Yellow Sea during the Sea Olymipcs, Tom and Me at a club in Brazil, Life on the ship (hanging out in the halls to get internet!)
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Friday, February 25, 2011
I left my heart in Africa
One thing about Senase, they really do not speak very good English. We found a solution to this problem though; speak slightly like a cave man. I know I know it sounds very degrading and terrible but it worked. I would ask children “what’s your name?” and they would look at me blankly and just smile. Then my roommate Don would go up and say “ME. DON. What is your name (spoken in a weird accent)” and they would instantly tell them his name! it became sort of a joke with all of us saying “what is your name” in this strange accent. Anyways back to the story…
When we got back from the farm lunch had been prepared at a local school for us, it consisted of beans with a pepper sauce, rice, and plantains, and of course was delicious. GHANIAN FOOD IS SOOOOO GOOD!!! I wonder if we have any restaurants because we all have to go! After lunch we headed back to the village for our drumming and dance lesson. Our instructor was this tiny little man who kept getting really annoyed with us. First he tried to find someone to beat this cowbell, which was the main instigator of keeping the rhythm, none of the boys could do it! Frustrated I tried to give them advice and found the cowbell handed to me by our instructor, which of course I was able to do perfectly. I was really upset because I and wanted to dance so I tried to give it up but it was really hard because noone else could do it! Bryan tried forever and because I wanted to dance he finally just modified it so that Bryan could do it hahaha. It was really funny because Bryan just kept on trying and trying to get it but he actually couldn’t lol. We practiced forever the dance and I was actually really proud of myself because I had ladies telling me that I looked like a true Ghanaian which was saying something because literally everyone was laughing at our attempts to get the dance moves down. After our dance and drum practice which went about 2 hours we were exhausted but knew that we had to experience Ghanaian night life. We went out and danced to hip live, which is like African hip-hop and is awesome. I danced the night away with everyone and we noticed that Fred our tour guide was dancing really close to this girl named Maggie which we all thought was interesting but didn’t really think to much into it.
The next day we woke up and got dressed in our cultural outfits and performed the dance and drumming we had learned, but we totally messed it up, thankfully some students joined us, and we got slightly back on track however our outfits were really skimpy and my entire top fell down at one point which made everyone watching (which was over 300 people btw) laugh. It was slightly terrible lol. After that we got back on the bus and headed back to Takoradi.
The final day we were in port I went on an FDP (field directed practica) for my natural resources and social conflict class which was looking at the gold mining industry it is amazing some of the atrocities that those people underwent from the multi-nationals that came in to mine in these areas. (add in detail, story of Maggie and fred and the senase project) overall Ghana was an eye opening experience and one that I will never forget!
South Africa was AMAZZINGGG! If you didn’t already hear, because of the winds we were unable to dock for over 24 hours! Meaning that we lost an entire day in South Africa due to weather conditions it was terrible! I missed both my one day safari and my wine tour but in the end it was ok. When we got in I went out to explore Victoria Wharf with a few friends. The waterfront of Cape town is so gorgeous and rivals areas like san Francisco and San Diego for beauty. There is a lot to do there whether it is to ride the ferris wheel go to the mall, catch a movie, or go for a nice dinner right on the water. We went into the mall and it was nice to finally be back in civilization! I didn’t but anything but I was able to pick up my tickets for U2 for later that night!!!! After walking around for a while we headed back to the ship and got ready to head out for the U2 concert! The concert was taking place in the stadium that was recently built for the World Cup this past summer and it can hold up to 50,000 people! The entire place was packed and since we had general admission seating we were on the ground with thousands of other people. I went to the concert with Simi, Mandela, Alex, and Adit. We pushed our way to a pretty good spot and then waited for it to begin. In front of us were a group of South African students who were really rowdy and it smelt exactly like what me and chelsey smelt watching the world cup game in Pamplona in the town square. Brought back good memories and it was crazy to think that the game I was watching on the screen that night took place exactly where I was now standing! Alex and Mandela wanted to get shirts and beers and decided to go and come back but I refused to go because I knew there was no way they would get back and I was right! Simi went with them so that was the last time I saw any of them until after the concert, I was kind of mad because I didn’t know Adit at all, but we had a really good time and from where we were standing I could actually see Bono some times. The concert was sooooooooooooo good! If I ever get the opportunity to see them again I would go hands down it was the best concert I have ever been to in my life (which isn’t saying all that much but they were phenomenal!). After the concert we went out and stayed up wayyy too late.
