Author Archives: ees5258

About ees5258

Senior at Penn State headed to West Africa for a semester in Legon, Ghana!

Culture in Kumasi and Togo!

My time in Ghana is flying by and I cannot believe I only have about a month left! I finally finished all my midterms and now have to begin preparing for finals. My internship is going really well, I have enjoyed spending so much time with the kids at Hope Community Children’s Home and watching them grow through their schoolwork. For the rest of my time here I will be working towards my goal of buying a table and chairs for the Home, as currently the only surfaces in the main living space are a few tree stumps. I also am hoping to establish a clothing drive in the States upon returning home to make sure the kids look their best when they start school again in the fall. I have been so busy lately that I will just post an update from some trips several weeks ago!

Kumasi

My study abroad program went on a trip to Kumasi, Ghana’s second largest city. We spent the first day helping two past CIEE students who are building a library in an isolated fishing village on Lake Bosomtwe. We walked about half a mile with the children of the village to get water for the cement, and it was incredibly eye opening to see what it is like to have to walk to a neighboring village for just a gallon of water. The children there wake up at 4:30 everyday to fetch enough water for their families, and little kids were passing us carrying three times the amount of water I was struggling to hold. After lunch a few of us went on a hike to see the lake, which was a very rare and unique experience because our guide allowed us to use his village’s footpath. He told us we were probably the only Americans to have ever used the path because it is exclusively for fishermen of the village. Lake Bosomtwe is breathtaking, it was formed by a ancient meteor and now there are many superstitions surrounding the Lake. Fishermen there do not use any metal at all and only fish using traditional methods, so no fishing rods or nets. It is taboo to bring metal near the water.

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Later we visited a kente weaving village, where all members of the community are in some way involved in this traditional art. Kente is an intricate and prized fabric hand woven specifically in the Ashanti region. Every piece is unique because the weaver creates the pattern as he goes, and this attention to detail means it can take three days to finish one yard. We were lucky enough to watch expert weavers creating kente and had way too much to choose from when buying.

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We also visited one of the few Adinkra villages left in Ghana. These villages specialize in printing the traditional Adinkra symbols of Ghana, which were originally stamped on an individual’s funeral cloth to describe their life. There are over 100 of these symbols which are still recognizable and meaningful in Ghanaian culture today. A few members of this community spend their days making the authentic dye that was reserved for these symbols, which is extracted through a long process of grounding, mixing, boiling, and mashing specific tree barks from the jungle to create either black or red dye. We were all able to pick out a symbol and stamp it with the traditional dye on a cloth for our program.

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On our last day we visited Manhyia Palace, home to the Asante King. The Asante King has been an incredibly powerful leader in Ghana throughout history, and now the palace grounds also house a museum. On Saturday we visited the museum to learn about the Asante King and his people’s history, and then we were lucky enough to attend his celebration ceremony the next day! Every 42 days there is a ceremony held on the palace grounds where people come to see the King, and we by chance were there on the 42nd day. It was an incredible experience to see a real King in this traditional and authentic ceremony, and I felt very honored to have been welcomed to witness it.

The King is coming!

