I know I said I might not write, but we've been doing so much I wanted to tell you all about!
We left Accra and arrived here in Kumasi (the Ashanti region) on Wednesday. Before going to our hotel (the Golden Tulip, which might actually be an Aunt Collie worthy stay), we stopped in Patriensa, a small village outside of the city. Patriensa is the site of a UT engineering-social work collaboration project that has been going on I believe for 3 years. Together with the community, students from UT have built a well in the town, so that they can run their own water sachet business (water sachets are more common here than water bottles--they're little plastic bags with water in them). We got to tour the facility and speak with some of the people that will be directing the business, which is supposed to start next week! Even more exciting though, we got to be welcomed by the Queen Mother in the village palace. Queen Mothers rule along with the Chiefs in Ashanti communities. When a chief passes, they choose the next chief, and have other roles in the development and ruling of the community. Also, they are not the wives of the chief, but come from his family, so usually a mother, sister, or aunt of the royal family.
After we were greeted at the palace, we had a drumming and dance performance by a junior high group, followed by a skit about unsafe abortions, which I thought was very interesting. Some pamphlets accompanied the show, which were actually very informative. Abortion is illegal in Ghana, but I learned that in cases of rape, incest, or when the birth poses a threat to the mental health of the mother, abortion is allowed. The Queen Mothers had organized the skit, which I think is indicative of their role in the community.
Following the skit, the Queen Mother, along with other village elders and Queen Mothers from surrounding villages, wanted to dance. They started dancing and then invited us up to dance along with them! Once we were up dancing, they played some popular Ghanaian music our group has become familiar with, and a bunch of the village kids (who had accumulated during the performance) started dancing with us. It was so surreal, standing in this rural village in Africa, with jungle in the distance, dancing with the elders and the kids. And those kids can really dance! Definitely one of my favorite memories of the trip so far.
The next day, we went to a Kente weaving center and an Adinkra stamping place. Kente cloth is from the Ashanti region, and we got to see how it was woven and even try our hands at it. Adinkra symbols are used throughout the country, and vary in meaning from Accept God (the most common one, seen even on plastic chairs) to jealousy (which I actually thought looked pretty cool, and then I found out what it meant..). We saw how the dye they stamp them with is made from tree bark, and got to all stamp a piece of fabric with a symbol of our choosing.
After lunch, we visited the Ashanti Palace Museum. Ashanti are one of the few well known ethnic groups outside Africa because of the success they had in fighting the British for a long time. The palace was actually built by the British after they allowed a king to return from exile, but the Ashanti refused to use it until they had paid the British for it. During the tour, the guide informed us that the King was actually outside his current palace for a memorial service. We rushed over afterwards and got to see some of it. Everyone was dressed in black traditional wear, and there were lots of large velvet umbrellas being bobbled over the king and other royals, to ward out spirits. I forgot to mention that at the ceremony in Patriensa, they poured libations to evoke the ancestor spirits. This is another example of the mixing of traditionalism with Christianity, because the village is predominately Christian. Same with the Ashanti kingdom. Anyway we got to see the king pass, except unfortunately I could not tell which one was him because they were all dressed the same. I asked my professor and she unjokingly told me "He was wearing a lot of black"...not much help.
Today we visited the village of Agogo. First we participated in a Maymester tradition for the past four year, a soccer game with the local junior high school. I know you will all find this hard to believe, but I am proud to say I actually played for a little bit (although I stayed to the outside of the field and tried to avoid the ball). For the first year our group actually won! I think it had more to do with the fact that we have graduate student who played soccer for South Carolina in our group, rather than my participation, but it's still up for debate.
After the game we visited a tree farm that Maymester students have been planting trees at each year, as part of the Chief's reforestation project. I planted four: one for each of you mom and dad, one for sofia, and one for me. We then went to the Chief's palace at Agogo. This Chief is unique because he actually served in the formal Government for thirty years as minister of education (I think, but don't quote me). There was a picture of him shaking hands with Bill Clinton! Unfortunately though, he had just suffered a stroke and was in Accra for treatment. We still had a very nice ceremony at the palace though, similar to the on in Patriensa (libations, performance by adults this time, and dancing) except this palace and court were much larger because it is a larger village. We also had lunch of local foods that Dr. Gilbert bought at the town's market. This included rice, boiled plantains and yams, fish (which I did not eat because they had bones and eyes), avocado, grilled onions and beans, and a flavorful green stew that I think was spinach based. It was good, but tonight we are eating at the hotel and I'm hoping for some more familiar dishes (continental as they call them here).
So, those have been the past few days, we head back to Accra and tomorrow and then leave for home on Monday! I've really had an amazing experience here, which has been fun and adventurous, but also caused me to think critically about a lot of things. I love you all and this time probably won't email again before leaving, but thank you for all of your support on this trip, listening to my rambling emails, and just being all around wonderful! I can't wait to see you.
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