I woke up the next day and walked around cape town (we were supposed to go skydiving but it was too windy ☹) so instead me James and my other guy friend Alias went and did some shopping and went to see part of the X games which were also taking place in Cape Town. I bought a marimba which is this cool instrument for Ben and we sat in the back of a van that had been converted into an atm and plucked away at the marimba for a while, it was good fun. Then we went out for a really nice dinner at this restaurant called beluga which had amazing food (I got sushi and lamb, both were fantastic) I went to dinner with my friends James and Brandon, and it was nice to learn more about both of them and then we went out to the famous long street which is home to all the bars and clubs and met up with some fellow SASers. Again we stayed out late this time purposefully because we had to leave for shark diving at 5:15 and did not trust ourselves ti wake up at a decent hour if we actually did go to bed. We went to this street side vendor at 4:45 and got amazing sausages, witnessed someone get mugged and made our way back to the ship with just enough time to change and meet up with the other peeps we were going cage diving with. The drive to Gannsbai (where we went to do it) was about 2 and a half hours away so we slept in the van. We got there around 8 and had some breakfast, The company we went through was really awesome they had taken people like Brad Pitt, Jeff Corwin (animal planet), cooper Anderson, halle berry, prince henry and more cage diving. The owner of the company was a researcher and had free dove with great whites many time in hopes to dispel the myth of them being cold blooded killers. We finally got on the ship and headed out. Let me tell you that I got sea sick very quickly becaue the boat was flying over the waves and the smell of chum kept sweeping by me, thankfully I didn’t throw up but my friend paroma did! When we got there the owner was already out doing research and he said that they had already spotted 6 sharks! This is really cool because it is not currently shark season and because of this nothing is ever guaranteed. However recently there has been a lot of shark activity at this time because climate change is making it so that everything in nature is a little wonky. We learned that there are only 1000 great whites left and that our children will probably never see one alive which was a very humbling and sad fact. Then we got into our wet suits and waited for one to come! The cage was a long rectangle and when we got in there were 7 different sections each section held one person. I was in the last group so I went up to the top of the ship to watch and take video. OMG these sharks were huge! They looked like giant torpedos under the water, even the baby one rivaled any shark that I had ever seen in captivity for size. Finally it was my turn to get in and amazingly I was not nervous! When you get into the cage you hold onto the bars that separate each section and place your knees onto this yellow bar. You stay like this with your body half submerged until they yell “down” at which point you are supposed to throw yourself under hold unto the yellow bar with your hands and observe. You have a little weighted belt which keeps you submerged but it took me a few tries to get down the sequence, first off because I am short getting back up was a challenge and also I kept forgetting to take sufficient air in because I always got to excited when they yelled for us to go down. I also kept knocking my shins into the yellow bar and kicking the guy next to me on my way up or down. However nothing mattered compared to seeing those sharks. We were lucky and had sharks come super close to us, one literally was staring me in the face from about 3 feet away, another swam so close that I could have reached out and touched him, a different one bit the cage right by james, and one floated by at about 15 feet in length, it was unreal!
When we got back from cage diving me and James although sleep deprived had this brilliant idea to hike table mountain. (add in story about crazy water selling man). It was probably the hardest exercise I have ever done! I have never done a stair master but from what I have heard from season stair master users is that this hike was like being on a stair master on the hardest setting for 2 ½ hours. All I know is that I barely survived it. Given that I have short limbs I honestly was bringing my knees to my chest to clim the high stones, and was at points literally on my hands and knees. Needless to say I took many breaks and James kept on running ahead then yelling words of encouragement at me. It started to drive me crazy because he almost sounded patronizing but that frusteration helped to fuel me on so I guess we could say he was motivational in a way. Getting to the top was such an accomplishment, and after doing that I honestly feel like I could run a marathon and survive (people who had run marathons said it was comparable-I dunno bout that but it was sooooo hard!) The view made everything worth it, it is like an alien world up there. You can see everything and the views of the ocean and of cape town are breathtaking. Table moutain from the ground looks entirely flat and has legendary clouds known as the table cloth for the way they wrap themselves around the top. There are many legends about these saying everything from a smoking contest that continues with the gods, or as a way for the beauty of cape town to remain hidden and secret from the outside world. The table cloth blew in after we had had a while to look around which gave us the opportunity to see both sides of table mountain and was amazing. After looking around we rode the cable car down and headed back to have another exciting night on the town.
The nest day me and Jamed woke up and because we had been unable to go the day before we went skydiving. I have never been more nervous for something in my entire life! You get into this tiny plane and they have this clear cover that slides down to close you in. I unfortunately was the last on the plane and was thus pressed against this tiny glass cover, which seemed like it had no lock. Since I wasn’t harnessed into anyone yet this was really really scary and I kept forcing the guy to tell me it was locked. We went up and I was also the first one to go (which in hind sight was smart because if I had seen anyone go –apparently it looks like they are sucked under the plane-I probably would’ve freaked) I was almost hyperventilating by this point especially since I didn’t really know what was going on. About 60 seconds prior and I had sat down in my guys lap and he had strapped me in, only telling me to keep my head up and that we were going to sit with our legs dangling out of the plane. Looking out only seeing earth and things as tiny specs below you, knowing that in a second you are going to be freefalling is actually insane, I look positively crazy and then in the next second I was falling, with my cheeks blowing back and only incredible views around me, I know they say your stomach doesn’t drop but I still waited for it fully expecting it to happen but it never came. It was the biggest adrenaline rush ever and I can’t wait to go again (maybe for our 21st chels??) I got a video of me doing this which is probably the most disgusting thing you will ever see and it rivals the soccer video (so yes you all will be dieing when you see it) as far as funniness and ugliness of me (if it is somehow incorporated into my wedding you all will die)
After skydiving I went to an internet café for a bit-I only managed to get one movie up and maybee two pics ugh and then me and James, lilly, gabi, greg, and paroma all went to Robbin Island. Robbin Island was a place where the kept political prisoners and was where Nelson Mandela was kept. It was really cool to go there and learn more about such a historical place. The tours are given by past prisoners so they are able to tell you about their story and whatnot. Our guide had gotten arrested for trying to recruit people into his organization which was anti-apartheid. He was arrested at the age of 19 and was forced to stay in prison for 5 years. The prison was very segregated and there were many different areas all of which were separated from one another. For example the areas where the high profile inmates like Mandela were kept was very segregated and they were unable to interact with other inmates. Our guide was in a group holding cell where most slept on the floor. Another interesting fact was that different ethnic groups received different treatment. If you were A (white) a B (colored-Asian/Indian) or a C (black). Based off of that you were given different food, different privileges etc. It was really sad and interesting to hear about the inner workings of Robbing Island, a place with such a notorious past.