Togo

The next weekend several friends and I visited Ghana’s neighboring country to the east, Togo. We entered through the coastal capital of Lomé which is also Togo’s largest city. Togo is a French speaking country, so the language change as well as completely different currency and the fact that our cell phones did not work in another country called for a lot of quick adjustments right away. We were lucky enough to meet an incredibly kind woman named Yolanda who invited us to her home for a meal. She took us to her community where we bought ingredients for lunch at the market, and then she and her family taught us to cook a traditional Togolese soup. I am constantly amazed by the selfless hospitality in West Africa and how willing people are to invite strangers into their home. After lunch Yolande invited us to visit her family’s voodoo temple, which we of course agreed to. While most people associate voodoo with Haiti, voodoo actually originated in Togo and is a prominent religion in many communities. Yolande and her family had a small shrine in their home and are very involved with the temple in the neighborhood. At the temple we paid our respects to the leaders in charge, and before we knew it they involved us in a voodoo ceremony! We completely unknowingly had walked into a traditional ceremony where we had no idea what to expect but quickly became involved. To make a three hour long story short, there was gunpowder, smoke, lots of drumming and chanting and singing, a very important bowl of water, strange spicy nuts we had to eat, a shrine we could glance at, two chickens and sacred kola nuts. All of the guys had to take a turn holding this giant stone alter on their heads, and when the woman in charge said a girl had to hold it I switched in and took a turn with the alter on my head. A man chanted at me and lit fires in the alter, and luckily I switched right before they brought out a chicken to be sacrificed on the alter! Later the man in charge hit us all on the head with a live chicken before sacrificing it and throwing it into the shrine. We were then instructed to whisper to a kola nut our greatest wish for our lives, and because we had performed the ceremony the voodoo spirits would help our goals to come true. They would also protect us for the rest of our stay in West Africa and our journey back to Accra. We all left the temple in absolute shock and disbelief. It was a completely unique and incredibly rare experience that happened completely by chance, I feel very fortunate to have been lucky enough to be a part of it. Definitely one of the craziest moments of my life and a highlight of my semester here!

 

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Yoyo and I dancing to American music

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Location: Lome, Togo

Adventures in the West!

These past two weeks I have been traveling and adventuring more outside of Accra which has been very rewarding! The Western region is home to the Fante people who speak a different dialect of Akan than the Twi that is predominantly spoken in Accra. This past weekend was also Ghana’s Independence Day on March 6th, which is a huge holiday because Ghana was the first sub-Saharan African country to be free from colonialism in 1957. I celebrated at the music festival on Busua Beach which was an incredible experience!

Shai hills

Before leaving for the west some friends and I took a day trip to a national park a little outside of Accra called Shai Hills. This area is very rich in history and has an amazing view of the grasslands surrounding the hills. The Shai people lived in the hills about 100 years ago, and maintained their culture by hiding in the many caves in the hills to avoid the British who often came to collect taxes. One such cave is nicknamed the bat cave because it is full of hundreds of bats! We were able to find pieces of pottery and stone bowls left from the Shai people on our hike, which was so interesting to see. Another unique thing about the hills is the abundance of wild baboons living there. Baboons are typically afraid of people so hiking throughout the hills seeing the baboons are more rare, but the baboons living around the entrance to the park are more friendly towards people, so they will walk around near visitors and are not afraid to get close! Baboon attacks do happen so you are required to have a guard to guide you through your hike.

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Nzulezu, the Stilt Village

After traveling about five hours to another major city in Western Ghana, Takoradi, my friends and I continued on to the town of Beyin where you can get a tro tro to the famous stilt village, Nzulezu. Nzulezu means “city on water” because the entire village lives in homes built on stilts in the Tahore Lake. The village has been there for over 700 years and they live very separately from the mainland society. There is one guesthouse, so only about four visitors are allowed at a time, but luckily we were the only guests and were able to rent rooms for one night and stay over. Our guide took us on a canoe through the jungle to get to the village, and once there it was an incredible sight! The village is pretty self-sustaining; most people fish throughout the day and there are churches, a school, and several restaurants and bars. The only thing asked of guests is to bring school supplies as a gift because this is something they need the most. Another source of income is that the village produces its own locally made gin called akapeshie which is distilled in the village and sold on the mainland. We enjoyed a dinner of a full fish, tried the akepeshie at night, took a midnight swim with the children of the village before bed, and then spent the morning exploring a bit more before canoeing back to the mainland. It was definitely a unique experience and an incredible culture to witness!

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Canoeing to Nzulezu

Cape Three Points

After Beyin we continued West to the southern-most tip of Ghana and the closest piece of land to the geographical center of the world, Cape Three Points. It was more difficult to get to the village than we thought it would be, but after an hour-long drive through the jungle we made it to the coast. The village is pretty isolated, and we were  all shocked by the fact that this important landmark was not a tourist attraction at all. There is a lighthouse up the hill which was very cool, and the lighthouse keeper had made some monuments made to mark the center of the world, but that was about it. We really enjoyed the fact that this area was really simple and not a huge tourist trap. We were able to camp out on the cliff next to the lighthouse as far south as possible, which was neat to say we slept at the center of the world! Definitely my most interesting campsite, especially when we woke up with coconuts falling from our palm tree and goats circling our tent!

