Are You Ghana Go My Way: One People, One Love

Ghanaians of all ages will literally reach out
& touch you with their friendliness :)

Intro

         I recently returned from Ghana where I had an amazing vacation. From the never ending friendliness of the people to the super spicy food to discovering the high (and lows) of the controlled chaos pretty much everywhere to the unintentional comedy that was literally around every block. It was an exhausting but also thrilling trip that was worth every dime I spent. Hopefully this blog can you give you a little taste of a different world I lived & breathed for 2 weeks. Let’s start from the top…

WTF Face

There are only so many ways in this world to get people to show you their ‘WTF face’. As in the reaction expressing total astonishment well known as, ‘what the f**k?!’ See what’s special about the ‘WTF face’ is that it’s often amusing to see but rarely seen...it’s the groundhog shadow of human emotions. Rarely seen. And just like blinking or calling Donald Trump a d-bag the ‘WTF’ face is totally involuntary.  So how do you get someone to show you their WTF face? Well it’s simple: plan a vacation to Africa & then tell people about it.

It became comical to me that people I would tell about my vacation would for a fraction of second facially communicate various different reactions. I kept expecting someone to ask me if Ghana was near Zamunda. At some point it became a contest of who would overreact the most to such an unconventional vacation destination. For my amusement I translated the inner monologue of the 3 most common WTF reactions I routinely witnessed:

Reaction #1: “Wow. Ghana. That’s awesome you’re really getting out & seeing the world. I hear Africa is amazing”

Reaction #2: “Ghana? Where’s Ghana? Is that Africa? I think it’s Africa. But you’re white. Why would a white person go to Africa on vacation. Maybe Ghana is in South America. I heard there are more white people in South America. Hey have fun”

Reaction #3: “OMG you’re going to Africa. I know practically nothing about Africa, including even basic geography but my god man be careful. In fact I’m so worried about you visiting Africa I won’t even make a light-hearted joke about watching out for lions over there because seriously there’s no room for joking around when a white person visits Africa. And on vacation for heaven’s sake.  Seriously be careful”

My personal fav was #3. Most people just want the best for you and for whatever reason some people express their deep concern for you through intense worrying instead of energetic enthusiasm. It’s all in good fun though; Americans generally live in a bubble so you can’t totally blame them.

The Slave Trade

The slave trade was a BIG portion of the history you'll encounter in West Africa & the topic is deep & complex. Henry Louis Gates Jr addresses the complexity of slave trade as best one can in the following NYT op-ed:

How did slaves make it to these coastal forts? The historians John Thornton and Linda Heywood of Boston University estimate that 90 percent of those shipped to the New World were enslaved by Africans and then sold to European traders. The sad truth is that without complex business partnerships between African elites and European traders and commercial agents, the slave trade to the New World would have been impossible, at least on the scale it occurred. 

Advocates of reparations for the descendants of those slaves generally ignore this untidy problem of the significant role that Africans played in the trade, choosing to believe the romanticized version that our ancestors were all kidnapped unawares by evil white men, like Kunta Kinte was in “Roots.” The truth, however, is much more complex: slavery was a business, highly organized and lucrative for European buyers and African sellers alike.

A quick anecdote Americans in particular will find interesting is the famous song Amazing Grace was written by a slave trade conspirator as a form of penance for his sins against Africans. The song is well known but makes even more sense once you know why the writer considers himself a "wretch". The life & ultimate transformation of John Newton who profited from slavery but found penance through Amazing Grace from the Lord is a fascinating little story.

The Basics 

Anyway back to the trip. Some good basic facts to know that sort of explain how & why I chose Ghana and not some other country.

• Ghana’s economy has been kicking ass & taking names these past ~8 yrs. As a part-time finance nerd I find this extremely interesting.
• The Ghanaian people are known for their exceptional friendliness.
• As a former British colony the whole country speaks basic English well
• The country has little violent crime and is politically stable (unfortunately you can’t say the same for Cote D’ivoire & Nigeria which are both near Ghana)
• There is tons of history to be learned & seen in Ghana (let me give you a high level 10 second history lesson):
• The Portuguese colonized first in late 1400s (before Columbus began destroying the West Indies)
• The the Dutch took over for awhile
• Then the British took control...& MASSIVELY grew the slave trade until they banned it in 1807 (but an underground slave trade remained for decades until mid 19th century).
• the British ruled until 1957 when Ghana achieved independence 
• but Ghana wasn't really a democracy until 1992

So what’s Ghana like you ask? Let me be blunt. It’s SWEAT-YOUR-BUTT-OFF-HOT. You know all those jokes about there being a difference between ‘hot’ and ‘Africa hot’? Yeah tru-dat.  That stereotype turns out to be fairly spot on. It’s so consistently hot & humid (even at night) that it’s socially acceptable to have some pretty potent body odor. And I was no exception. In America people are obsessed with cleanliness…clean clothes, clean air, washing your hands before you eat & after you pee…in Africa not so much. I definitely put to the test the theory that exposure to everyday germs & dirt can actually be beneficial.