My final day in Cape Town I spent on an SAS trip where we helped out a local NGO called operation hunger. They work on multiple projects in varying sectors from food aid, water sanitation, and HIV aid and education. We went to help out at a local food kitchen that they help in a township right outside of Cape Town. It was amazing how different this part of Cape Town is. The disparity in the townships rivaled that which I saw in Ghana. Shack houses, with outhouses, no running water, or electricity and barefoot children running around painted a very different picture than the one I had first received at the Cape Town waterfront. We met up with a woman who worked for operation hunger and who specifically helped out at this soup kitchen often. When we first got there she told us that the mothers were going to come early and that we were going to do a short research study where we took the weight and age of the children and then based off of that determined their level of malnutrition. A -3 was severely malnourished, which went to a 0 being average to 3 being overweight. We weighed around 35 children, of the children that we weighed; only two were 0’s. Most were -2 or -3. The most despairing situation came in the form of a sweet two year old that weighed 14.5 lbs…less than half of what she should have. It is hard to imagine that there were two sides to the Cape Town that I saw but this definitely showed me that poverty did exist here. The hardest fact was that these people did not seem to want to help themselves. There is a clinic about 15 minutes away that provides care for malnourished children free of charge, but for some reason or another it is not utilized. It is discouraging because how can you help to change this cycle that is perpetuating society if people are not willing to help themselves? How can you empower people to realize that their situation isn’t dismal? We helped to cook the food and then left while it was cooking to go an visit a donated library that this man named John had started. It served as an afterschool program for kids and children from all around the township came to utilize it. We learned that in the school the highest education that a teacher has is a 7th grade education, the lowest was a 4th grade education. These teachers were responsible for teaching classes of upwards of 50 children. This obviously does not facilitate an atmosphere of learning and pushes children through the system whether they are illerate or not. The afterschool program was helping to provide the needed push and help that these kids needed to succeed in school. It was nice to see that some programs were really able to make a difference. After we visited the school we went and had lunch on a local beach. I went on this FDP with non of my normal group (Mandela, James, and Alex were supposed to come but ditched out…) but I really enjoyed talking with some new people and getting to know them better, it was a nice change of pace. We ate our box lunches on the sand watching the waves, and talking about boys, and life on the ship and general girl gossip that I normally miss out on, given that I hang out with a bunch of guys all the time. After lunch we headed back to the soup kitchen to help them serve the food. I was privileged because I ended up getting to hold a little 4 month old baby (who honestly looked and weighed the same as a 1-2 month old..) who was a twin. Her sister wasn’t there but looking at her precious little face I couldn’t help but think of the incredible bond that she was going to share with her twin (just like you and me cheech). The little baby, Camden was so precious and she ended up falling asleep as I rocked her so of course I fell instantly in love and when she woke up people had to literally pry her out of my grasp so that they could hold her, but after holding her for about an hour I guess it was time to share, plus my arm was tired. After that we left and we headed back to the ship to leave and head for Mauritius and I fell instantly asleep, only to awaken 14 hours later to find myself sea bound again…
When we got back from the farm lunch had been prepared at a local school for us, it consisted of beans with a pepper sauce, rice, and plantains, and of course was delicious. GHANIAN FOOD IS SOOOOO GOOD!!! I wonder if we have any restaurants because we all have to go! After lunch we headed back to the village for our drumming and dance lesson. Our instructor was this tiny little man who kept getting really annoyed with us. First he tried to find someone to beat this cowbell, which was the main instigator of keeping the rhythm, none of the boys could do it! Frustrated I tried to give them advice and found the cowbell handed to me by our instructor, which of course I was able to do perfectly. I was really upset because I and wanted to dance so I tried to give it up but it was really hard because noone else could do it! Bryan tried forever and because I wanted to dance he finally just modified it so that Bryan could do it hahaha. It was really funny because Bryan just kept on trying and trying to get it but he actually couldn’t lol. We practiced forever the dance and I was actually really proud of myself because I had ladies telling me that I looked like a true Ghanaian which was saying something because literally everyone was laughing at our attempts to get the dance moves down. After our dance and drum practice which went about 2 hours we were exhausted but knew that we had to experience Ghanaian night life. We went out and danced to hip live, which is like African hip-hop and is awesome. I danced the night away with everyone and we noticed that Fred our tour guide was dancing really close to this girl named Maggie which we all thought was interesting but didn’t really think to much into it.
The next day we woke up and got dressed in our cultural outfits and performed the dance and drumming we had learned, but we totally messed it up, thankfully some students joined us, and we got slightly back on track however our outfits were really skimpy and my entire top fell down at one point which made everyone watching (which was over 300 people btw) laugh. It was slightly terrible lol. After that we got back on the bus and headed back to Takoradi.
