OH MY GHANA!

Each country has its own unique and identifying characteristics. They each possess something that makes me fall more and more in love with the world we live in. It has never been so evident that we are all individuals, with unique personalities, but we all are the same in essence. WE ARE ALL PEOPLE. From 700 college students on a ship, to the crewmembers from Jamaica, to the Ghanaian taxi driver, to the nomads of Morocco, we all have a very strong common thread. Ghana has engrained this in me and it is something that I will forever value but most importantly has allowed me to have a much needed paradigm shift.
        I started off my 1st two days with Semester at Sea sponsored trips. The 1st day I went on a trip called slave dungeons and castles. Here we were taken to two castles that were used before and during the Atlantic slave trade. We were exposed to the quarters that the men and women were held captive in and got a true sense of the pain that they endured. This gave a tangible feeling for what I had learned for so many years in history classes. The thing that surprised me the most was the grotesque smell that filled the air. Our guide asked us to imagine back to the day of when individuals were actually kept in the quarters and how it must have truly smelt. Due to the lack of movement in these areas and also being malnourished individuals urinated, defecated, and slept in the same spot. This caused a truly nauseating scent. After the 1st castle we headed to a hotel resort for lunch, this is where I began to have a slight issue with SAS trips. There they provided us with wonderful food, somewhat authentic and some staged entertainment. As I set there and watched this entertainment, I felt as if I was in a glass box. I had not at all interacted with the people of Ghana or really felt their culture. I also have a new appreciation for taxi rides, stopping to ask for directions, and street vendors, this is truly the most amazing way to interact within ones culture. Don’t get me wrong the slave dungeons were a great experience and I learned a wealth of knowledge and have had the issue of slavery reintroduce to me in many different light.
        Bright and early the next morning I loaded the bus for another SAS trip. I had signed up this summer for a trip to the “water village”. I really had no idea what this would entail, but I thought it sounded interesting….I load the bus with a few friends and we are off on a 3 hour bus ride. While it took this long in Ghana, the distance was only about 75 miles. In Ghana one of the many things that is inadequate is their highway infrastructure, it is non-existent. Upon arrival we were greeted by some locals from the water village, which is only reachable by canoe. We were dressed in ever so attractive fluorescent orange life jackets as we floated away in our manmade canoes with our guide. The hour boat ride was very luxurious, through canals, rainforest and big open lakes. Mother nature also threw in a treat of her own; a downpour. Upon arrival to the village it was surreal to see an entire civilization built on stilts. We were greeted by the village elder and discussed with us the history that encompasses the village. We walked through the village and examined the conditions in which they lived. While it is so different from ours, I had a weird feeling within the entire duration of the visit. I know that I would not like someone walking down my street and peering into my bedroom. Shortly after arrival, we hoped back in the canoes and paddled back to this small restaurant for lunch. While these two trips I took with SAS were not the highlights of my voyage, they have taught me how to better plan for other ports. That is the most difficult part is even before boarding the ship deciding what trips to take in the first several ports.
        So here is the highlight of my 4 days, but I am warning you these thoughts are raw, so bear with me as I attempt to cohesively attempt to depict what I experienced. So on the 3rd day I joined 30 students and a few life long learners (LLLs) to head to City of Refuge Orphanage in Tema, which is located anywhere from 4-6 hours away from Takoradi. I learned about this service visit from a Life Long Learner, Ken, in my leadership class. He was hoping to arrange a visit to an orphanage that his daughter had visited on a whim when she sailed on the Spring Voyage this year.   We started to prepare 3 days before arrival in Ghana, talk about “flying by the seat of your pants”. We collected money from some LLLs and Ken provided the transportation, but who knew what a transforming 23 hours this would be.
        The City of Refuge Orphanage is one of the most amazing NGO’s I have ever witnessed. Two people are attempting to create such a dramatic change, and they are doing it! John, a Nigerian native and Stacey, a U.S. citizen met while volunteering in Ghana and have now created this fantastic organization. They moved to the U.S. in 2002 and shortly after were married, and started a family of their own, always with the intention to move back to Ghana to work for change. In 2006 they started the City of Refuge from the United States, but just this January bought a piece of land and settled on the outskirts of Tema. There mission is huge, they aim to help enslaved children at Lake Volta, the worlds largest man made lake. Children begin to be sold into slavery as young as the age of 3 and are brutally worked and mistreated. Single mothers tend to sell their children into slavery because they have no other option and cannot care for them, or do not realize what their child is about to endure. John and Stacey have taken a holistic approach on this situation. It is about so much more than just freeing kids from the lake and finding them a home and helping them receive an education. Getting the kids off the lake is a tough process, but they approach the situation from many different angles. The first step is usually going to talk to the fisherman and trying to learn if they have any children enslaved. If the men admit to this crime, it is explained to them that the government is planning a massive raid on the lake and anyone with enslaved children will be arrested. Usually the fisherman will have the birth certificate or address of where the child came from and after much negotiation will relinquish that information. John and Stacey then will pay a visit to the mother of the child and discuss the situation of her child. If a mother is capable to take back that child then John and Stacey will rescue the child and return them to their home and provide the funds for the rest of their education. If the child has nowhere to go, that is where the orphanage will step in. They now have 14 children in their facilities, but have been able to rescue 42 within the last year! At their facility they provide an English based school for their children and provide them with a tremendous amount of love and support.  Also, they have started a pure water company, in which women of the village sell bags of water that discuss the issues of child slavery. Not only does this serve as an educational tool, but it also provides jobs for women of the village so that they can have a form of income so that they don’t have to sell their child into slavery. Within the next 6 months their fair trade jewelry company will also be available for women as a means of work. Another aspect they have started is called “the feed”, which we were able to partake in. As of right now it is a bi-monthly event, soon to be weekly. Here they go to Tema New Town, a village in which children are usually sold from, and provide a meal for the kids. They use this as an opportunity to talk to women about the issues that surround the area, but also to register children and look for patterns that might indicate that they have been sold. All of these aspects will hopefully one day end the cycle of child slavery. I could go on recounting all the horror stories told about the children dying at the lake and the pain and suffering they must endure. It is painful to see this type of inhumanity, slavery has not ended, rather the numbers are growing everyday. There must be a stop; children around the world are being stripped of all humanity. Here is how we all became so greatly impacted by this experience. 
