Meeting my Ghanaian family, learning how to take a bucket bath, and avoiding fish heads

Last weekend was an in-city homestay, where NYU students had the opportunity to live with a Ghanaian family for the weekend. We were able to go either in pairs or solo, and while most opted to go in pairs, I thought I’d be macho and go by myself. I kind of regret that decision. We arrived at the AFS center, which organizes the homestays, and waited for our families to pick us up. We had gotten some instruction as to how to behave and what to expect, but for the most part I had no idea where I would be or what I would be doing. I was eventually taken to a bank, where I waited for Maame to get off of work and take me home. I played snake on my phone (soooo addicted…) for about an hour and a half until I met my mother, who put me into another car. She didn’t say much, so I tried to ask some questions about her family and what we would be doing for the weekend.

Eventually I got to a house- it was large but crumbling. I would say that it was a fairly normal middle-class accommodation; lots of space (houses here are really nice), but no running water or AC or fans or anything like that. I met grandma and Nana, 9 years old, (meaning Monday born. I don’t think I’ve mentioned this, but everyone in Ghana is named after the day of the week on which they were born. When they are baptized they take on a Christian name, so many people go by that, but there is still a large part of the population with the same 14 names. I was Thursday born, so I am “Yaa”. I like it.) and Effua (Friday born), one year old. I was ecstatic to have a baby in the house, it was pretty much the only thing I’d written on my form that I wanted when I filled out the application for the program. There were no men around, I am not sure what happened to them but I didn’t ask.

As soon as I got there, I was fed a huge pile of rice and this tomato sauce that I’ve had a lot here with spices and peppers and onions, and FISH HEADS. I have been trying to be open to trying new foods, but the thing is that in Ghana they eat every part of the animal, bones, skulls, brains, and eyes included. (even chicken bones…)

Shortly after I was fed, the power went out, which happens pretty frequently here. Maame was disappointed because every Friday night she watches CSI on the local station (they play CSI at 9 on Fridays, and Friends at 10:00 on Saturdays!) I played with Effua and talked to Grandma, but eventually decided to retire early when the power returned at 9:03- in time for CSI.

Saturday was chores day, so I awoke after “sleeping in” (8:00am, but Ghanaians typically wake up at 5am or so), to sweep the house. Maame laughed at how I swept the dirt into little piles instead of sweeping everything into the hall. They fed me an enormous breakfast and then we mostly stayed around the house, watching tv and such. I was force-fed yet another meal, and Grandma told me to eat everything. I tried my best. Later they made me my favorite meal, groundnut soup. Because I had written on the form that I was a vegetarian, they decided to use lots and lots of fish heads in everything they made. I happily ate my fufu and soup, but simply could not eat the fish heads. They had gone to all the trouble of preparing my favorite meal and I did not want to let the food go to waste, so I went into the kitchen as though I was going to do my dishes and just slipped the fish heads back into the soup pot. Mission successful.

Sunday we went to church, which is quite the social event here. I was the only white person of course, so when the minister saw me sitting in the back he shouted “Obruni!”(meaning ‘foreigner’, we get that a lot) and everyone turned to look and clap. The service was 3 and a half hours and was mostly in Twi, but it was interesting to take in the culture of church. Everyone wears beautiful tailored dresses and shoes and hats and beads, and there is a lot of dancing during worship. When it came time to give the offering, we danced to the front of the church and put our money into the pot labeled with the day of the week that we were born. Before the service was over they counted up the different pots and announced the winner (Saturday). After church I was fed again (way too much food this weekend. On Sunday morning they presented me with a vat of oatmeal, a loaf of bread, and six eggs. They expected me to finish it all. I seriously debated with myself whether it would be better to eat until I threw up.) I went home in the afternoon, and was glad to be back in the AC and amongst people who spoke English. This weekend was successful and interesting, but somewhat exhausting.