The final day we were in port I went on an FDP (field directed practica) for my natural resources and social conflict class which was looking at the gold mining industry it is amazing some of the atrocities that those people underwent from the multi-nationals that came in to mine in these areas. (add in detail, story of Maggie and fred and the senase project) overall Ghana was an eye opening experience and one that I will never forget!
South Africa was AMAZZINGGG! If you didn’t already hear, because of the winds we were unable to dock for over 24 hours! Meaning that we lost an entire day in South Africa due to weather conditions it was terrible! I missed both my one day safari and my wine tour but in the end it was ok. When we got in I went out to explore Victoria Wharf with a few friends. The waterfront of Cape town is so gorgeous and rivals areas like san Francisco and San Diego for beauty. There is a lot to do there whether it is to ride the ferris wheel go to the mall, catch a movie, or go for a nice dinner right on the water. We went into the mall and it was nice to finally be back in civilization! I didn’t but anything but I was able to pick up my tickets for U2 for later that night!!!! After walking around for a while we headed back to the ship and got ready to head out for the U2 concert! The concert was taking place in the stadium that was recently built for the World Cup this past summer and it can hold up to 50,000 people! The entire place was packed and since we had general admission seating we were on the ground with thousands of other people. I went to the concert with Simi, Mandela, Alex, and Adit. We pushed our way to a pretty good spot and then waited for it to begin. In front of us were a group of South African students who were really rowdy and it smelt exactly like what me and chelsey smelt watching the world cup game in Pamplona in the town square. Brought back good memories and it was crazy to think that the game I was watching on the screen that night took place exactly where I was now standing! Alex and Mandela wanted to get shirts and beers and decided to go and come back but I refused to go because I knew there was no way they would get back and I was right! Simi went with them so that was the last time I saw any of them until after the concert, I was kind of mad because I didn’t know Adit at all, but we had a really good time and from where we were standing I could actually see Bono some times. The concert was sooooooooooooo good! If I ever get the opportunity to see them again I would go hands down it was the best concert I have ever been to in my life (which isn’t saying all that much but they were phenomenal!). After the concert we went out and stayed up wayyy too late.
I woke up the next day and walked around cape town (we were supposed to go skydiving but it was too windy ☹) so instead me James and my other guy friend Alias went and did some shopping and went to see part of the X games which were also taking place in Cape Town. I bought a marimba which is this cool instrument for Ben and we sat in the back of a van that had been converted into an atm and plucked away at the marimba for a while, it was good fun. Then we went out for a really nice dinner at this restaurant called beluga which had amazing food (I got sushi and lamb, both were fantastic) I went to dinner with my friends James and Brandon, and it was nice to learn more about both of them and then we went out to the famous long street which is home to all the bars and clubs and met up with some fellow SASers. Again we stayed out late this time purposefully because we had to leave for shark diving at 5:15 and did not trust ourselves ti wake up at a decent hour if we actually did go to bed. We went to this street side vendor at 4:45 and got amazing sausages, witnessed someone get mugged and made our way back to the ship with just enough time to change and meet up with the other peeps we were going cage diving with. The drive to Gannsbai (where we went to do it) was about 2 and a half hours away so we slept in the van. We got there around 8 and had some breakfast, The company we went through was really awesome they had taken people like Brad Pitt, Jeff Corwin (animal planet), cooper Anderson, halle berry, prince henry and more cage diving. The owner of the company was a researcher and had free dove with great whites many time in hopes to dispel the myth of them being cold blooded killers. We finally got on the ship and headed out. Let me tell you that I got sea sick very quickly becaue the boat was flying over the waves and the smell of chum kept sweeping by me, thankfully I didn’t throw up but my friend paroma did! When we got there the owner was already out doing research and he said that they had already spotted 6 sharks! This is really cool because it is not currently shark season and because of this nothing is ever guaranteed. However recently there has been a lot of shark activity at this time because climate change is making it so that everything in nature is a little wonky. We learned that there are only 1000 great whites left and that our children will probably never see one alive which was a very humbling and sad fact. Then we got into our wet suits and waited for one to come! The cage was a long rectangle and when we got in there were 7 different sections each section held one person. I was in the last group so I went up to the top of the ship to watch and take video. OMG these sharks were huge! They looked like giant torpedos under the water, even the baby one rivaled any shark that I had ever seen in captivity for size. Finally it was my turn to get in and amazingly I was not nervous! When you get into the cage you hold onto the bars that separate each section and place your knees onto this yellow bar. You stay like this with your body half submerged until they yell “down” at which point you are supposed to throw yourself under hold unto the yellow bar with your hands and observe. You have a little weighted belt which keeps you submerged but it took me a few tries to get down the sequence, first off because I am short getting back up was a challenge and also I kept forgetting to take sufficient air in because I always got to excited when they yelled for us to go down. I also kept knocking my shins into the yellow bar and kicking the guy next to me on my way up or down. However nothing mattered compared to seeing those sharks. We were lucky and had sharks come super close to us, one literally was staring me in the face from about 3 feet away, another swam so close that I could have reached out and touched him, a different one bit the cage right by james, and one floated by at about 15 feet in length, it was unreal!
