After a month of Ghana life I have finally settled into a routine with my classes and my internship. My week is very disjointed, with a very busy Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday and a very slow Friday-Monday. Two weekend ago (February 11th and 12th), CIEE took us on a trip to Cape Coast, which is a very historical beach side town west of Accra. We spent the weekend learning how to Batik, a traditional tie dying technique, and traipsing the Kakum Canopies, which were a little too rickety for my taste.
The most powerful part of the trip was the tour of the slave quarters at the Cape Coast castle. We toured the spot where thousands of captured slaves stood as they waited months before being shipped to the Caribbean and Americas as part of the Triangle Trade. For the African American members of our group, it seemed to be very emotional and intense to stand where their ancestors once stood, thinking of the horrendous conditions they struggled through to bring the next generations to where they are today.
After the tour, we debriefed with the group and discussed our reactions to the tour. It shifted into a discussion of the developing separation and tensions felt by some groups of people based on race. Of course this is not true for everyone, but it was becoming evident enough that it was worth discussing with the whole group. That night we self assembled a dialogue with most of the students on the program about discomforts and race relations within the group. I know from facilitating the Difficult Dialogue Seminar that forming a constructive and open dialogue, even in ideal conditions, is very difficult. It was so incredible to see a diverse group of women come together to talk about something so personal and societally ingrained. It was a conversation that I really valued and I hope continues throughout the semester.
This weekend I’m going to the Green Turtle Lodge, a beach hotel/turtle sanctuary in the Western Region. It should be relaxing and hopefully we will see some turtles!
I also I am potentially shifting my now very boring observation at the Police Hospital into a social services project, but I will save that for my next post!
For those of you that didn't hear, Clark University was ranked one of the most socially awkward colleges. Here is an awkward picture of the Ghana Clarkies to prove it.
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