changed for us. For example, traditionally alcohol is used in this ceremony; however, they used Coke for us instead. It was the little things that I happened to take notice of. We also got to meet our host families for the night. I had a “brother” from SAS, Stephen, and our host sister was Juliana, who was 15, and her parents. We were adopted basically for the rest of the night/day. We left to get lunch at a nearby resort (as Americans, our stomachs are unable to tolerate their food/water so the ISE would either take us out or provide us with food). Upon our return, we went to our host family’s home. Juliana showed us our rooms and then we sat and talked. We taught Juliana about snow which as both a challenge and a treat. She had been told that getting hit with a snowflake hurt and made you bleed. Stephen and I quickly dispelled this rumor and she seemed triumphant to know this information. We also taught her about snow sports such as skiing and ice hockey. It was made even better by the fact that I had pictures from this past winter on my camera so she was able to understand more clearly by what we had said about skiing and snow in general.
That night, we ate dinner in the community center and a show was put on for us showcasing traditional Ghanaan drumming and dance. That was pretty awesome. some of the guys were literally eating fire and sticking things that were on fire down there pants…it was a little weird not gonna lie. But it was def. entertaining, it gave us a chance to get a small peek at a part of their culture. At this point, we had been separated from our “families” simply because the space could not accommodate all of us and there were miscommunications when it came to meals etc. however, at the end of dinner, we re-joined with our hosts. Stephen and I went with Juliana to one of the village “bars” where people gather to talk, dance and listen to music. There we had some frank discussions with some of the older people that lived in the village. We talked politics (always going to yield interesting conversation) and about life in Ghana, as well as about schooling and jobs. It was interesting to hear some of their perspectives. For example, one of the guys said that he liked white Americans better than black Americans simply because in his eye blacks were dangerous and tended to cause more trouble. Also because, many times blacks will come to Ghana to trace their lineage and find out where they came from in regards to the slave trade and do little else to help the local people. Personally, I was slightly offended by this seeing as much of what he said seemed to come from the media, namely movies and music videos etc. I did keep my mouth shut for most of it though b/c I found that the less I spoke, the more he did. Another interesting part of this conversation was that I was the only female of the group and there were 5 other guys at the table, two of which were from SAS. I wasn’t always sure how to react to what he said as well, especially b/c he said much of it with conviction and it was easy to see that he was not going to change his mind based on what we said. Anyway, I just let him talk and listened. I found it a lot easier that way, also, if I didn’t say anything, I found I was able to learn more since I was not about to support him and I knew that if I contradicted him, he may have stopped talking altogether. This conversation was for about 40min. or so, and then after that we danced. It was interesting to see the difference in their music and ours. They did play many American songs and many of the songs they played that were from Africa were in English as well. it was amusing to listen to the words because it was essentially the same message and feel of American songs yet they were distinctly from Ghana and the surrounding countries. That night, we went back with Juliana and slept in her house. We each had our own room and bed which we found out the next day is actually very unusual because many of the other students either shared a bed with each other or the entire house was a single room. Everyone had a different experience and sleeping arrangement which made the program even more amazing.
In the morning, I had breakfast with Juliana and then we said our goodbyes to her and her parents and were on our way back to the Explorer. We stopped to learn about some of the local food industries such as smoking fish which is an essential part of their economy and these peoples survival. Upon return to the ship I was ready to relax for a little while. I ate lunch and then went out again to Takoradi with some friends in search of wi-fi. We found an internet café…with no internet that proved to be pretty useless. After wandering for a little bit, we found a wholesale store where someone was on the internet on a laptop. We went in to ask if they knew a place where we could get internet. Instead, they let us use their own and set up with the internet. They went out of their way to accommodate us and did not expect anything in return. There were also some interesting conversations sparked especially once they learned we were from the United States. They had been in Ghana for three generations and had come from Lebanon. Being Islamic, they had faced religious persecution of sorts, once we spoke with him some more about it, he told us that Ghana was a very tolerant and peaceful country. We also talked about 9/11 a little bit and the effect that it has had on their life and traveling back and forth to the U.S. Perhaps the most poignant thing that he said the entire time there was that it is a shame how easy it is for so few to ruin it for so many. It was remarkable how simply asking for wi-fi sparked such an insightful conversation. After going around to the market for a little while and exploring, we met up with a man that Aaron met in the port. He was so gracious and had offered to show us around and give us rides(sketch I know, but the people in Ghana were amazingly generous and helpful). He’s a superior at the port in Takoradi so he was able to go in and out of port as he pleased. He brought us back to the ship(I had to get off to meet with people) and then he waited for the others to go to the ship and pick someone up and go back out. It was a simple act of kindness by him but saved us not only a lot of time but money as well.
That night was Chloe’s birthday dinner. I work with Chloe in the Field Office. She’s from Barbados and has an accent that I love to listen to. A group of us from the field office, plus a few extras went out to dinner to celebrate. It was nice to get out of the office and spend time together. fortunately for me, I work with some amazing people and getting to go out and just relax with them our last night there was a great way to cap off Ghana and not have to deal with the craziness of the clubs and other places that other people were heading to.
My last day in Ghana, I went to Father’s Home Children’s Home. This is a home for children that are unable to live with their parents for one reason or another. Some of the children were orphans, many of them came from single mothers or other situations. There was one baby, EJ, there who was abandoned by his mother and he was only 16 months old. He was the most precious thing ever. He has cerebral palsy which was really sad to see. They were able to contact the father of the baby but he unfortunately could/would not take the baby in. While this is really sad, it is also a good thing. The father put the child in the care of Father’s Home because he knew that they would be able to care for him and ensure that he received what he needed. An amazing part of this organization is that they are actually paying for his medications and testing so that while he will not necessarily recover, he will be much better off. There were several stories and cases like this. There were 3 children at the home with special needs, EJ and two Emmanuel’s. The rest of the children attended school as normal unless they were not of age yet. The span of ages at the home was 16months to about 20 years old, with the oldest still working on finishing high school. Spending time at the home was so much fun and I really learned a lot about them. It was amazing to hear the story of how the home started and the effort that the people who work there put into ensuring that these children know they are loved and understand that they are all family. Perhaps the most important lesson that I learned from going to the Father’s Home that really resonated with the rest of Ghana was that no matter who you were and where you came from, you were somebody and that you had worth and no other person no matter who they are can take that away from you.
