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!
No comments:
Post a Comment