I had never experienced culture shock until I was hiking for twenty minutes through growing puddles of red mud that were forming as a result of Ghana’s rainy season. Always a fan of hiking, I didn’t quite expect to do so in order to get to my host family’s house. My four-day experience in West Africa taught me more than I could have imagined, and I know that no amount of words or pictures, or even videos, could do it justice.
I don’t mean that in a way that allows me to skim over details because they’re just ‘so indescribable’. I mean that I have been back on this ship for 22 hours now and I still haven’t found the words to properly describe my experience to my friends when they ask. There’s too much to say, and I don’t want to diminish the impact that was had on me by describing the trip in a fashion that makes people picture it in a way that is entirely different from what it was.
I’ve found that preconceived notions are wrong 95% of the time. Ignorance is prevalent, even within those who are aware of their ignorance. It is so easy to take what we see in movies, or in campaigns ran by different organizations or charities, and paint a picture of what we expect a certain place to be like. Facets of that picture may end up being accurate, but in total there is no way to have a real sense of that place until you are in the middle of it. Until you are interacting with the people and hearing the roosters in the (very) early morning and feeling the pouring rain mix with the dirt and sweat and sun screen on your skin as you walk through trees greener than anything you thought would exist within your narrow perception of Africa.
We had a session at the very beginning of our voyage, where we were showed a TED talk by Chimamanda Adichie who spoke about the dangers of the “single story’. Going into the village of Senase, I was aware of my single story of Africa as a whole and, more narrowly, Ghana itself. I knew that I didn’t know what to expect, or how the trip would change me. I planned on being pushed out of my comfort zone and being exhausted and full of new perspectives by the time I reembarked the ship on the last day. I hoped to come back with multiple stories of Senase and, with that, Ghana. I think I succeeded in that.
The first day, I was already aware that I was being pushed out of my comfort zone much more than I had expected. I was incredibly aware of the disconnect between our bus full of college students blasting throwback hip-hop and sad country songs as we drove through markets and small villages wherein people were living lives very different from ours. We got stopped by a herd of cows crossing the road in front of us at one point and, to my surprise, the man leading them was wearing an Alabama script A t-shirt. His life is presumably the complete opposite of mine, yet he had on a shirt representing the college that I go to, and that really struck me when I saw that. There is always something in common that we can find with any given person, and I was reminded of that very quickly.
I noticed that everyone is always smiling, even when they are speaking about serious things. Happiness is not dependent on what we have materialistically, but on how we choose to see the positive in things. I found that I was beyond excited when somewhere had a ‘real’ toilet, but exponentially more surprised when that toilet actually flushed. I will certainly never be unappreciative of poor shower pressure after using a bucket of water to effectively splash myself until I was clean. The village was absolutely beautiful but varied in term of what amenities were available to us at different times. I don’t think I will ever be quite as annoyed to have to walk through campus in the rain again, because at least there is pavement. I will be aware of taking things not for granted, but with more appreciation and joy.
On the other side of this, I might notice more often the disconnect between communities at home. In Senase, everyone seemed to know and greet each other. It was not uncommon to walk into your neighbor’s house and just join in the conversation, and it was a very nice change of pace. At the Semanhyiya American School, where we spent most of our time, the kids have a dance party every morning before starting classes. They watched American TV and listened to the same kind of music. They have celebrations on the last Friday of the month for the kids whose birthdays fall into that time frame. Things might be very different there, but they are also remarkably similar in certain aspects.
The government school was a very different case, without the matching uniforms I genuinely might not have recognized it as a school. The difference was shocking to say the least and made me realize the incredible impact that our guide, and new friend, Fred Benneh has on his community in running the Semanhyiya American School. He has created a place to inspire learning and growth and to provide meals and a place for children ages two to nine to play and interact with one another in a positive environment. To say that he inspired me the last few days is a gross understatement. He did so much more than that, he opened my eyes to the way in which one person really truly can change a whole community.
He told me back at the ship after I thanked him for the amazing experience that, “Together we can change the world.” Funny enough, for the first time in a long time, I felt like he was absolutely right. It is so incredibly important to erase the ‘white saviour’ narrative, but to realize that there are people everywhere that can use aid, and people from everywhere that have the ability to help others.
I have pictures from my time in Ghana, but they don’t even begin to convey the emotions I felt or the things I learned while I was there. Four days might not sound like much, but it was everything.
One of the guys on the trip said something that really resonated with me as well. He said that the human experience isn’t seen on an LCD screen. Media and literature can only express so much but immersing oneself in a place and its people is not comparable to any description or preconception that might exist of it. Senase, Ghana will forever have a very special place in my heart and I am so grateful to have been welcomed with open arms into all that it had to offer.
The link below is a Go Fund Me link for a playground to be built in the village outside of the Semanhyiya American School’s walls. We saw so many children just watching us all play with the students on their playground and decided this would be a perfect opportunity to give back to less fortunate children and the community as a larger whole.
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