We’re approaching two weeks here in Ghana and I’m finally starting to feel like I’m acclimated to the climate. It’s getting easier to sleep at night with a light blanket. Waking up in the middle of the night to catch my breath is becoming less of a routine.
Monday was our first day at our internships. Most of my fellow UO students here had a little difficulty their first day with having things to do, which Leslie warned us about; however, my boss immediately assigned me projects, which was made the six hours of mosquito bites and broken fans in my office easier to ignore. I’m working under two women. Both of them are very tall, lean and beautiful and maintain a stern and professional vibe to their presence. Phoebe, one of my bosses, informed me that during my time here I get the opportunity to produce a documentary for one of their partnering NGOs called Volta Presentation, which is an organization that grows and delivers organic produce to the people of Accra. I was beyond thrilled when she told me this and I recognized immediately that my internship is going to be a fabulous opportunity.
Over this last weekend we traveled to Cape Coast where we toured infamous castles that were built by the Portuguese for slavery during the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade. Visiting those castles, hearing the horror stories of what those people went through, in reference to the horrible ways they suffered and died, broke my heart. The underground dudgeons where they were forced to live had a stench of must and faint, ancient urine. Our tour guide showed us a chalk mark on the stone wall that measured the amount of feces and toxic waste that built up over the years when they ended this a crime against humanity in the late 1800s. Feelings of sadness and guilt weighed heavy on my heart as I walked through such an important piece of history. It’s hard to believe that at one point those horrible things happened to innocent people. It brought me back to the feelings I had when I toured the torture prison left over from the Khmer Rouge in 2011. Sometimes as privilaged Americans, I feel like we all have this mentality of “that could never happen to me” and we don’t think about what people endured in order for people like us to have the things we want. Although we’ve moved past these horrific incidents, I think it’s important to be mindful of the past and the of the past of the people that surround us every day to understand where we all came from and how we work together now as a community.
On a lighter note, all of us really enjoyed our little beach getaway at the Coconut Grove Resort. Falling asleep in cold, air-conditioned room to the sound of the ocean waves crashing on the rocks, after experiencing an emotional recap of one of our world’s most important historical monuments, gave me solitude and a deeper appreciation for where I am and why I’m here. As we move forward, I’m anxious to advance in my internship and practice my multimedia skills in this colorful, boistorious and vibrant country. I’m so happy to be here and as each new day comes I can’t wait to watch us all fall deeper in love with Ghana.