Being non-black (aka 'obruni!') in Ghana

      First off being a white tourist in Ghana was usually like being a local celebrity. Everyone calls you "obruni", which is sort of like being called gringo in spanish but it's not meant as an insult. Half the people smile at you & almost all kids want to say hello to you. Some of them even want to touch you; the whole different color skin thing seems to be a big draw. It’s all harmless & mostly amusing. You are a novelty. They think your hair is cool or funny looking (depends on the person). And the Ghanaians were totally…and I mean TOTALLY PERPLEXED about what sunscreen is. And I don’t blame them. They see probably 30 white people a year live & in person. Then of those 30 people they probably like 1 or 2 apply some weird ‘white’ cream all over their body. It quickly became a comedy of errors explaining that white skin can tan but it can also burn (and turn red) hence the need for sunscreen. I’m pretty sure half of all Ghanaians think sunscreen is some special formula designed to keep white people extra white. Some things just get lost in translation.

obruni alert! 

            What’s it like being American in Ghana? This is where it got interesting. I’m sure they like other countries but seriously they LOVE America.

Ghanaians give love to USA everywhere.

They constantly spoke to me about their love for democracy. I had a serious conversation with my taxi driver about how Obama won ~51% of the popular vote. How the heck did that nuanced detail make it’s way into my cab driver’s brain is a still a mystery to me. They love Obama in ways that defy description.

Obama love runs deep in Ghana.

Seriously I'm not kidding around about their love for Obama.

Overall it made me really reflect at how easy it is to take for granted all the freedom and more importantly prosperity we enjoy as Americans. Much of Ghana lives worse than the poorest American. It’s crazy in way. They don’t have much (although the country is improving every year); many people live in villages inside huts, shanty towns near the cities or in cramped apartments in the cities. Open sewage drains are everywhere; in the rural areas they use pooping fields as bathroom (not a joke). ~70 or 80% of the people I saw appeared to live hand-to-mouth. Yet they endure and thrive as a society with very little violent crime; Muslims & Christians live side by side with little complications. Most people seem able to provide for themselves; but life is hard for them. Every day is hot; good jobs are VERY scarce & most of the available work available is draining & strenuous. Almost all kids work at least part-time from 10 yrs old on. And they don’t work in temperature controlled cubicles like most American fancypants; they work outside in the hot hot sun or the rain with all the dust, animals, noise & pollution. It’s no wonder that their life expectancy is ~64 yrs (compare that to ~80 yrs for Americans)

The Itinerary 

On my trip I ventured to:

• Accra (the capital city)
• Tamale (the Buffalo of Ghana as in it’s sort of charming but not a must see)
• Mole National Park (think Central Park but with baboons)
• Kumasi (it’s like Philadelphia as in it’s big ass city but only like 1/10^th of it is worth seeing)
• Kakum National Park (a tropical rainforest that has a cool ‘canopy walk’ for people not afraid of heights)
• Cape Coast (the South Beach of Ghana…ok that is too generous…it’s more like the Wildwood/Atlantic City of Ghana as in it’s borderline trashy but still a decent beach town)

walking in the canopy at Kakum National Park

There is not one ‘go to’ city….maybe Accra sort of fits that description but it’s definitely debatable. In a lot of ways for Ghana the journey is the destination as they say. The ethos or vibe of the country was the big attraction to me & it did not disappoint. The every day life I observed in Ghana was really impressive. When gentlemen speak to a woman they do not know, they refer to her as “sister”. Rasta culture is popular in Ghana, especially among young men & I heard it mentioned a number of times about there only being One People (ie equality) and One Love (love everyone regardless of creed, color, etc). In general there is tons of poverty, or near-poverty, but almost no violent crime or even evidence that anyone ever was really ‘on their own’…despite the low standard of living. There was a sense of community that was very strong & vibrant that is not often viewed in Western society. In some ways that was the coolest thing I saw. Money can buy a lot of things back home but in an abstract way ‘money can’t buy community’.

            One notable example of the ‘community attitude’ I saw frequently in Ghana was personified greatly by the good folks at JayNii Streetwise Foundation. An inspiring man (ie Nii) who came out of one of the poor neighborhoods of Accra (Jamestown slum) started a tiny home for street kids in 1997. Over time he has grown the organization into a school, home & community centre for ~50 kids to have some structure, safety & food on a daily basis.

The kids also perform dance & music locally & beyond. I read about JayNii in my Bradt guidebook and also in my hostel (which coincidentally is a sponsor of their organization). I heard nothing but positive things about the organization & decided to go & give them a visit. They welcomed me & showed me around. I didn't get to see any performances due to timing but I came away impressed by what Nii & his wife Jay have been building there.

At orphanage in Tamale (northern Ghana)

I was also fortunate to have the chance to visit an orphanage. I could only spend about 45 mins there but it’s always so rewarding to spend time with kids, who despite their disadvantaged circumstances still had nothing but joy & laughter most of the day. I don’t understand all the dynamics but I constantly ran into Westerners who were spending time in Ghana volunteering for months at the various orphanages throughout the country. I suspect that the lack of a government safety net makes it hard for kids to find a home if their parents abuse them, have addiction problems, pass away, etc. I got the sense that there are typically orphanages in every city; it’s just a fact of life down there.
Overall Ghana really gives one a taste of what its like to see a country developing, growing & improving. It was a fantastic place to visit; as they say Ghana is basically 'Africa for beginners' so some of you should consider it as a vacation destination the next time you travel! Anyway that's all I got for now. Thanks for reading yall. 

you can't visit Africa & not play a djembe drum. 

You also can't visit Africa & not ride in a tro-tro. It's sort like a roller coaster except you might actually die. But it costs like 25 cents so I didn't sweat it too much.

Round 1 = draw

Round2: Elephant 1, Guy 0