Hannah May
Prior to traveling to Ghana for this study abroad program, I
had never traveled overseas. I would consider myself an experienced traveler
when it comes to the United States and bordering countries such as Mexico and
Canada, but when it came to third world countries across the Atlantic Ocean I
was clueless.
My first impressions of Africa came from movies and
television programs I had previous seen. So basically, my first impressions of
Africa were exotic animals, chase scenes through the desert, and murder. Before
making the final decent to Ghana I did my research, but it is hard to explain
via textbooks and seminars what the Ghanaian culture, people, and environment
is like.
Any thought or opinion you may have formed about Africa
please wash away before you have experienced the continent firsthand. It has
now been two weeks since I have been back in the States, and I am still in
grief of having to leave the people I formed such close bonds with and the
Ghanaian culture.
Like I said above, it is near impossible to try to explain
in text the truth about African countries, and more specifically Ghana. During
my 25 days spent there, there were things that stuck out to me the most, and things
I will never forget. One of those being how overly nice the Ghanaian population
was and how a city filled with poverty could obtain so much joy.
In our group meetings before traveling to Ghana we often got
told that the people, men specifically, were very “forward.” It was repeated
that this forwardness should not be interpreted as we in America would say
“creepy” or “sketchy,” but actually just nice. This in fact, was true. I have
never meet more genuinely nice people in my whole 20 years of life.
Walking down a busy street in Osu,
you will never make eye contact with someone who does not smile at you.
Ghanaians believe that everything in life should be treated as a celebration.
They wake up everyday happy with what they have and cherish all that they are
given, even if that is less than what poverty would be in America. This
happiness is then exerted onto their peers.
One of the first nights we were in Accra, a group of girls and I attempted to
walk to a nearby restaurant to get some ice cream. We clearly got lost and had
no clue where we were headed. A group of Ghanaian friends walked out of a
building ahead of us and we asked them for directions. The language barrier was
tough, and it was concluded that we were not going to understand what they were
trying to explain. So, instead of leaving a group of foreign young women to
walk around aimlessly in Accra, one Ghanaian woman left her friends and offered
to walk us to our destination. We were shocked. She walked the complete
opposite way of her friends, and her home late at night, just to make sure we
got to our desired location safely. On
the way she explained to us that it wouldn’t have been right of her to let us
walk alone at night. She continued by stating that it was unsafe for white
skinned women to walk in these parts of town after dark, something we never
would’ve known without her guidance. We couldn’t have thanked her enough. The
Ghanaian women politely laughed at our endless amount of thanks by suggesting
it was really no big deal, it was just something “they do.” Helping strangers,
something not many Americans do out of the kindness of their hearts.
This is only one out of several stories I could share about
my kind experiences with the people of Ghana. When in lecture at AUCC we asked one of the
Ghanaian professors that had recently traveled to America what he thought was
the most contrastive thing about our culture compared to Ghana. His answer, our
politeness. He said it was hard for him to walk down the street and not feel
warmth from everyone. He said that the American people would quickly pass him
and say, “how are you” without stopping. He followed by explaining that in
Ghana, if a person asks how you are, they genuinely want to hear and know how
you are doing that day. They care. You rarely ever see that in America.
If I could one day walk down the busy streets of New York
and feel the same amount of love that I did in Accra, I will be one happy
camper. I greatly miss the friendships I created in Ghana, and I hope I will be able to go back and visit them very
soon.
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