The last couple of weeks have been so crazy in Ghana with midterms and class work. However I still have been doing a lot and exploring a lot of regions in Ghana.
A couple of weeks ago we went to Echoing Hills Village which is center for people children and adults who are physically and mentally disabled. This was one of the best experiences I have every had. We started the day by cleaning and mopping the bedrooms, cutting the grass with machetes, and painting the outside of the buildings. This was exciting because it was the first time I got to meet the University of Ghana, Legon CIEE group and work with them to clean and paint.
Later on in the day I meet a couple of young girls who live at one of the local orphanages in Accra. They were so sweet and really fun. In Ghana there is a particular type of music called hip-life which is a combination of American hip hop with a stronger dance beat. Me and the girls began dancing to hip life music and every time I wanted to stop dancing the girls would continue to dance and would get made at me when I began to stop. I danced for almost 5 straight hours with the girls.They were so sweet and so fun to get to know and it was really sad to me to think that they live at the orphanage.
This last week was spring break which was the only time we had in Ghana to explore. We began at the beginning of the week in Kumasi. Kumasi is where the Asante kingdom is currently still located and where the gold in Ghana has its historical roots. In Kumasi we went to the market which is the biggest in West Africa. It was so neat to see all the different fabrics and things to buy including full chickens and pigs.
In Kumasi we also went to a kente cloth factory where many men were looming thread to create kente designs.Each piece of Kente cloth has a particular meaning which is displayed through the designs that the weaver puts into the cloth. It was really neat to learn about all the different designs and to see how the weave the thread. Kente cloth can be woven into single,double or triple weave. I was able to buy some kente cloth while I was here and meet a nice man named Kwame who allowed me to try weaving kente myself.
In Kumasi we also went to an adinkra village. adinkra symbols are very important to Ghana and each symbol represents a particular proverb and or saying in Ghanaian culture. At this village we saw how they make the dye/ink for the prints and were able to try and make our own adinkra cloth. Adrinka symbols are traditionally put onto Kente cloth.
In Kumasi we also went to the Asante museum and to a traditional Asante village which was really neat to learn about the Asante people and their royal history and reign in Ghana. The Asante people where a particular group who has remained separate from west African globalization and has remained to carry a strong voice and leadership in Ghana. The Asantehene is the leader and king of the Asante people and carries a lot of power in the central region of Ghana. He is always seen covered in gold jewelry and very expensive kente cloth.
After Kumasi a group of us decided to travel up to Northern Ghana. From Accra to Tamale (in Nothern Ghana) is a 15 hour bus trip! It was quite the adventure. After Kumasi we traveled to Tamale which is only a 6 hour trip. Tamale is very dry and dusty compared to southern Ghana because it is close to the dessert. Tamale is a particular Islamic city where people are fully clothed and women wear veils in 100 degree weather. It was interesting to see the difference in architectural design in the Northern region because of the influence of Islamic traders and culture. It felt as though I was in a new country being in the Northern region because of the difference in language as well then in southern Ghana. Tamale is also know for creating things out of leather including beautiful leather bags and sandals.
From Tamale we traveled to Mole National Park which is a national reserve for animals in Ghana. I loved going here! The first day we got in we saw elephants at a watering hole right outside of our window in our hotel room. That night we also saw warthogs and baboons right by our table at dinner which was really crazy.
That next day we took a very early walk through the park with an armed ranger. We saw waterbuck, antelopes, more warthogs, monkeys, and beautiful colored birds. But no elephants at this point close up. So, later that afternoon we took a jeep safari and we saw an elephant so close. It was so neat to see and elephant in its natural environment. It was also neat to see all of the tracks and damage that the elephant actually does to the park from tearing down trees to making large holes in the ground.
After Mole we headed back to Accra and took a bus all the way back which was a 20 hour adventure. But we survived and are now staring a new week at school all over again.
Community Service Day
Kente Cloth
Adinkra Prints
ELEPHANT!!
Warthogs
More Elephant
Antelope
