18 July 2007
Ghana: Blog Entry Week One (Sunday May 13- May 17th 2007)
Posted by acardec under: Women Studies In Ghana .
I am writing on a wireless laptop in the hot air of a Ghanaian night without power. As I write students are lounging under a Mango tree in the front courtyard of the African Institute Chalet. The mango tree has already
become a symbol of our African trip; we have class under the shady tree, we eat from its fruit, we squirm at the giant ants that fall on our heads as they drop from the tightrope cord of lights that makes its way across the tree, and we laugh as we all duck as the large green and yellow fruit drops from the branches at the speed of light. Already the missal like fruit has hit several people and we have adapted to anticipate the weapons by the whack the mango makes as it hits other branches on the way down.
In the midst of this lazy night at the chalet the city and the country whiz around us. Today we had a guest lecturer, Dr. Rose Mensah-Kutim from Abamtu (a women’s rights NGO), who spoke to us about Women’s Rights as Human Rights in Ghana. She began by explaining how human rights have provided African women, and in particular Ghanaian women, with the language necessary to make the government accountable to certain rights that are necessary for women to have full and meaningful lives. She made the textbooks and feminist works we have read as students and scholars come alive and I was inspired by the struggle and passion of the Ghanaian women working to create for themselves and others a sustainable future. Later today her lecture again came to life as we spoke with and saw first hand the affects of their work at The Ark Foundation, Center for Women’s Empowerment, that works to end violence against women. Just when we arrived in the country the Ghanaian president signed into law the Violence Against Women Act and it is because of the work of the men and women we met today. The country is on the move and the majority of our culture shock comes from the fact that we are stumped by our own stereotypes of Africa.
Accra, with its high rise buildings, expensive cars, major freeways and billboards amongst the street vendors, traditional homes, and the women carrying baskets upon their heads is a truly diverse city which shows the impacts of colonization and globalization. But, unlike many places in America, Ghana’s capital hosts the friendliest people I have ever met. Everyone smiles, waves, or speaks to us as we walk the streets. As we travel people shout the friendly greeting, “Oburuni” which means “Hey, White person” connoting foreigner. Being from America this sloe paces, easy talking style, grabs people off guard. Augustina, one of the chalet staff members, corrected one of the faculty members, Dr. Pat Darlington, because she asked her for water without saying hello first. I feel like I often forget, in my hurry to get things done, how to be kind to others. As the other faculty member, Leandra Preston, said,” We have to slow down to Ghana time.”
So, we have been trying to adjust to an African way of life. And, it is under the mango tree that we have begun to define ourselves within our African space. We have chatted with the workers of our inn, bought African dress from Miss Elizabeth, and tapped into our creative energy. On one of the first nights students sat under the stars making music, full with guitars, harmonica, and chilling voices. They sang:
We are sitting in Ghana,
Sitting in the grass,
Sipin our glass,
Tomorrow we have class*..
Under the mango tree, in the starry humid Ghanaian night.
- Meredith Tweed
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