Preparation for this mission to Ghana began months ago. Once the date was set, I began the process of getting time off from residency, compiling a to do list and begin investigating Ghana. My first stop was the library where I found the most useful books in the Children’s section. Short books, concise and perhaps a bit rosy (one paragraph on the slave trade out of Ghana), they set the stage for at least some basic information. Also I found two great picture books, both Asante tales. One about a spider who learns the value of sharing and the other about a Leopard who was boastful and greedy.
I tried making a few Ghanaian dishes- Jollof rice and Groundnut (Peanut) Stew. The rice, well I need to work on my recipe. It was a thick gob of tomato and rice- I think too much tomato paste. The stew was good (Black beans, carrots, peanuts and tomato) but very rich compared to my usual diet. Dr. Schneck said he knows of a place that sells fried bat. I have eaten insects, but I draw the line at flying mammals.
The CDC site was also helpful (yellow fever vaccinations are required for entry) as well as a local travel agency that specializes in trips to Ghana. Our host site- an engineering college also had a web site. Very happy looking students go there. December was my month for vaccinations and we had a conference between team members and Josh Wood, the IVU director. I was so busy doing everything BUT pediatric surgeries, before I knew it; our trip was two weeks away. I began my lists of things to get, things to do and now there are so many notes around the house now it looks like a post-it note factory exploded. I was able to get a least a few pediatric surgeries in before today, so at least I can operate with my surgical magnifying glasses (aka loops).
What I learned about Ghana-
It is in on the southern coast of western Africa, next to Togo and Ivory Coast. It is about the size of Missouri. Accra is the capital and Kumasi, where we are going, is the second largest city. Accra is on the coast and Kumasi north of there but not quite at the center of the country. It is a tropical place and some of the trees are the most ancient type of grass-trees. I hope to see sausage and baobab trees there. Elephants were once plentiful but are now gone. There are still a lot of snakes.
The ancient kingdom of Ghana was actually more north than the modern country and refugees from a bloody revolution in 1100 settled in present day Ghana and four of the original tribes are still present. Ancient Ghana was conquered by the Mali Empire, which was then overtaken by the Songhai kingdom. Eventually the Moors led by Prince El Mansur captured Ghana in 1591. The arrival of the Moors, led to a strong anti-Moslem faction and tribes were brought together, and the Asantes, an Akan people, became very powerful.
The Portuguese came to trade gold, ivory and pepper and then slaves. Eventually after Great Britain outlawed the trading of people, Ghana found economic success in exporting agricultural products such as palm oil, cocoa, cotton, rubber, and gold. Left to govern itself until the late 1800s, exports made some Ghanaians very wealthy. In 1872, Britain expanded its African colonies and went to war with the Asante people. In 1874 the British entered the heart of the Asante people, Kumasi, where a terrible bloody war ensued. The Astante confederation was broken and the king was exiled.
The British controlled the politics of Ghana and excluded any native person from holding any office. The only education was from missionary schools as the British government feared a revolution would occur if the Ghanaians received any formal education. This did not stop them from conscripting Ghanaians to fight with the Allies in World War II. Returning form war the feeling of the Ghanaians began to change. The United Nations was recognizing small countries and the United Gold Coast Convention was born from that came the leaders of free Ghana. In 1960, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah became the first president when Ghana became the first former British colony to gain independence. Ok so there were a lot of coups and rebellions and makes for a brief early history especially when I am reading from a few books at the seventh grade level.
So that is some of the basics. I have only started reading about Kumasi in earnest. So perhaps I will write about that next. My next post maybe from Ghanaian soil as we head to the heart of the Akan- Asante people.
~Stephanya Shear
No comments:
Post a Comment