Final Reflection

As I look back on my 11 weeks spent in Ghana I can’t hep but think about how grateful I am for the opportunity I was given. I was often told when I arrived in Ghana that it was better to come in a group of 2 or 3 because then you always have someone to travel with and someone to talk to about your experiences, good and bad, because they are also going through the same things.  While there were a few times I wish I would have had someone to talk to, being there with other people would have definitely changed my overall experience. I would not have been able to get to know the people around me more. I was forced to get to know Ghanaians, who are wonderful and caring people, but I think that I would have stayed quiet and shy as my usual self if I had another American to talk with and spend time with. My family was the absolute best. They always made sure that I had anything and everything I could possibly need. I was glad to be able to spend time with my host family. I can never thank them enough for all that they have done for me. My host mom also connected me with a college student from the University of Ghana that became one of my closest friends in Ghana. She took me to places in the area on the weekends, the touristy places and local places. She also notified me of events on campus such as drama and dance performances, and took me to the events whenever I said I wanted to go.I also could not have asked for a better group of colleagues at my school. I am very blessed for how much they cared for me and got to know me during my 11 weeks at their school. My cooperating teacher really took me under her wing and treated me like her child. She always had things to teach me about school and life. There were a few others in the school that I became close to in the office, so I always had to stop in and say high to them, or eat lunch with them when our schedules allowed. The sisters at the school were very generous and kind to me, even though I was shy at first and not greeting people is seen as rude there. They soon became people that I talked to regularly and became acquaintances.

There were some souvenirs that I saw that say welcome to Ghana the land of gold and culture, I can say that Ghana is definitely full of culture. A big part of the culture is hospitality. Everyone welcomes you into their home, store, or wherever you may be. They make an effort to communicate with you and make sure you are comfortable even when they don’t speak your language very well. I didn’t come across it often because most people I knew could also speak English, but there were a few occasions where I had to communicate with people who didn’t know English. Being hospitable means giving even when you don't have much to begin with. I had someone actually go out of their house to buy water for me because it is customary to serve someone water when they enter your house and they had just used the last of their water in cooking lunch. It was very humbling to see how the people gave without hesitation. Another thing about the culture that I enjoyed was that talking about God didn’t scare people. The area that I was generally split into 3 religions, christianity, islam, and traditionalists. People would say things like Praise God when you told them you made it home safely from a trip. They expressed their love of God clearly and they never had to be afraid of offending someone. Fabrics and beads are a big thing in Ghana. The fabric is beautiful with plenty of color and pattern. It is common for people to wear the traditional fabrics and designs especially to church on Sunday. I was fortunate enough to buy some fabric and bring it to a seamstress who did a beautiful job sewing my dresses for me. The dresses are better quality than some of the dresses you can buy in stores, and they fit a lot better because they were made just for me. I collected a few more dresses than I was expecting, because I was given a few in my last week, but I will definitely wear them all and cherish the time I was able to spend in Ghana.

The for was spicy, but delicious! If you like rice, fish and chicken with a lot of spice you will do great! My host family eased me into the spiciness of the food and I am very grateful for that. The first time I ate fried plantains I thought  it was weird to eat something sweet with the spicy beans and rice, but I learned to love it! Banku, fufu, and ken key are foods very different from anything that I have ever eaten before going to Ghana, but I learned to like them too. Banku is my favorite of the three, but the key to eating these types of food is to make sure you dip it into the soup or stew well, so it is not sticky. The first few times I didn’t dip it well enough and then it would get stuck to the top of my mouth. The water there is not safe to drink so I always drank bagged or bottled water. 

The living in Ghana seems simple compared to my fast paced life in the U.S. I learned a lot of patience and how to go with the flow because chances are things won’t go as planned, especially if technology is involved. It was common for the lights to go off (power outages) multiple times a day. There was no technology in my classroom, but that made it difficult for communicating back home to people. There were a couple days that I got to school early so I could send emails back home only to find out that the lights were off so the wifi wasn’t working. Some times even if the lights were on the wifi connection was too weak to navigate on the internet. I was very humbled to have a bed on a frame because many people just have a mattress on the floor if they even have that. I know some people just have a small blanket that they lie on the floor where they will sleep, so I felt like a celebrity when I was able to have a frame for my mattress to be off of the floor. Running water is not a common thing. Some people have poly tanks which are big water tanks. Some even have them on top of their house, so you can have running water for a shower like I did, but that doesn’t mean the pressure is strong. Sometimes using the buckets of water was an easier way to take a shower. Other people will have tanks outside their house so they will have to bring buckets of water into the house when they need it. The final option is to fetch water. You can go to a place, ours was pretty close to the house, where someone has poly tanks of water that you can buy just the amount of water that you need. I realized how much I take for granted living in the United States and I also realized how much stuff that I have that isn’t really that important. 

I learned a lot about myself, my teaching style, and the type of person I want to be through this experience. I will always remember and cherish the time that I had in Ghana.