Let Ghana Change You

I'm writing about Ghana before Belgium, Portugal and Spain because I need to reflect on Ghana now rather than while I am at sea or in Buenos Aires.

I've decided Ghana is a difficult place to explain to those who have never been there.

The best way to describe Ghana is lively. The people and the country are full of life. They are happy people, but they are also willing to duke it out over a car accident, I'll explain that later. While writing this a couple of girls walked by and said "Oh God it smells awful out here they're trying to kill us"...yeah people like that didn't do Ghana right.
    Before coming to Ghana I didn't think much of it, but now that I have been here it will hold a special place in my heart.

    At our logistical pre-port a student on the ship named Abba from Sierra Leone gave us a bit of advice about Ghana. She asked those of us who were doing lots of volunteer work while we are here if we would do the same for the poor and needy in our own country. I felt like I was able to say yes because back at Gonzaga I consistently volunteer and give back to my community. However she made a good point and I understand it now. The next thing she said, and this stuck out to me a lot more was, let Ghana change you! We witnessed poverty like I have never seen before, and her point of letting Ghana change me, rather than me trying to change Ghana stuck with me. Americans see the poverty and think they HAVE to change that! The Americans come here and they work for organizations trying to change Ghana.        
Ghana will change and progress on it's own just fine.

That brings me to my first day in Ghana. I had my first field lab on that day with my science of love class. I wasn't too excited about it because I hadn't done any preparation for the field lab. We went to the Ghanaian department of Social Welfare. They talked to our class about the issues and challenges facing them as they try to establish proper orphanages and homes for orphaned, vulnerable and street children. Just from our "quick" drive to the department I realized that their problems and challenges are on a massive scale!
    Ghana has only been a democratic society for the past 10 years, and only gained full independence in the 1960s. When Ghana became a democracy, they adopted the US constitution and modified it slightly so that it would work better for Ghana. They have not had all these departments assisting in programs that we have had around for much longer. But it's not our job to show them how to run these programs. Their challenges are different than ours.
    After the department of social welfare we headed to lunch and then went onto Kinder Paradise, a home for orphaned, vulnerable and street children. While we were there we were looking at what they are doing to aid attachment and what they could be doing better. There is a lot of room for improvement in terms of attachment, and I feel they are heading in the wrong direction for creating healthy attachment. I would explain my reasoning to you, but I have to write an essay about it anyways. Maybe Ill share the essay with you =D
The day at Kinder Paradise was a lot of fun and I really enjoyed watching the kids beat on the drums while the young girls sing and dance.

The next day I had an SAS field trip called Castles and Slave dungeons. Going to the castles and slave dungeons of Ghana is equivalent to going to the concentration camps in Germany. It was a very emotional and moving experience. I enjoyed allowing myself to experience and see a small glimpse of the struggles that the men, women and children who were forced into slavery faced.
There is truly not enough that can be said about how much that experience changed. I will never look at slavery the same way again.

About that car accident I mentioned, we were on our way back to the ship during rush hour and 2 cars hit each other. Instead of acting the way Americans would, they both got out of the car, threw a few punches then got back in their cars and drove away! Another accident happened and a police officer responded. Instead of doing any policemen like actions, the officer pulled the guy out of the car punched him in the face a few times then threw him back in the car. That's Ghanaian justice for you!

    The next day I took time to reflect and make peace with what I had seen and experienced in the last 2 days.
During my reflection I decided that there's nothing I personally need to do. The past is in the past and can't be changed, but we can learn from it, that's what the people of Ghana decided to do and that's what I have decided to do. I also decided that Abba was right. I do not need to work to help change Ghana. They are progressing and developing at their own pace, and I believe in the future Ghana will be much more well known.
    If I was to give Ghana one thing it would be better education, and help them develop a system where they can know who is from where and who they're related to such as who a child's parents are. Many of the children in orphanages are not orphans. They just got lost and the government has no way of determining where their parents might be without extensive research. I know it sounds cliche, but Ghana needs a system so that no child will get left behind.

That evening I decided to go with some friends to reggae night. It was an adventure just to get there and I could write one blog on my experience last night. Instead let me tell you this.
If you come to Ghana go to reggae night on Wednesday nights at la pleasure beach. Lots of fun and cool, chill people listening to live reggae music and just having a great time. You will feel like a minority if you are white, and you will have A LOT of people asking you to buy something or to give them money. Be firm but kind if you don't want what they have. If you do want it sit down and have a conversation with the person selling the stuff. They're really cool interesting fun people and you should get to know at least one of them!

Today I completed my shopping at my friend Muhammad's shop. He took us to the reggae show on the beach and made sure we all came back to the ship safe and happy. Last night when we came back to the ship he wasn't able to get into the dock area because he left his ID at his shop! So this afternoon I went to his shop to see him and buy something from him as a way of saying thank you. Unfortunately he wasn't there because he was helping another group navigate Tema. I ended up buying some really great gifts and I didn't haggle too much since he had helped me and my friends out last night.

Tonight we leave Ghana at 8:00pm. Then we have NEPTUNE DAY! we'll be at the center of the world! It's supposed to be a really cool day and I'm excited, but I am definitely more excited about going to SOUTH AFRICA!!!! SAFARI TIME! Love you Mom and Dad and I am sooooo excited!!!!!!!!

=D