March 14, 2010

Dear Family and Friends,

Another week packed with events here in Ghana.  The time has flown by and we leave on Tuesday for England.

Classes were cut short on Thursday so that the kids could go home and wash their clothes for the excursion on Friday to the Cape Coast Castle and Elmina Castle.  We were able to  prepare the students for the trip in class.  One of our American literature books had narratives from former slavers which Joan read while Harry gave the history about the castle and the slave trade from this side of the Atlantic.  We find it interesting how much they don’t know about this part of their history.  The importance of museums and remembering the past so that we don’t repeat such horrible events is new to them—even the teachers.  It is strange to see how far removed people are from their past events and what is going on in the world today. 

Veronica and Joan  made Welsh cookies for all the kids and Vera made rice and fried chicken for the faculty and for any children who did not bring their own food.  Vera was up most of the night cooking.  We have not had running water for a week which has made things like washing dishes, clothes and ourselves a bit more difficult.

Friday morning started early.  We got up about 4 a.m. and Joan helped Vera to mix the rice and to pack the food.  We moved up the hill at 5 a.m. to wait for the bus to pick us up with all our things before it went to the school junction to pick up the kids.  In addition to the food we took the school banner to get a photo with the kids at the castle.

The bus was almost on time—African time rules!  We  had the two buses loaded by 6.  The two buses were contracted from two different secondary schools for the day.  Our bus seated about 85 and the other seated about 30.  It was quite a ride on the back roads with our monster bus.  There were approximately 95 students and twenty adults.  Most of the teachers from the school went.  We took a back route where the roads were mainly dirt, very narrow or very broken pavement.  We fed the kids porridge in plastic bags and two donuts.  Vera made us egg sandwiches—yummy.  We had two “piss” stops with the girls going to one side of the bus and the boys the other.  The “obronis” did not go at all!  We made wonderful time and arrived in three and a half hours!   We had been told it would take five.

When we arrived there were no lines or other schools waiting to enter.  The kids were lined up two by two so that they could count the kids as we entered.  The children were very cheap—about 20 cents and the African adults were less that $1.  The two Americans and the Canadian were about $8each.

The tour started with everyone going through the museum.  This is the largest museum dealing with slavery in the world and is very well done.  Both Cape Coast Castle and Elmina Castle are designated as World Heritage Sites by the United Nations.  The museum has several pictures and displays dealing with African History with the emphasis being on the slave trade era.  They have a 40 minute video which they show to some tourists but we did not get to see that because of our numbers.  (We do not think any school group gets to view it.)  The students were allowed about twenty minutes in the museum which was really not enough time.  They were taking notes. None of  the kids had ever been to a museum before.  We were very proud of their behavior and their answers to the guide’s questions. 

We were then given a guided tour of the entire facility. Our guide was very good and you could tell that he had experience with kids as he kept them involved.

We started outside—where it was very, very hot.  The guide asked the students some questions and then took them into the “Male Dungeon” where he turned out the lights to give the kids the feel of what the conditions would have been like—crowded with little light or ventilation.  He then took them outside along the edge of the fort where they could see the cannons used for protection from other European powers.  The castle was built by the British and they ruled their holding in West Africa from here for several hundred years.

The tour took us upstairs to the Governor’s residence and office.  We also saw where the soldiers slept and ate.  We proceeded downstairs again to the “Female Dungeon”.  There was no allowance for sanitation and everyone slept where they went to the bathroom.  The rooms were very overcrowded and many died before they were even sent to the ships.

We proceeded to the “Door of No Return” where the slaves were taken out of the fort to the waiting ships to bring them to the Americas.  The door now goes out onto a balcony where we can see a very active fishing village with many colorful boats and people working on their nets and other fishing items.  The scene is quite a contrast with what we have just witnessed in the castle.

We returned into the courtyard where three people are buried.  One was an African who was educated in England and became an early leader in education.  He established the original Castle Schools which were the first in the country.  The other two graves are a British Governor and his wife.

We then had a “photo op” with the students with the school banner and the castle in the background.  We were able to leave Cape Coast Castle around 12:15 and proceed to Elmina Castle.  The two forts are only about ten miles apart. 

Elmina Castle is the oldest castle in West Africa and was built by the Portuguese in 1471 and they controlled it for about 150 years.  They were followed by the Danes, the Dutch and finally the British who controlled it for several hundred years.  Elmina is slightly larger than Cape Coast and has a moat surrounding it.  Again the students entered two by two for counting.  The cost was about the same as at Cape Coast.  There is a small museum in the “Portuguese—Roman Catholic’ Church which is located in the center of the courtyard.  The church stood directly over some of the dungeons!  When the Dutch took over they made it into a mess hall and a “palaver hall” where slaves were bought and sold.

