Ghana: The Rest

For most of the rest of our time in Ghana, we took a Semester at Sea trip to Winneba, Charlottesville's sister city. On the coast, Winneba is also a university town of approximately the same size. The purpose of the trip was to build good will and understanding between the citizens of the two towns, and also to bring some books to donate.

I'll let the pictures do most of the talking. When we first arrived, we were treated to a welcome ceremony by the village elders.

This involved everyone shaking everyone else's hand repeatedly, going around and around in circles.

Jason looks just like a local, doesn't he?

Later that evening we went to the University of Education in Winneba to meet some students, listen to more welcome speeches, and watch local musical groups perform. The most interesting part was when the President of the Student Council stood up to welcome us, but instead railed against the administration and walked out.

The next morning we divided into small groups and went to several local schools to meet the children and donate books. The school I went to had all the students participate in an elaborate welcome ceremony including dance, songs, poetry recitals, speeches, and a display of the crafts they learn to make in school.

The little girl in the front was 9 years old.

One of the other professor's daughters was swarmed by kids.

We had a great time reading to the children and learning about the school. Afterwards we went to the market to meet the women that control it. Ghana is a very female-centric society, so it was a lot of fun to talk to them and hear about how they are in charge. I also loved seeing the market.

Box on the head, baby on the back. I am very untalented by comparison.

We then went to see the chief fisherman and the fishing village. Again, the boats are so colorful and beautiful. At this beach there were lots of little kids in the water too.

The last day Jason had a field lab and I went to Accra, the nearby big city. It takes forever to get anywhere in Ghana because the infrastructure is so bad. It's the worst traffic I've ever seen in my life. Accra was nothing special, although I did find a fun store selling batik fabric.

Overall we loved Ghana, although it was a lot harder than a lot of our ports due to the heat, lack of infrastructure, and fear of mosquito-borne diseases. But it a beautiful country with incredibly friendly people.