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Busua Beach

This past weekend my friends and I traveled West again to Busua for a big music festival celebrating Independence Day weekend. We were able to rent a room for all three nights for 10 cedis each, which is about $2.50! The village is very quaint but it was full of guests for the holiday. All the beach hotels and were full and there were lots of beach restaurants and bars to choose from throughout the weekend. We tried lots of interesting food like Ghanaian burritos (which do not taste like Mexican food at all) and banana tacos. There was live music playing constantly throughout the weekend, and at night there was a big concert of DJ’s and some live bands. During the day we were able to go surfing and boat out to an island not far from the beach, which was really interesting. On Sunday night there was a big jungle party to celebrate Independence Day, which was actually a party with DJ’s, a stage and a bar in a clearing in the middle of the jungle. The whole weekend was both relaxing and a lot of fun, besides the thumb-sized cockroaches in our room!

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boating to the island

boating to the island

Independence Day!

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Location: Western Region, Ghana

A very very small world

Internship Coincidence 

Dinner with the kids at Hope Community

Dinner with the kids at Hope Community

In Haatso

In Haatso

A few of the boys at Hope Community

A few of the boys at Hope Community

prayer shawls from St Marks to Pastor Ashley

prayer shawls from St Marks to Pastor Ashley

Coming to Ghana I did not expect to find anyone who had heard of my hometown, but I have been shocked by the people I have met here who have connections to Lancaster County. I started my internship with Hope Community Children’s Home in Haatso on Monday, which is about a ten minute tro tro ride from the University. The children’s home is in a church called Hope Community Chapel, which is a beautiful place on a quiet road with lots of friendly people. In one of my first conversations with my mentor Pastor Ashley, he asked where in the US I was from and I said Pennsylvania. He said, “Oh have you ever heard of Lancaster?” I was so excited and said I had because I live in Lancaster. This was very special because even a lot of the Americans in my program had never heard of Lancaster, so I’ve been explaining the Amish a lot. He then said, “you may have never heard of it but I go to a small town called Mount Joy in the summer.” At this point I nearly fell out of my chair because that small town is my home! We were both very excited as I (probably too loudly) said that I live and go to church in Mount Joy but went to school in Elizabethtown. He explained that his church is affiliated with Hope Community Church in Mount Joy, and a team from that church comes to visit in the summers. He has traveled to King of Prussia, Lancaster, and Lebanon for conferences and meetings before and stayed in Mount Joy for some time. For the rest of the day I was still in shock that of all the internship sites I could have been placed with, I was paired with a man who has been to my hometown in the middle of nowhere! Before I left home I was given a postcard with the name of a family I could contact in Ghana, and turns out that family works with Pastor Ashley as well! I still cannot believe all the coincidences and how small the world has become. So far I am loving the internship and spending time with the people and the children at Hope Community. Everyone has been very welcoming, and the kids are getting a good laugh at my attempts to dance like them and speak Twi. I am now hoping that through these crazy coincidences I can connect Hope Community with my home church and find a way to support this amazing organization!

Classes Don’t Start

Classes started last week, but at the University of Ghana apparently the first week of class matters even less than it does in America. Most of the professors do not come to class, and even less of the students make the effort to move in until the second week. This was very difficult to wrap my head around, but I did end up having two classes with a professor and a lesson so that was exciting. So far I think I will be taking working with people with HIV/AIDS, philosophy of social work, popular music in Africa, intro to Twi, and my internship. Classes are held once a week usually for about two hours, which is a little different than the typical class structure at Penn State but I think it will be nice only having each class once a week. That being said my closest class is about a 30 minute walk from my dorm so early classes will be a struggle!

Department of social work!

Department of social work!

