Gha-Na

I originally had two Semester at Sea trips planned for Ghana, Kakum National Park, and the village experience. By this time I had grown weary of SAS trips, as they seem counterproductive of being a traveler, seemingly sticking you in the tourist group and not letting you escape. Up until that point I had only done two, Sevilla and Cordoba in Spain, and Hiking in the High Atlas Mountains with the Berbers. The one in Spain was awful, and the one in Morocco was great, but I was still skeptical and wasn’t sure that I still wanted to do them.

 Well, fortunately for me, a few people that I knew asked me to tag along on their own Ghana trip which would be heading deep into the country away from the cities, and all urbanization to a remote village named Senase to bring school supplies and help to the children in the village. I happily accepted, wanting to have a much more cultural experience than Semester at Sea would provide, so I sold my two trips, paid for the new one, and was ready to go as soon as we could leave the ship.

            The morning we docked, my group gathered in Tymitz Square and waited for the second group that would be joining us. My groups mission was to help out in schools, while a second group that had nowhere to go asked to join us, and they would be installing a water purification system in the same village. This port was the same as Morocco, which meant that the city was not close to where the ship docked and a decent walk was required to reach it. So our group set forth, and when we reached the gates, we met our guide Fredrick Benna, who operates his own tour group, CAN DO LAND TOURS, and who had also been very active on Facebook, trying to talk to people and use his tour services. There were fifteen of us from the ship, plus Fred which made a total of sixteen. When we saw the van we would be traveling in, I knew that we wouldn’t all be able to fit in it, as it was clearly made for no more than twelve people, including the driver. Nonetheless, we squeezed in as best we could, however Fred didn’t feel safe with that many people in that small of a vehicle so we drove for a few minutes before we went to the rental company and switched into a bigger van, and used the ATM at the same time. The next stop was to switch license stickers on the front of the van (illegally I might add)from a commercial van, to a private one due to the number of people who were riding in it.

After that it was off we went, and began the drive to Senase. After driving for two hours we stopped in this town/village/side of the road with a few buildings for a short break, where we got to interact with the locals for a few minutes before we set off again. Not too long after that, the driver saw a dog in the road and veered off to the side to avoid hitting it. We saved the dog, but screwed up the car somehow and were stuck on the side of the road in front of Pastor Jacob’s  12 Apostle Church. The driver tried to fix the van, but was having no luck, so the rest of us decided to go and see the people who were standing outside of the Church looking at us. There we met Pastor Jacob, and his family who told us that this was his house, and that on days of worship the people would come here to join them in Prayer. The great thing about Morocco, which was also the case but even more so in Ghana, was that most people spoke English, so communicating was not as difficult in Spain. At first it was a bit awkward trying to talk to them as we were so foreign, and many of the younger people/children had never seen white people before. Then I realized that I had brought Dum Dums and went to go and get them from my bag in the van. When I returned and passed them out, the children had never had them and had no idea what to do with them, and so at first they put the whole thing in their mouth, until I unwrapped them for them. Even the adults wanted some…it was a great ice breaker.

Pastor Jacob and his daughter Charity then showed us around their home and property. They had many chickens and ducks running around, some puppies, and of course the dog that we almost hit was theirs as well. They showed us the swamp that they used as a toilet, and told us that that was where they also washed their clothes. Their house was little more than a hut with no running water, and barely anything else. In America it would be appalling to live in these conditions and anyone who would be doing so would be more than miserable, but here the sense of community is so strong that the people draw their hope and inspiration from each other, and they focus on what they have, not what they don’t. For them it not about what they want, but about wanting what they’ve got, and they were some of the happiest people I’ve ever seen. When I asked Charity later about the lollipops, she said that none of them had ever had them before, and when I heard that tears came to my eyes. Lollipops are something that I’ve grown up with, and had countless times was such a big thing to them, and something that I had always taken for granted. I had never experienced giving people such joy before in my life, through such simple means.

One of the people who I was with had also brought a few soccer balls, and decided to inflate one of them and give it to Pastor Jacob and his children. As they played together, I took a video of the fun, and then we were presented with raw cocoa from Charity, which has a terrible texture and an amazing taste. Even though we were having so much fun, the van was eventually fixed, and it was time to go.

We kept driving, nonstop until we finally got to Senase, almost eleven hours later. I hadn’t been in a car that long since I was six and drove from Rhode Island to Florida, Oklahoma, and Missouri, and then back again, not something that I enjoy. Since we broke down, we missed the community dinner and tribal presentation that we were supposed to have, and instead went immediately to Fred’s house, where we were greeted by his mother and the rest of his family. His sister had made us dinner, and by that point we were all very hungry. Dinner consisted of ground fish with some sort of mashed leaf and spice over boiled white rice. For me, seafood is not an option so I had ground egg with tomatoes and peppers over the same rice…it was delicious. At first I wasn’t sure what it was as we all dug into it with our hands…because in Ghana they do not eat with silverware, and was concerned that it was turtle meat as one of Fred’s brothers was playing with one that he said were abundant in the area. Then we split into our sleeping groups and went to bed for the night…or at least tried too. At first there was a giant bug in the room, then we were woken up by someone who yelled at us for having the door open, and then we were woken up by someone opening the door that we had closed with a chair leaning on it from the other side and making the chair fall, but in the end it was still a fantastic first night in Ghana.