When we got back from cage diving me and James although sleep deprived had this brilliant idea to hike table mountain. (add in story about crazy water selling man). It was probably the hardest exercise I have ever done! I have never done a stair master but from what I have heard from season stair master users is that this hike was like being on a stair master on the hardest setting for 2 ½ hours. All I know is that I barely survived it. Given that I have short limbs I honestly was bringing my knees to my chest to clim the high stones, and was at points literally on my hands and knees. Needless to say I took many breaks and James kept on running ahead then yelling words of encouragement at me. It started to drive me crazy because he almost sounded patronizing but that frusteration helped to fuel me on so I guess we could say he was motivational in a way. Getting to the top was such an accomplishment, and after doing that I honestly feel like I could run a marathon and survive (people who had run marathons said it was comparable-I dunno bout that but it was sooooo hard!) The view made everything worth it, it is like an alien world up there. You can see everything and the views of the ocean and of cape town are breathtaking. Table moutain from the ground looks entirely flat and has legendary clouds known as the table cloth for the way they wrap themselves around the top. There are many legends about these saying everything from a smoking contest that continues with the gods, or as a way for the beauty of cape town to remain hidden and secret from the outside world. The table cloth blew in after we had had a while to look around which gave us the opportunity to see both sides of table mountain and was amazing. After looking around we rode the cable car down and headed back to have another exciting night on the town.
The nest day me and Jamed woke up and because we had been unable to go the day before we went skydiving. I have never been more nervous for something in my entire life! You get into this tiny plane and they have this clear cover that slides down to close you in. I unfortunately was the last on the plane and was thus pressed against this tiny glass cover, which seemed like it had no lock. Since I wasn’t harnessed into anyone yet this was really really scary and I kept forcing the guy to tell me it was locked. We went up and I was also the first one to go (which in hind sight was smart because if I had seen anyone go –apparently it looks like they are sucked under the plane-I probably would’ve freaked) I was almost hyperventilating by this point especially since I didn’t really know what was going on. About 60 seconds prior and I had sat down in my guys lap and he had strapped me in, only telling me to keep my head up and that we were going to sit with our legs dangling out of the plane. Looking out only seeing earth and things as tiny specs below you, knowing that in a second you are going to be freefalling is actually insane, I look positively crazy and then in the next second I was falling, with my cheeks blowing back and only incredible views around me, I know they say your stomach doesn’t drop but I still waited for it fully expecting it to happen but it never came. It was the biggest adrenaline rush ever and I can’t wait to go again (maybe for our 21st chels??) I got a video of me doing this which is probably the most disgusting thing you will ever see and it rivals the soccer video (so yes you all will be dieing when you see it) as far as funniness and ugliness of me (if it is somehow incorporated into my wedding you all will die)
After skydiving I went to an internet café for a bit-I only managed to get one movie up and maybee two pics ugh and then me and James, lilly, gabi, greg, and paroma all went to Robbin Island. Robbin Island was a place where the kept political prisoners and was where Nelson Mandela was kept. It was really cool to go there and learn more about such a historical place. The tours are given by past prisoners so they are able to tell you about their story and whatnot. Our guide had gotten arrested for trying to recruit people into his organization which was anti-apartheid. He was arrested at the age of 19 and was forced to stay in prison for 5 years. The prison was very segregated and there were many different areas all of which were separated from one another. For example the areas where the high profile inmates like Mandela were kept was very segregated and they were unable to interact with other inmates. Our guide was in a group holding cell where most slept on the floor. Another interesting fact was that different ethnic groups received different treatment. If you were A (white) a B (colored-Asian/Indian) or a C (black). Based off of that you were given different food, different privileges etc. It was really sad and interesting to hear about the inner workings of Robbing Island, a place with such a notorious past.
My final day in Cape Town I spent on an SAS trip where we helped out a local NGO called operation hunger. They work on multiple projects in varying sectors from food aid, water sanitation, and HIV aid and education. We went to help out at a local food kitchen that they help in a township right outside of Cape Town. It was amazing how different this part of Cape Town is. The disparity in the townships rivaled that which I saw in Ghana. Shack houses, with outhouses, no running water, or electricity and barefoot children running around painted a very different picture than the one I had first received at the Cape Town waterfront. We met up with a woman who worked for operation hunger and who specifically helped out at this soup kitchen often. When we first got there she told us that the mothers were going to come early and that we were going to do a short research study where we took the weight and age of the children and then based off of that determined their level of malnutrition. A -3 was severely malnourished, which went to a 0 being average to 3 being overweight. We weighed around 35 children, of the children that we weighed; only two were 0’s. Most were -2 or -3. The most despairing situation came in the form of a sweet two year old that weighed 14.5 lbs…less than half of what she should have. It is hard to imagine that there were two sides to the Cape Town that I saw but this definitely showed me that poverty did exist here. The hardest fact was that these people did not seem to want to help themselves. There is a clinic about 15 minutes away that provides care for malnourished children free of charge, but for some reason or another it is not utilized. It is discouraging because how can you help to change this cycle that is perpetuating society if people are not willing to help themselves? How can you empower people to realize that their situation isn’t dismal? We helped to cook the food and then left while it was cooking to go an visit a donated library that this man named John had started. It served as an afterschool program for kids and children from all around the township came to utilize it. We learned that in the school the highest education that a teacher has is a 7th grade