Monday at City of Refuge I began conducting my drama therapy sessions. Because you need a masters degree in order to be a drama therapist, I was concerned about how to conduct drama therapy work within the realm of my knowledge and abilities. Psychological rehabilitation is a HUGE need at City of Refuge (every child there has a story that would blow your mind, and most have had no time to process their experiences), as well as in Ghana as a whole. One of my friends here mentioned that there is a girl who showed up to her internship and was expected to diagnose clients from the DSM, and she had only taken one psychology class!

I decided to conduct some exercises but not attempt any sort of analysis, because I am not clinically able to do so— I didn’t think that pretending to be a drama therapist (which is a clinical title, btw) would be helpful for these kids in the least. I began to work with a group of five children, most of whom had been trafficked. We did some basic drama excersizes to get them comfortable with the idea, and then I took them through the session that I’d had planned for the day. Us volunteers left around 6pm in a cab, and got back home around 8:30.

On Tuesday in my film class we pitched our ideas for documentaries; there are 16 people in the class and four films will be made. My idea was selected, so I will be directing a film that explores the psychology behind beauty standards in Ghana, and compares them to the beauty standards of Western nations.

Friday I went back to City of Refuge and continued some sessions. Currently we are attempting to organize their library, which I am heartily enjoying. The children are all so great, they are remarkable obedient, not to mention talented. I was sad to leave baby Edwin!

This weekend some of my friends wanted to go to Togo to renew their visas (we need new visas every 60 days, but if we leave the country and come back it is renewed automatically and we don’t have to pay the $100.00 fee), but I was exhausted and wanted to get some work done this weekend, so I stayed in Accra. Ultimately I was happy that I did, there is a lot of stuff locally that I’ve been meaning to do.

Next week I head to Burkina Faso for the FESPACO film festival- the biggest in Africa! I am going with my film class, on an NYU grant. I am excited to practice my French, and I’ve heard it's a beautiful country. Can't wait!

Trip to Cape Coast and more

I cannot believe that it is already February 8^th. Time is FLYING by!

Wednesday after class, Emily came to Labone to spend some time with Kelsey and I. We first went to an ice cream shop that was recommended by one of the RAs- Arlenccino, which served Italian Gelato and COFFEE!!! It was pretty expensive, but worth it. Afterwards I took her to Marjorie, our dress-maker (she is Ghanaian and not at all affiliated with NYU, but we all have her make our dresses) to put in a request and get one of my dresses fitted.

Later that night, we went to Reggae night on Tawala beach, a weekly event with live music. Because it was Bob Marley’s birth week, his wife was there. Apparently she lives in Ghana. Anyway, she made a speech, and everyone sang happy birthday to Bob. It was much MUCH crazier than usual (and Reggae night can get pretty wild, especially with a bunch of obruni girls arriving together), but I found some students in a different study abroad group and ended up talking with them for a while. I love standing in the waves and listening to live music.

Thursday I took the day to rest, which was very needed. I read, journaled, and generally reflected on things. I definitely need more time to myself- I live in a house with 18 other students, and while I love having people around all the time, it can be easy to forget to rest. I should probably do that more.

Friday was my first full day at City of Refuge, and the highlight of my week. I arose early in the morning to make the journey- I have to take two trotros and a taxi to get all the way to the site, and it can take anywhere from an hour and a half to two hours. I was nervous about navigating there on my first day, but it ended up being fairly simply. Long, but simple (then again, when is there not traffic in Ghana)

A new baby had arrived just before I got there. Her name is Princess (a common name here), and she is nine months old. She has some fairly significant health problems (developmentally, she is three months old) and was abandoned at the hospital. The government sent her to City of Refuge. The staff LOVE her, I haven't even gotten a chance to hold her yet. She is incredibly sweet.

Additionally, some of the children were participating in a local sports competition, up in the mountains. Apparently they had been training all week in “racing, long jumping, and high jumping”, and Friday was the championship. About six of the kids qualified and were not around all day.

