Ghana Days 1 and 2

I left Ghana tired dirty and sunburned but happier and more content then ever before.  I am eternally grateful that I was able to visit this place and be with such amazing people.  It is going to be very difficult to fully express my experience here in words but I will do my best.  It is a bit long but there is just a lot to say so hang in there.

My time was limited to only 4 days and it was divided into two distinct but wonderful experiences.  The first two days I traveled around the city of Winneba as a member of a delegation representing Semester at Sea, the Virginian city of Charlottesville as well as the entire United States.  This was a role I was not accustomed to and was not completely prepared for but I found it quite enjoyable.

I should give you a little background before I dive into this amazing experience.  Semester at Sea is academically sponsored through the University of Virginia which is located in the city of Charlottesville.  Now the Ghanaian city of Winneba recently became the sister city to Charlottesville and so they have established this connection.  My professor who was leading the trip was also the former mayor of Charlottesville.  So as you can see there were a lot of dynamics involved in this trip and although all of us were not there in some official capacity we were treated as such.

As we soon learned Ghanaian time is somewhat slower than we are used to, even in Hawaii.  After waiting for hours for our guests from Winneba to come they finally arrived and we were off to Winneba.  It was about a 3 hour bus ride and I got my first taste of Ghana as we drove through towns and countryside.  When we arrived we were greeted by the Mayor as well as the Chiefs of Winneba in a traditional ceremony of sorts.  Then it was off to the University of Education Winneba where we were greeted by a brass band as well as 75 or so students.  Earlier in the day I had volunteered to sit on a panel to represent the students of SAS but I was not sure what it would entail.  So as things got underway at the university I soon found out that I had to essentially describe to these students the entire Semester at Sea program.  Wow I was so not ready for that one but I guess I had explained it to so many people before I even got here it was sort of easy.  Than we listened to some students from the UEW talk about their university and answered a few questions.  I found their college experience to be somewhat similar to ours in the US but they lack sufficient access to new and relevant resources.  Considering most resources are online now it is very sad that they do not have high speed connections for the University.  Anyway they were very excited for our visit and they all wanted to know how they could get on SAS, I don’t blame them.

The next day we started early but it was raining hard so we were taken to a local courthouse to observe some proceedings.  There were some civil cases but then we got to see a wedding that took place in the courthouse.  We were not expecting that but it was fun to see.  From there we were rushed off to go meet with the Chief fisherman and his counsel.  We learned how they settle disputes as part of the legal system but out of the courts.  A very interesting integration of the old traditions with the new.  From there it was off to a local market to meet with the Market Queen.  At first we sat awkwardly in the center of the market with everyone staring at us but after a little dialog they immediately accepted us and started shaking our hands and dancing around.  We were told later that that was not normal at all and that our visit was truly exciting for them.  This is a theme that would continue throughout the trip which was just amazing for me as well as everyone else.  Usually we are the hated tourists even though we try not to be.  Everywhere I went in Ghana the people there wanted me to stay longer and that is just something you don’t often see.

After about 15 minutes in the market we had to leave to go present a indestructible soccer ball to a local elementary school.  The school was nothing more than a couple of rundown concrete buildings with a small dirt courtyard in the middle.  As we arrived the students were peeking out of their classrooms and as soon as the headmaster told them they could come out they rushed out into the courtyard.  They swarmed each one of us and they wanted to know our names but most of all they wanted their picture taken so they could look at themselves on the screen.  Then they wanted to press every button on the back of my camera to see what it did.  Even though most of them could not speak English we had a great time and I hope we brightened their day too.

Then it was back on the bus and back to the government center where we had gone the first night for our official send off.  The Mayor as well as the Director of Transportation was there to present the delegation with two gifts representing the connection we now had.  We were also presented with local hand made bags from a local youth organization which was just amazing.  They so appreciated our coming to visit them and our interest in their city.  Their kindness and generosity was overwhelming even though they clearly had very little to give.  It was truly refreshing and uplifting to be around people like that because I think we have really lost sight of this in the United States.