education, the lowest was a 4th grade education. These teachers were responsible for teaching classes of upwards of 50 children. This obviously does not facilitate an atmosphere of learning and pushes children through the system whether they are illerate or not. The afterschool program was helping to provide the needed push and help that these kids needed to succeed in school. It was nice to see that some programs were really able to make a difference. After we visited the school we went and had lunch on a local beach. I went on this FDP with non of my normal group (Mandela, James, and Alex were supposed to come but ditched out…) but I really enjoyed talking with some new people and getting to know them better, it was a nice change of pace. We ate our box lunches on the sand watching the waves, and talking about boys, and life on the ship and general girl gossip that I normally miss out on, given that I hang out with a bunch of guys all the time. After lunch we headed back to the soup kitchen to help them serve the food. I was privileged because I ended up getting to hold a little 4 month old baby (who honestly looked and weighed the same as a 1-2 month old..) who was a twin. Her sister wasn’t there but looking at her precious little face I couldn’t help but think of the incredible bond that she was going to share with her twin (just like you and me cheech). The little baby, Camden was so precious and she ended up falling asleep as I rocked her so of course I fell instantly in love and when she woke up people had to literally pry her out of my grasp so that they could hold her, but after holding her for about an hour I guess it was time to share, plus my arm was tired. After that we left and we headed back to the ship to leave and head for Mauritius and I fell instantly asleep, only to awaken 14 hours later to find myself sea bound again…
Friday, February 18, 2011
More of Ghana and more to come
After walking around Takoradi for a little bit I had to go back to port because I had an FDP with my women in national development class. It was a talk on the new Domestic Violence law passed in Ghana. The main point of the talk was to highlight specifically what fell under the new law as “abuse.” The speaker went into great detail as to what exactly can be considered domestic abuse. For example if an HIV positive partner who knows they have the disease, intentionally passes on the virus that is considered domestic abuse. A female lawyer also presented at the talk. Her main focus was on how people’s perceptions needed to change and how women needed to be empowered to break through the cycle that occurs in domestic violence cases in Ghana. From the woman many said that they would turn to family members who would then turn them away and force them to return to the abusive relationships. The lawyer believed that education was the stepping stone for these women to break through and become independent. Many women do not have the means or livelihoods to make it on their own. Their lack of education combined with multiple children keeps them locked within these toxic relationships. At the lecture many young Ghanaians were present, especially young men. This seemed to be something that could be viewed as a leap forward in the sense that it shows young males had an interest in changing the current perceptions on abuse in Ghana. The current perception is that people should mind their own business and that the woman should suffer in silence. This means that even when people have clear evidence that a woman is being abused they would not likely go to the police to help her. The fact that so many young individuals were present points that a change in perceptions is soon to occur. Womens movements internationally struggle to make rapid changes and empowering the woman of Ghan will be no different, it is going to take time and a shift in the traditional way of thinking in Ghanaian society. This traditional way of thinking goes back to the idea of gender roles in society and how men are seen as the head of the household. However I was reassured by the role that the church is taking in helping to eradicate abuse through workshops and facilities for battered women. After the talk I went back to port and got ready to go out. I went out with Bruno, Tom, and Laura to a little bar that a lot of SASers were going to to watch the super bowl. It was pretty fun however I went back semi early because I was supposed to leave the next morning at 5 for my homestay.
The next morning my alarm went off at 4 oclock and I got up fully expecting to shower, wash my hair, etc for the three days of sirtiness that was to come. However just as I was going to the bathroom, my phone rang. It was Casey the girl in charge of the homestay asking where I was. Confused I said in my room and she impatiently told me that It was 5:10 and I was late to leave and that they were about to go! My phone had somehow changed the time so that my phone was an hour off! Luckily I had packed most of my bag the night before and so I didn’t have to worry too much about packing but in my panic I could not find my ID card which is necessary to get off the ship. Luckily Mandela and Bryan came to my room and much calmer were able to find it for me. I ran out of my room and apologized profusely for holding the group off. So then I left for my home stay unshowered with oily hair, and having forgotten my deodorant and contact case and solution. However, I was just thankful that I didn’t miss it! We walked out to where we met the vans and prepared to get on when a woman approached us asking if we were from the ship. When we said yes she told us that one of our shipmates was being held in jail for not paying for his taxi. We went to bail him out and it turned out to be my friend James! Our tour guide bailed him out and then we finally got into our vans and set off!
To give you a bit of background information on why I decided to do this homestay. First while on facebook one day (researching semester at sea instead of studying or doing anything related to being productive last semester) I stumbled upon this website called the Senase project that was started by a group of people from the Fall 2010 voyage of semester at sea. They had done a homestay in Ghana and it had changed their lives. So inspired by the people and wanting to help them out they began a non-profit in honor of the village that they stayed in Senase to help them raise enough money to build schools. The way they had done the homestay was really random. In Accra they had met a guy named Fred who was just beginning a tour agency, after hanging out with him for a while they expressed their desire to get an authentic experience while in Ghana. Because of this he decided to take them to his hometown of Senase. Fred is an amazing person. He is only 20 years old and already runs his own company in hopes of putting his money and labor back into his village so desperately in need of help and funds. When I saw that there was going to be an opportunity to visit this village I jumped on it. Needless to say I was excited to get going and see what my time in Ghana would teach me.