With all of that craziness, the children had the day off of school. I was later told that they had never had such an easy day… Some of the staff went to purchase supplies, so I talked with the head teacher about plans for drama therapy and working on a performance with the children, as well as scheduling. Afterward, I wanted to get to know the children. I held babies (except for Melvin, who is terrified of white people), and watched “High School Musical II” (a late Christmas present from their San Fransiscan teacher, Autumn) which they danced to. The kids are so well taken care of- you wouldn’t know that they were recently slaves working in a fishing village except for their scars and their stories.

City of Refuge feeds us lunch, so I ate some sort of goop. There weren’t any non-Ghanaians around to explain it to me, but it was pretty good. The children were incredibly sweet. I love them already.

On Saturday, we got up to leave at 6:30am for Cape Coast, a town on the gulf in Ghana where the Trans Atlantic Slave Trade was conducted.  We toured the largest castle that held slaves, the Almena castle (which was Dutch), built in the mid 1400s. The tour guide has given many NYU tours, and he was phenomenal at explaining the history of the castle. It was heartbreaking- the smells of the dungeons, the darkness, and generally imagining the injustices that went on there.

It’s one thing to read about slavery in a textbook, another thing entirely to see where slaves were kept and here how they were treated in the actual place where they lived and died. It is easy to be distanced from the issue of slavery, particularly the trans Atlantic slave trade, but it was a human tragedy that I really believe needs to be remembered. Slavery continues to happen EVERY DAY, as the children at City of Refuge understand all too well. We all made a vow to do whatever it takes to prevent slavery and injustice in the world, and with the actual faces to put the numbers to I don't see how I could ever ignore this issue again. I hope that everyone gets the chance to see this castle sometime!

After touring the castle, we went to a national reserve that includes Africa’s only canopy walk. It reminded me or Robinson Crusoe or Tarzan, there were very (very) thin rope bridges that crossed the treetops. It was pretty awesome- I ended up going around twice (there are seven bridges total, about 30 minutes worth of crossing). Eventually we headed to our resort, where we swam in a pool and combed the beach for shells. We had a group dinner on the beach, and then a bon fire. The next day we awoke to a lovely brunch, and people had the option of going back in to Cape Coast to tour another castle, or staying at the resort. I chose to stay at the resort and take advantage  of the pool.

Yesterday, I went to City of Refuge for the second time. I took the trotro to Tema, where John and Stacy had agreed to pick me up. They had errands to run in the market there, so I helped pick our dozens and dozens of veggies and got to see the winding market of Tema- I loved it. When we got back to the house, the children were done with school for the day. I got to play my heart out with the kids, who were all getting their hair cut (I had to hold some of the babies very still). They fed me dinner and I was able to talk to John and Stacy, as well as the San Fransiscan head teacher Autumn.

I am in love with the children, I can’t wait to see them again on Friday!

RINGWORM MEDICATION FOR UNDERPRIVLEDGED CHILDREN!

So, following my first official day working at City of Refuge (more to follow later), I was informed that we will be going on a "reality tour" of the local fishing villages, in order to see what the life of a trafficked child is like, where they come from, etc.

Unfortunately, due to lack of government involvement, this NGO is one of the only resources available to rescue trafficked children in the area, and they are currently at maximum capacity. Any children who have living and stable family environments (many parents are tricked into giving up their children, lured by promises of free education) are returned to their families. Currently, every child at the home has either been abandoned, neglected/ abused, or orphaned.

That being said, there are some things that we can do to benefit the children currently being trafficked. Obviously they are not well taken care of, and many (MANY) are afflicted with ringworm, which untreated leads to complications and just generally terrible health. FOR 2 AMERICAN DOLLARS YOU CAN SUPPLY ONE CHILD WITH MEDICATION THAT PREVENTS RINGWORM FOR THREE MONTHS.

I will be collecting money to buy this medication, and then taking it to the children myself in the beginning of April. Please contact me ASAP about donating. Thank you!