My Last Few Days in Ghana

May 23-26:

The end is near and I can't believe it. I don't want something so amazing to come to an end. If only it were easy to drop everything from back home and move to a different country.
Our last few days we spent relaxing and getting those last souvenirs that we just couldn't leave Ghana without. The big event during these last couple of days was going to Cape Coast. While in Cape Coast we visited Kakum National Park where we walked the rope bridges and then we toured the slave castle. Both of these activities were
incredible.

The rope bridges.

 

This picture isn't of the best quality, but it is a good view of the whole castle.

The slave castle was very humbling. It is hard to imagine that slavery actually happened even when touring a place like this. There was a chapel over the male dungeons where the British soldiers would worship; hard to believe people could worship right over where slaves were being held. Until slavery was abolished there was a underground tunnel that the slaves would walk through to get to the Door of No Return. Once the British abolished slavery they completely closed off this tunnel to symbolize the end.

This is a picture of a shrine they have made where the tunnel was closed off at. When we went, there were many flowers that people bring to pay their respects to their ancestors.

 Being in the slave castle we toured the male dungeon, female dungeon, the punishment cell, and the door of no return. The male portion consisted of four different chambers. The total amount of slaves the dungeon could hold was about 1,000. In each chamber they had one maybe two small windows for air circulation.

This is a picture of the biggest of the male chambers.

The female dungeon would hold about 400-500 slaves as well as children. There would be times where children would be sold in the slave trade and they would stay with the women.

Picture of the female dungeon.

There were separate punishment cells for the males and females. The females would be punished for not sleeping with the British officers and when they were put into the cell they would stay there for 1 week and I believe they were fed maybe once a day or at least given water. If they lived great, if not it didn't make a difference. The male cell was different in the way that if they got put in there they were put there to die. They were not allowed any food or water and were just left in there. Coming out alive was not an option for the males. These cells were obviously very small and had no form of air circulation as well.

The door of no return was the door the slaves went through when it was time for them to be shipped to wherever they were sold. The door exited right onto where the slaves would enter the ships.

The Door of No Return.



I was so grateful to have been able to go to this slave castle. You learn so much about slavery and how horrible it was growing up but physically visiting somewhere slaves actually were gives a completely different perspective.

E-Waste Clinic

May 22:
E-Waste was the site of our final clinic. To give a description of E-Waste, it is basically a scrap yard. This scrap yard covers a huge space of land, multiple acres. As you walk through, it is just like a junk yard except for the fact that there are people everywhere working. Some people come here from sunrise to sundown trying to find anything and everything they can either use or sell. At this site they also burn a lot of garbage/waste.

This clinic was by far one of the best ones. I believe part of the reason was due to the fact that the people coming were mostly men who left their work to come; meaning they had a strong desire to come if they were potentially losing money by taking time out of their day to attend. They were by far the most receptive to the information we were teaching and were extremely interested in knowing what condition they were in physically. You could tell they weren't just going through the motions to get the free stuff at the end; they actually had a desire to learn.
I definitely am going to miss the people of Ghana. They are truly inspiring. They have taught me to be more grateful for everything I have in America. They have so little in Ghana but yet are some of the happiest people I have ever met. They have taught me so many life-changing lessons that I will strive to never forget.

Korle Bu

May 21:

We had the opportunity of visiting Korle Bu Teaching Hospital. This hospital is massive. There are many different buildings that contribute to this hospital. While at the hospital we were able to visit their NICU, the Children's Block, and part of the medical school that is nearby.

The NICU was very interesting. The nurse giving us a tour told us that they currently had 74+ babies in the NICU and they are technically only equipped to house 40. In the NICU they have two rooms designated for kangaroo mother care. In these rooms, those babies that were stable were able to have their mothers room in and perform kangaroo care. Kangaroo care is when a baby is placed skin to skin with the mother on her chest. It has been found that through performing this type of care babies are able to stabilize their temperature, breathing, and heart rate through feeling and hearing their mother's heart beating and breathing. Kangaroo care is amazing and I absolutely loved the fact that this NICU had rooms designated just for mothers to keep their babies skin to skin almost 24/7.

 

Part of Korle Bu.