Our first step was at Elmina Castle a compound that was owned by the Portuguese, originally starting out as a religious place for the Portuguese, Elmina castle was the first castle to be established in Tropical Africa. It was also a major site for the slave trade in Africa. Going to Elmina it was unreal to think of the atrocities that were inflicted upon these people. They were kept there for anywhere from a month to three months and were kept in horrible conditions not even let out to go to the bathroom. The women were raped and separated from their children and many people died while waiting to get sent to the Americas. Looking out the door of no return where they would board the ships was really emotional, because thankfully for us we were allowed to turn around, but for many of the Africans it meant being separated from their families for the rest of their lives, as well as a life of labor and hardship if they managed to survive the trip over the ocean. The craziest part about all of it was the fact that many of the slave trips went to Brazil, meaning that the MV Explorer had literally traveled on the same route as these slave ships.
The rest of the day was very long and consisted of a lot of sleeping and driving. We stopped at an artisan compound and picked up our drums, which I really hope make it through US Customs! (we shipped them home) It wasn’t until late at night that we arrived in Senase. We were greeted by over a hundred kids yelling laughing and jumping, all of them wanted to hold our hands and take pictures with us. They loved to see themselves in the camera lense. It was so awesome to just be surrounded by all this instant love. You could tell that they really wanted us to be in their community. After our welcome at the school they played drums and everyone danced around for a while before heading back to Fred (our tour guides) family home. We were given dinner, which was a delicious fish stew over rice cooked with a local leaf that I still don’t know the name of. After dinner everyone was fairly exhausted so we all set off to our respective homes with our host families. Most people were just staying with one other person but I was in a group of 4. I roomed with Bryan, Mandela, and this guy named Don. I seem to keep breaking the statistics of both semester at sea, and every trip I go on by usually being with guys haha, of the 8 on our trip (with 22 girls) I got three all to myself! Our house was actually the farthest away form the central part of the village and we had to walk for 15 minutes down a dirt road (covered in toads!-both dead and alive) and cross a rickety plank bridge to get there. Our host family was really nice and the man who owned the house was named Francis. We were surprised to discover that we would be staying there alone without the family who would be staying somewhere else. I think it was in an attempt to make us feel more comfortable but we only felt bad since we were unsure where the family was staying. The house consisted of a family room (that also had a fridge) and then one bedroom. Given what we were expecting it was really nice. We also had a real bathroom with a flushing toilet and a place to shower. The house was set up in a sort of compound so the bathroom was shared among all the residents of the compound and we had to use keys to get into it. Francis had a tv and he turned it on for us and we watched really funny music videos with big fat ladies and normal sized guys dancing around. Fatness is not taboo here, it isn’t frowned or smiled upon but having more meat on your bones is a signal of wealth here. Once Francis left we were all pretty worn out so after watching a few more music videos (with lyrics like : if its good for you, then its good for me, then its good for the ganga) we headed to bed.
I barely slept at all because roosters in Ghana it appears do not just crow at dawn but at any hour of the night. But I was up bright and early ready to head out! A local guy nicknamed Obi (because we never knew what he was saying his name was we think it might have been Obijeke) came to help us navigate our way back. We walked around saying good morning to everyone ( in Twi you say : Ma Che! ) and then asking them how they are doing (etta sey? To which you could respond ayyay or me woo ya ) they laughed at our funny sounding Twi. Obi took us to his friends pig farm and then got us these yummy fried balls of dough similar to doughnut except they were just made with banana and flour. After that we went to eat breakfast at Fred’s house. Breakfast was a gruel made out of cornstarch that was actually surprisingly delicious. Then we went to go see the daily lives of people. This consisted of going to visit a farm. It was a 15 to 20 minute bus ride out to the farm my group went to visit, and I was surprised and horrified to know that this distance is usually walked by the owner of the farm. The owner was a 65-year-old lady whose livelihood depended on the farm. Taking us to her plot of land we passed by little huts that people live in, so that they don’t have to commute to their farms everyday. These were more of what I had envisioned when I thought of village life, made completely out of mud and with no electricity or running water. There were a lot of kids helping out shucking corn or doing daily chores, when asked why they weren’t in school we learned that many families could not afford the school fees. I want to write more but I will later on Ghana, I’m sorry to keep you guys waiting!
Friday, February 11, 2011
Waka Waka Africa!