Culture Lessons

I have had several opportunities to explore the local culture here at the University of Ghana, which started with a traditional African dance class. I looked ridiculous trying to keep up with the dancers teaching us, but luckily the rest of the Americans with me seemed to struggle just as much. Regardless of the fact that we all butchered the dance that our teachers made look so easy, it was fun watching them perform and somewhat learning the basics. Definitely glad I am not getting graded on that lesson!

I also learned to hand was my clothes on Friday, which was a huge task but surprisingly fun. It will be less fun when the sun is out and I have a large load to do, but I felt very accomplished by how clean my clothes looked and that I had personally washed each one. It definitely put into perspective for me how much I take for granted in the US and the luxuries we view as necessity! I can’t believe I used to complain about doing my laundry at school when I had my own washer and drier in my apartment. I definitely will never take washing machines or air conditioning for granted ever again!

laundry at the University of Ghana

laundry at the University of Ghana

All the clothes I washed by hand!

All the clothes I washed by hand!

After washing my clothes I went to the Medina Market with several friends. For those from Lancaster, this place is like Roots on steroids. It is huge and crowded and you can buy anything under the sun. It was incredibly overwhelming but very interesting to see. The size of the place and endless amount of products for sale was incredible, and after two hours the only thing I purchased was more clothes pins for my laundry!

My most recent experience was a cooking lesson where I made gari fortor. After getting the supplies from the market we had to chop the vegetables, cook the sauce, mix the gari (ground cassava), cook the chicken, and fry some eggs. It was very unique and unlike anything I’ve ever eaten before but it was very good. Hoping I can find somewhere back home to buy cassava!

Gari fortor!

Gari fortor!

Horses on the Beach

On Saturday my group ventured out to Labadie for a beach day. We were very excited to go horseback riding on the beach because that is what Labadie is known for. It is a bit overwhelming because everyone there was trying to sell us different things and get our attention, but we managed to still have a fun and relaxing day in spite of being offered bracelets and mangos every 30 seconds. Horseback riding on the beach is definitely different from riding back home in the grass, but it was a fun experience I was not expecting! The water was also very warm which was a nice surprise.

Jamestown beach

Jamestown beach

Labadie beach

Labadie beach

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beach cafe

beach cafe

Three weeks and it already feels like I’ve been in Ghana for months. I am loving the people, food, and even some of my classes. So far I have no sunburn, but I am dreading the end of winter when it will get even hotter!

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Coco Lounge for Kiera's birthday!

Coco Lounge for Kiera’s birthday!

The whole group!

The whole group!


Location: Haatso, Ghana

You gotta shovel some snow to get to the equator

Who would have guessed that the biggest blizzard in Pennsylvania history would hit the only weekend in my life that I am supposed to be flying internationally? Waking up Sunday morning I was crushed to see that my road had still not been plowed, and all the trains we could possibly take to NYC were cancelled. It was just starting to sink in that I might have to reschedule my flight and join the program late, when the miracle of my Aunt and Uncle’s Jeep came down our road. We quickly shoveled a path through the 28 inches of snow from our street to a plowed section, and amazingly were able to walk out to the Jeep and drive all the way to New York City. I am so fortunate to have family willing to wake up at 7am on their day off to come rescue me, and parents who took the risk of driving on those ridiculous streets for 5 hours to get me to the airport! At least now dad can cross driving in NYC off his bucket list 🙂

My flight went well and I could not have been happier to step off the plane into the 90 degree weather of Accra. My first day in Ghana was a whirlwind but I had so much fun. The other students in my program are all friendly and easy to get along with, and I think my room is even nicer than the freshman dorms at Penn State! The floors of the building wrap around the central open courtyard so everything is open, and each room has a private balcony as well. All the foods have been entirely unlike anything Ive ever tasted, but so delicious and spicy! Now that I have been here for three days I finally have the proper cell phone and wall charger, so I finally feel more connected!

I do not have many pictures yet because I am still trying to take it all in, but hopefully these next fews days spent on campus I will get some more photos!


Location: University of Ghana