            The next morning we got up and met with everyone for some breakfast in the “town” which really just consists of the center of the village. Breakfast was porridge in a bag, which you eat by biting a small hole in the corner of and sucking. The porridge was grey in color, gritty in texture, and resembled sour milk in taste, and was accompanied by balls of fried dough, which is their version of a donut. Before, during, and after breakfast we were quite the town spectacle, causing all of the children to run up to us and want to play and have their photos taken, which they love. They loved to pose with us, and then see the picture on the screen afterwards. After that we met with the Queen Mother of the village and asked for permission to stay in Senase and do what we came to do, which of course she said yes to. Usually a Queen Mother or chief never speaks directly to anyone but each other, instead they use a linguist, who then relays their message to everyone else. When we were there however, she chose to speak directly to us…a rare privilege.

            After meeting with them, the two groups spilt up to each complete the tasks we went there to do. My group climbed into the back of a large flat bed truck with planks of wood running horizontally across the back for seats. The eight of us and Fred all climbed in and set off. Nothing prepared us for how rocky it was going to be, not how fun it was. Chris and I decided to stand up and it quickly became a thrill ride…until the rain. We went to Ghana at the end of their rainy season, so we thought we would be able to escape it…unfortunately that was not the case. The drizzle that came initially turned into rain pretty quickly, and then came harder and harder, until it literally hurt us due to the fact that the harder it seemed to rain the faster the driver seemed to go, so the rain while fun, made me have to put my sunglasses on so that I could still see. As we were standing up, not only were we facing the rain and the bad roads that threatened to eject us from the truck, there were many tree branches that dangled down and hit me in the face a few times, as well as Chris. Everyone else seemed to enjoy the trip as well, even if most of them were completely soaked.

            We arrived at the school in a short amount of time, and even though the rain had not lessened we continued onward in our task. The school we went to was just on the outskirts of Senase, and provided education to the children from the nearby much smaller villages, some of them walking over three miles from home to get there. The school consisted of a tin roof made up of sheets of metal, littered with holes, supported by wooden beams that were held into place by badly made wooden fences. It was completely open and offered almost no protection from the elements. There were four classrooms, with a fifth being built, for the different grades that the school taught. After a quick tour, we split up into two people each per classroom to pass out the supplies that we brought and to help teach the kids. We colored with them, and talked to them, and they loved playing with the bubbles that we had brought, even the teachers enjoyed playing with them.

            After school got out we walked some of the kids back home, one of which picked us oranges right off the tree in his yard, which we ate on our way back to Senase. Once back in Senase we saw some of the water village people who were having difficulties with their project, so we had to wait for them to finish. For a little we just stayed in our room, but not too long after we decided to go explore. We didn’t get far as a swarm of children surrounded us and wanted to play. Grant ended up having candy on him which definitely enticed the children, but once they saw that Chris had another soccer ball they weren’t going to go away anytime soon. They jumped on us, climbed up my arms, demanded to be spun around, wanted dozens of high-fives and fist pumps, and wouldn’t stop laughing. It was one of the best experiences of my life.

            When we finally tried to escape we ran back into our room, which unfortunately had many windows…windows which let the children see that we were hiding from them, one of them even busted open the door! Anyway, once the coast was clear we once again met up for dinner, which that night was bush meat and fou-fou. The bush meat was deer, and once again there were no utensils, so everyone was expected to dig in. I tried a little of the fou-fou, and found it not to my liking so I had a repeat of the egg and tomato dinner. When dinner was over some of us decided to go out and have a beer in the closest thing to a town outside of the city, which provided good conversation and company, until we headed back and went to bed.

            The next morning we woke up early and unfortunately found out that Fred as sick in bed. I hadn’t known that Fred had malaria until that day, and we were all very concerned for him. Fortunately he recovered enough to get out of bed and come with us for the village dancing we were supposed to have seen the first night. The elders were there once again, but this time the water purification system had been set and used so that the other group was able to present some clean water, which amounted to about a gallon every two hours for a village of 4,000. After the water presentation some village teenagers came out and did some traditional Ghanaian dances for us. After that, it was time to go.

            We had a blast in Senase and plans were made to go back, as there is so much work that needs to be done. We said our goodbyes, gathered our things, and piled back into the van. It was another long ride back, though not as long as before, this time it only took us eight and a half hours since we did not break down on the way back. When we got back to the ship it was time for a shower, and then some dinner before heading out for the night to experience the local nightlife.

            The next morning was out last day in Ghana, and a group of us spent it at the beach. We just relaxed and talked, and hung out enjoying being on land before we had to get back on the ship. After the beach I hit the market that had set up outside of the ship trying to lure us in and spend any extra money that we had. I got a few things for some good prices, and got back on the ship.

            Ghana was amazing, and unlike anything I had ever experienced before in m y life. I had no idea what to expect, and I still am digesting it. I like Ghana more than Morocco and Spain combined, and if I had to go back to either of the three it would be Ghana. I feel so privileged to have been able to experience their culture, their countries, and their lives.