Words cannot begin to describe what I just experienced in Africa. It was fun, humbling, amazing, life-changing all in one. The first day when we pulled into port I was a bit skeptical getting off of the ship because there were a lot of hecklers trying to sell their wares and it was really intense with them being very pushy. But we got off and started to take the 20 minute walk to get to the end of the shipping yard where we could catch taxis. On our way we began to smell a very interesting scent. It smelt very yeasty and almost sour and was not very pleasant and the smell almost overpowered you when you were walking by some of the storage cells at port. It took us about 15 minutes to realize that it is cocoa. Ghana is one of the leading exporters of cocoa in the world. In our classes we learned a lot about the cocoa industry and the negative effects it has in Ghana. Like any 3rd world country Ghana has a lot of things that could use improvement and one of them is their labor force and the price we pay for the goods we import from them. Farm owners can barely make a profit on these wages and thus use child, slave, and exploited labor on these cocoa farms to turn a meager profit. I helped with a project where we sent valentines to David West (CEO of Herseys) to try to get him to see why he should create a fair trade chocolate bar for hersheys (who is one of the last companies to do so). I know multinationals are always more concerned with the bottom line but I feel like we also have to take into account the repercussions of forcing this bottom line lower and lower. It leads to poor working conditions in sweat shops, child labor in cocoa, increase in poverty, a decrease in education for the children of the families, the list could go on and on but it basically perpetuates the cycle of poverty. And poverty was definitely evident here. For the first time I saw children with round bellies not from overeating, I saw people who only ate one meal a day cook me breakfast, lunch, and dinner, I saw hunger in the eyes of children that broke my heart, I saw kids who could not afford to go to school because their families could not afford the uniform and the 40 cedi per semester (under $30 USD) cost that it would take to send them. But before I get more into that I should fully explain my time in Takoradi. Takoradi is one of the bigger cities in Ghana and it definitely was unlike any city I had ever been to. Full of shacks similar to the favelas with tiny little stands littering the dirt filled streets with vendors everywhere: men selling piles of used shoes on the road. Women walking around with huge containers on their heads (everyone carried things on their heads!) with everything from drinks, foods, and trinkets inside; while their baby was also wrapped onto their back. Bush meat for sale with heads of antelopes and other unknown creatures, women cleaning fish and giving the innards to begging children, goats and chickens walking around the market as if they to were shopping. I finally felt like I was in another world. Ghana made it evident that I had finally left the United States. I want to write more right now especially about my homestay(and about the poverty and experiences I inferred above) but I have a ton of HW so I will try and get the rest posted by tonight but I wanted to give you a little insight into what I experienced!
Saturday, February 5, 2011
Ghana Ghana Ghana
Today in Class we focused a lot on Ghana since we get in tomorrow, it is very interesting to learn some of the facts about this country which seems to have so many facets. Ghana is a leader in the cocoa industry and thus is a place that is working on brining fair trade to specific co-ops child labor is very prevalent especially in the cocoa industry. Also an interesting fact is that only 13% of women use contraceptives in Ghana leading to the prevalence of large families and the spread of HIV. Dance is a huge part of their lives as is singing and drumming. They dance to welcome any sort of event or parting. In our home stay we will be dancing as a farewell. Its actually a big deal, for our final dance many important officials and all the primary schools will be coming to watch us! Drums are not only for music but it is also spiritual where they believe that a drum is an extension of life until it is past use. The drum I am getting will be no different. 2/3 of Ghana are Christian but they also follow and believe in the customs and traditions of their specific tribes. I think it will be really interesting to see what I take from this country but finally we have reached the places that I believe will have a profound impact on the what path I decide to take career wise.
Friday, February 4, 2011
Go Yellow Sea!!!..or not (Ghana in 2 daysss)
So the yellow sea sort of failed at sea olympics…but we all had a lot of fun there were a bunch of different events, as head of the cheer team I pretty much just went to all of them and yelled a bunch. There were a bunch of different relays, a synchronized swim competition, a dress our LLC (like an RA) comp, spirit, chant, banner, etc pretty much everything you would see at any sort of homecoming week. We won a few but for the most part we kept placing third or fourth in events and not placing in the ones that awarded the most points. I liked it though because it got us interacting with people that we might not normally talk to in our sea. Other than that ship board life has been pretty much the same across the board nothing too exciting has happened. A bunch of people had tests but I don’t have anything until after Ghana, so like the procrastinator that I am I am waiting to study till after Ghana. I am soooooo excited to get into Ghana its going to be AMAZING! I am doing a homestay for most of the time that I am there and know that its going to be awesome I have convinced my friends Bryan and Mandela to come along here is our basic itinerary:
Senase Village
MONDAY Depart port as early as we start driving westward to the historical town Cape Coast,our first stop at the Slave Castle that used to be the administrative house for the British and a slave cell for the slaves.After a tour through the slave dungeons we will continue to to the Ashanti Kingdom where we will make a stop in the biggest open market in Ghana Kajetia Market to shop for few things then continue to Senase a unique village with very welcoming and loving people. After a short introduction to your various new families we will take a walk to have dinner with my family(Fred's) in a unique traditional way. Join the dancers and drummers for your first lessons of African music and dance, where you will be taught about 5 different kinds of African Music and dance.
Overnight in your new homes
TUESDAY Be wake by the melodies from the birds and get ready to visit the chiefs and elders of the village to seek permission to be in their community and also made them aware of our presence in their village as tradition demands. we will then depart to the village school to engage in some activities like teaching, singing,painting,playing etc. Gift can be shared. Over 90% of this community are farmers so it will be good to help our families in the farms at noon after our visit to the school.
Return home with stuffs from the farm to prepare dinner, where each group will be with their new families helping them in the preparations of dinner. Meet the dancers and drummers for your second lessons.
WEDNESDAY Ready for the lifetime excitement, where we will all meet at the village circle at the durbar where the chiefs,Queen mother and the villagers will be present to watch us perform and say farewell to us as we depart after our performance. We will then in our sad way say goodbye to families and friend and depart back to port.
I CANT WAIT!!!
Acapella is going good, I am not completely failing at it and I actually really like it. Nothing else is new I would love to hear from you guys though with what’s up back in the USA and Canada so please email me!!!
amreddy@semesteratsea.net
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