Ghana: A Life-Changing Experience

I was only in Ghana for four days and I fell absolutely in love with the country. I am so sad to leave. This country affected me in more ways than I ever thought possible.

We arrived in Ghana, and while our friends went off to see the Castles and Slave Dungeons, Amy and I decided to go to the local market circle and walk around the town a little bit. We got off of the boat and were walking towards the port gate, when we met two young girls, Abigail and Hafsa. They walked with us until we reached the gate, and throughout the walk we were talking and learning about each other’s lives. They were so nice and just wanted to hear about what we were doing on Semester at Sea and our lives in America. We asked them about their lives here in Ghana and they explained that they work from sun up to sun down and have very little time to go out, but when they do they go to the local bars and clubs. We proceeded to ask them how to get to the market circle and they told us that we should take a taxi. We had heard that it is better to take a taxi, but we hadn’t been able to exchange money yet, because we had just gotten off of the boat. Hafsa reached into her pocket and handed us 2 cedi’s (Ghana currency). We told her that we couldn’t take her money, but she insisted and would not take no for an answer. We thanked her and she gave us her emails/phone numbers for us to keep in contact with her. I could not get over the level of kindness here and how warm and welcoming everyone was to us. It was amazing.
The next day I was able to participate in a Habitat for Humanity project. It was one of the most amazing experiences of my life. While our group was there, we were split into three different groups. There were three different sites to work on, with jobs like leveling the ground to be cemented, or laying bricks to be the framework for the house. I started removing cement blocks/debris from the first sight. After a while of doing that, we needed to start leveling out the surface. The only problem was that there was only about 5-6 tools/shovels for about 20 people to work with. While I didn’t have any tools I moved over to the other sites to see if there was anything to do. I went and helped line up bricks to be mortared/cemented. It was a lot of manual labor but I was getting down and dirty and that was the whole point. We are helping to build a family a house to live in. This is going to be their home and I knew that I wanted to be a part of it as much as possible. I wanted to help make their dreams of having a home a reality and if that involves laying down some bricks, then I will lay down hundreds of bricks.

After a while doing that I was without tools and decided to walk around and see if there was help needed at any of the other sites. I noticed some of the other students playing with the kids that were there. These kids were remarkable. They had the biggest smiles on their faces and were so happy that we were all playing with them and getting to know them. Some of the other students gave them some lollipops or Silly Bands and they thought that was the best thing in the world. We took pictures with them and the joy that they had from seeing the picture that was just taken was incredible. They had never seen photos of themselves before and the look on their faces will stick with me forever.

We taught them how to play Duck Duck Goose and they were having so much fun.  This was by far the best part of the day. Just seeing their faces and how excited they were to interact with us. I knew that Habitat for Humanity was an incredible organization which helped build homes for others, but I never knew the impact that one afternoon could make. While we were leaving and getting on to the bus, the kids were running to see us off. They were running down the road as we were pulling away and waving to us until they couldn’t run any more.

I never thought of how much a single wave to a child could bring out a smile as big as the ones that I have seen here in Ghana this week. Any time I was on a bus or in a taxi, the kids would have a glowing smile when you drove by and waved to them. It made them so happy that you acknowledged and waved to them. A simple gesture can have such a bigger impact than you realize and it made me realize that it truly is the little things in life that matter.

It was tough to follow Habitat for Humanity, but the next day did not disappoint. I went on a SAS guided tour to Kakum National Park. It is a tropical rainforest in West Africa and is absolutely breathtaking. There are Canopy Walkways that hang over forty meters above the ground and I was able to walk on all seven of them. It was absolutely amazing to walk on a canopy through the trees of the forest and see it from that point of view. It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience and it was incredible. After the canopy walk and finishing our hike through the forest we were leaving and we were stopped by the music near the entrance. There were men playing drums and women and young girls dancing. Their energy was overwhelming and they were so into the dance and the movements that it was mesmerizing. The tour guides told us that we needed to go to the bus, but we all just stood there and watched them. We couldn’t tear ourselves away.

After leaving Kakum National Park, we drove to Elmina, a small town in Ghana. It is mainly the fishing village of the country. There was fishing boats all over and there were people everywhere. It was a very eye-opening experience sight. It was extremely congested, and I don’t know if that is because there were so many people in the streets and children running around everywhere, but it was very chaotic. I loved seeing it, but it was so much to take in in such a short time frame. It was very overwhelming because right when we got off of the bus to have our tour, the locals were in our faces with trays of bracelets or key-chains for sale. I felt bad because I wanted to buy something, but I didn’t have any money with me at that point. The tour guide told us to try to not be distracted by this, but it was very difficult.  There was one point where the kids will come up to you and put their hands out to you wanting you to give them something. I learned later that when children or anyone for that matter, see people come to Ghana, since it is such a poor country, that they are used to “white” people coming to help them in some way. So when they saw a whole group of “white” people they assume that they are expecting us to give them things, whether it is money or gifts of some sort. We were told not to give them anything, because they end up thinking that it is ok to go up to people and ask for money, to make a living out of that. This way they don’t need to go to school to get an education. They think that it ok to skip school and go down to the market and make money by begging for it or something to that effect. I never thought of it that way until that was mentioned.

On our last day in Ghana, we all went to the market, to see if we could find any last minute things/souvenirs to buy. We got there and after going to the ATM, Ed, Carly, and I were separated from the rest of the group, but we made our way to the market circle. We ended up finding our way into the deep part of the market, where the aisles are so small that you need to go single file and weave in and out of the paths. We met a woman who was telling us our Ghanaian names. My name is Asay (I think I am spelling it correctly and sorry if I am not). Ghanaian names depend on the days that you are born. I am a Saturday-born so my name is Asay. I told her that I wasn’t sure what day of the week I was born on because I couldn’t remember, but she assured me that she knew, so I agreed. We weren’t really able to find things we were looking for, (souvenir items) at the market, so we decided to come back to the port because there was a small market-like place set up at the dock where the boat was. I was able to find a bunch of cool items that I was really excited about. I will show you all when I come home because my descriptions probably won’t do them justice, but I absolutely love them 

All in all, Ghana was an amazing experience, one that I will remember for the rest of my life. If anyone asked me if I would return to Ghana one day, I wouldn’t hesitate. I would come back here in a heartbeat. Even though this country is visibly poor, their people and their spirits make them one of the richest countries I have ever seen.

Next Port: Cape Town, South Africa!!!!