         Our day started at 3 a.m! We met outside the ship and had a brisk walk to the front of the port to meet our bus. Everyone seemed so excited about this event that we knew so little about. I attempted to catch up on a lack of sleep as the bus driver bumped down the unpaved roads containing potholes the size of Texas. Several ipod playlists later we arrived at the orphanage. As we pulled up the most beautiful smiles greeted our bus. We met the 14 children that live at the house and John and Stacey. They welcomed us with breakfast and showed us around the facilities. Here we began to interact with the kids, we saw them break out of their shells and begin to cling on to the love we showered upon them. We played soccer, little sally walker, bubbles, and they got a hold of our cameras. I have some fantastic pictures of bushes, ground, and body parts ☺ The most important thing was we shared love, smiles and a sense of hope with these children. After several hours we split up into three groups, one to stay at the house to help prepare meals, another to take the children to the field for a soccer game, and I went with a group to the village to notify people that we would be there that evening for a feed. As we walked through the village I became aware of so many small details that tore at my heart. Stacey introduced me to a lady that they have been working with that is HIV positive and has a newborn baby. She is in desperate need for rent money. Her rent is 6 cedis or 4 US dollars a month, but she must pay for 3 years in advance making it difficult for her to come up with the money. Her rent for 3 years is only 144 US dollars, the amount that many Americans spend on a pair of jeans or gas for a month. While at the village, we also interacted with the children for a little while, but then headed back to the house to load up the food.
        Back at the house we played with the children while the rest of the meals were prepared and then created an assembly line. We passed down 1200 meals consisting of rice, fish and stew in a small container. We packed the van and the trunk of the car. Before you know it, our group and the children from the house loaded up on our big bus and headed to the village. It was quite a sight getting the bus through the village but that does not even hold a candle to the wind of what I was about to experience. As our bus pulled up to the lot it was swarmed by children filled with waves, smiles and cheers. It seemed as if we were almost celebrities. Getting off the bus I was greeted with so many hugs, high-fives, and latching children that the tears started to flow, it was a good thing it was raining. I have never felt so welcomed in a place. After gathering the children sang us songs and prayed through music, it was such a moving experience. At this point the sky was also singing its praises and we were soaked. As the food began to be distributed all organization was lost. I saw the happiness in the children’s eyes turn into fear of not receiving food. Little children were pushed and shoved and it began difficult to regulate who had already received food. After an hour the 1200 meals had been distributed. Some acted as if they had not received food, but I must believe that if they did not their siblings did and they were able to share. I know that some took more than one, but due to natural conditions it became very difficult to regulate. We loaded back on the bus and I was full of emotions. My mind was racing in so many directions I could not speak. I set in silence on the ride home attempting to process what I had witnessed.
        We had just provided 1200 meals to children that had virtually nothing. While I am well aware that a single meal will not fix any social injustice, it was the expression of the children that made every minute a memory that I will always remember.  More than anything in 23 hours this group of semi-strangers had become a family. Back at the house we ate dinner with the children and said our goodbyes as they headed off to bed. We were then fortunate enough to hear John and Stacy’s story and what motivates them to be the phenomenal people they are. As a group we than began to debrief for a great deal of time.  This was very powerful, because the act we had all witnessed resonated so strongly in the room. As I write this several days later, I still feel the call to action, and as a group we are still working towards making change happen.   
        Slavery has not ended and it is only growing. We must find a way to put a stop to this inhuman action. Child slavery is a growing and dire problem that few people are educated about. Before going to City of Refuge Orphanage I knew that child slavery existed, but no way in the capacity I do know. It is now my mission to educate others about the facts and problems of childhood slavery. I can’t just let this issue go, I have been educated and now it is the world’s turn to know that this problem is just one of many injustices that we as a global community must make a part of history rather that a never ending cycle.
        Ghana was a country of Hope, Despair, Vivaciousness, Awareness, and Love. I have hope for the future of Ghana. They are one of the most forward moving developing nations. I have hope that what I was a witness to will one day be eradicated and that I am part of that solution. I also saw despair, but never in the people. The despair was in their roads, houses, and educational system. While I saw desolation in these areas, I believe the people saw hope for a better Ghana. The peoples sense of pride and liveliness negates any negative image engrained previously in my mind. They are one; they take care not only of themselves, but also their society. I believe they instilled in me a new sense of attentiveness; to the needs of people, the culture and the simple aspects of life. These individuals are the most simplistic and elegant people I have ever come in contact with. They are truly diamonds in the rough. Overall, I am in LOVE with the people of Ghana. Their hospitality and true sense of happiness is second to none.  Ghana for me was in one simple word: a RENEWAL.