The students were again taken into the “Female Dungeon” where the odor from what had been here is still very strong.  Many of the students put cloth to their noses because of the stench.  We were given a complete tour visiting the soldiers mess, the Governor’s quarters, the male dungeon and the different fortifications.

There is another very active fishing village right next to the castle.  This one is attached to a lagoon where the boats are constantly coming and going.  Again, the village scenes are very colorful and a big contrast with the fort. 

We took another group picture.  There was a group of British oil men touring the castle and they volunteered to take some pictures with our cameras.

The ride home was not as pleasant as the trip to the castles as we came to Accra and hit  very heavy traffic.  We could not drive there!!!  They cut each other off all the time and do not give the other car an inch.  It took over five hours to get back to Akropong.  The small bus had gone a different route and had already returned from taking some students to villages about ten miles further along the road.  We dropped students off in several towns along the way.  The bus brought us back to the top of the hill where it is easier to carry things back to the house.  We arrived home a bit after nine.

It was a wonderful day!!! The kids were wonderful, had a great time and learned a great deal.  The adults also enjoyed the trip.  Very few Africans had ever been to either place.  The “Friends of Akuffo Tom” paid two thirds of the cost of the trip and we feel that it was money well spent.  The entire excursion including the two busses and the admissions was under $800 for about 115 people.

Saturday was not a day of rest.  We went to Accra to a wedding.  We left the house at about nine and got to the wedding about 11:30 after a “tro-tro” and taxi ride.  The wedding was at a home where there were several white canopies decorated in lavender to give people shade.  Chairs had been set up under the cover.  When we arrived the groom’s family was presenting gifts to the family of the bride.  There was a great deal of joking around and fun.  The two sides were also negotiating taxi fare to bring the bride (she was already in the house) to the wedding.

At about noon the bride came out accompanied by a group of other young women.  The bride is most likely in her early 30’s and is a doctor.  She advises her family (mother and uncle as her father is dead) to accept the gifts offered by the groom’s family.  After they agree to this, the groom enters accompanied by several of his friends.  The groom is also early 30’s and works for the Ghana Cocoa Board.  He was greeted and welcomed by her family and eventually taken to the bride. 

They had a minister who blessed the ring and conducted the ceremony.  The groom placed a ring on the bride’s finger and she presented him with a Bible.  Following the ceremony they hugged.  There is very little public display of affection in Ghana.  Most couples do not kiss or even hold hands in public.

The couple then took pictures with family and friends.  Everyone present eventually had a picture taken with the wedding party.  There were over 100 people present.  The couple gave everyone a bowl with their name and wedding date on it.  Most people gave a wedding gift of money in an envelope.

Dinner was a buffet with several types of rice, fish, chicken, salad, and three different spicey sauces.  They served water, soft drinks and beer to drink.  They had a very loud sound system and many people danced—including the bride and groom.  It did not appear that a partner was needed as some men danced alone and some women did the same.  Vera helped to serve the food and helped to do the dishes.  The bride is a good friend of Vera’s.

The trip home was again a traffic nightmare!  We started by taking a taxi to Temi where we could get a tro-tro to Madina—part of the way home from Accra.  However, it took us over two hours to get there because of the congestion.  When we got to Medina we had to transfer to another tro-tro to come to Akropong.  We lucked out in getting one fairly quickly as it looked like rain.  We traveled for about twenty minutes before we hit very heavy rain.  However we were lucky as we had reached the good paved road before the rain got really bad.  The ride was pretty harrowing—the trotro experiences have been “near death”—unbelievable  how we have just missed so many accidents.  One volunteer witnessed a head on crash between two tros on the steep road going to Koforidua,and she was traumatized. 

When we reached Akropong—after 7 p.m. it had stopped raining.  However, the electricity was out.  We walked about a half mile from the junction to our hill and walked down the hill to the house in the very, very dark.  The electricity came on again about 8.  However, we have not had water in the pipes for about a week.

This morning, Sunday, Joan, Vera and Veronica did the laundry.  The two women who have done it for us in the past are both out of town.  This is a very long process with the scrubbing, rinsing and hanging out to dry.  This is especially true when we are trying to save water.  It took us over two hours to finish—thank God for washing machines!!!

We will most likely send one more short report from here before we leave.  Tuesday morning we want to go to the internet to check in and pick our seats for the flight.

Again, many thanks for all your support through thoughts and prayers.  Blessings on YOU!

Love and Prayers,
Joan and Harry