The entrance to the "Accident Center" or ER of Korle Bu.

 This sign is showing the proposed plans of a new pediatric emergency unit. These plans are great but the reality is that what is proposed may not happen and if it does it will take many years to complete.



King's Nursing and Health College

May 20:

Today we went to a nursing school in Accra and were able to teach the students CPR. I would have to say this day was definitely one of my favorite. The students were so engaged and responsive to what we were teaching. They really enjoyed getting to practice the skills. The groups I helped with were especially concerned with how to perform the Heimlich and CPR on the baby mannequins. One group (or student) was especially concerned with what to tell the mother when performing the Heimlich on the baby. We had to run through multiple scenarios with the students addressing the mother's concerns about what we were doing to her baby. These students are amazing critical thinkers and definitely have the skill of thinking outside of the box. At the completion of teaching these students loved having a mini photo shoot. Here are the results of our 'photo shoots'.

 

 The girl to my left in this picture after we finished taking pictures in this classroom she grabbed me and took me to another classroom where there were about 10-15 students. In this room they all wanted to take pictures with me. I was so sad I didn't have my phone or camera with me. I was not able to leave the room until each person in there got a least a couple pictures with me. I'm pretty sure I made a fool of myself:)

 

I loved this day!



Hello Accra

May 17:

We made it to Accra. It is only about a five to six hour bus ride from Kumasi to Accra. Kumasi was amazing and I am sad to be leaving, but I know Accra will have some equally amazing experiences in store.

 

This is Linda Dor, the one and only legitimate rest stop between Kumasi and Accra.

 

May 18:

To start off our time in Accra some of us went to the temple. It was absolutely beautiful and such an amazing experience to be able to go to the temple in a different country.

 

 

After the temple we met up with the rest of our group at the craft market. At this market is where you can buy anything and everything. They have wood carvings, jewelry, clothing, fabric, knives, bags, tables, chairs, drums, and the list can go on and on. Just like at the wood carving market in Kumasi the sellers bombard you. Each seller wants you to come into their shop because their shop is 'unique'. They also try to overprice items, so bartering is a skill I would say I am now good at.

 

May 19:

Our experience for today entailed making fufu. Fufu is a combination of cassava and plantain. In order to make it you have to pound it together. At the completion you have a dough consistency of the two ingredients. You then put the fufu in soup and eat it.

 

Pounding the fufu. This task is definitely a work out. It takes a lot of time and energy to make.

This is what it looks like as a dish. In order to eat this you use your hands. Eating with my hands was something I definitely had to try and get used to. Eating soup proved to be the most difficult task, which is why soup is almost always served with fufu or rice balls.

 

 



Goodbye Kumasi

Some of my favorite moments in Kumasi...

 

 Kumasi Market.

 Crater Lake.

 Aninwah Clinic.

 These girls.

 Komfo Anoyke.

 Passing out toys to the kids on the Children's Ward at Komfo Anokye.

 Feeding the monkeys at Boabeng Monkey Sanctuary.

 Mole National Park.

 Larabanga Cultural Presentation.

 Sleeping in the treehouse in Mole.

 Ercom School of Excellence.



Lake Bosumtwi

May 16:

Today we went to Lake Bosumtwi or Crater Lake. It was our last day in Kumasi and a good way to finish out our stay there. This lake was formed by a meteorite in the late 1600s and is absolutely beautiful. The water is very warm and the surroundings are pretty amazing. I don't know if I have brought this up yet, but one of the best descriptions I have of Ghana would be "Lost", the TV show. Almost everywhere we go, multiple people in the group describe it as "Lost". In Mole we felt like we were staying in the colonies. At this lake the surroundings completely made me feel like I was on the show "Lost". I think part of the reason it feels like the show is because everything is completely foreign to us and we have to figure things out as we go. (If you haven't watched the show, I highly recommend it.) 

 

 One of our first views of the lake.

This man is fishing. There is Tilapia in this lake. The fisherman place nets in the water with plastic bottles tied to them to mark the spot of the net. They fish on these logs that are flat on the top and rounded on the bottom. There is no place to get inside, you just sit on the top and let your feet dangle in the water.

 

Farewell Kumasi, Hello Accra!