Ghana

Just a little over a day after sharing Christmas dinner with my family, I find myself walking hand in hand with Nana and Atto, two local children from Ghana. Surrounded by excited children, elders singing and playing music, and a group of fellow UCLA students, we were welcomed to the community Abor. We would be spending the next two weeks getting to know the community and setting up a mobile clinic to serve their health needs.

Before I was allowed to go to Africa, I had to get multiple vaccinations as well as malaria pills, so naturally my parents were very concerned about my safety. After the first day there, the amount of love and welcome we felt would be more than enough to put their worries to rest; too bad I didn't have Internet to let them know that. Communicating with the kids and teenagers was not too difficult since they learned English in schools, however for most of the elders we needed an interpreter. One man named Simone could speak enough English where we could communicate directly. Simone and his wife had lived in the village all their life. Almost every day, he would walk two hours each direction to his farm to provide for his family. His strong calloused hands reflected the years of hard work yet his eyes still beamed with youth. He welcome me into his home, which he had built himself with clay, rocks, and bamboo. Simone told us, “I know it must look simple, but I am very happy.” Next to his house, was two smaller huts - one used to store crops and the other as a kitchen, with three clay lumps to hold a pot and build a fire underneath. Simone’s wife was cooking their local specialty, Fufu, which is made with the cassava plant. He then led me over to show me a surprise for his youngest son. 

Simone and his son

He had bought another patch of land and was building a nicer home, built with bricks, for his son to have when his son came of age. “I am building a new home for my son. I want him to have better than me.” I’ll never forget his smile then, his face was filled with pride. I grew fond of Simone because his mentality reminded me of the sacrifices my own father makes for my family. My dad always said he worked hard so that we would one day have a better life than his, just as my grandfather did for him. Even across the world, good fathers think the same. After that, the whole community got together and held a welcoming ceremony for us. The elders and Chief introduced themselves and we had a chance to speak to the community as whole. Then begin the dancing. They taught us how to Azonto, which is a popular dance move and song in Ghana. We danced until we were dehydrated, then we refueled and kept dancing.

The kids dancing Azonto

After a few days meeting many of the families, we began to set up our clinic at the local schoolhouse. I saw two spiders the, each the size of my hand, on the walls of the classroom and thought how most American children interrupt class with their screams when a bug crawls by their desk - what would they do if they saw this. We set up the triage station, the doctors consultation, special rooms for the dentist and OB/GYN, and lastly the pharmacy. On the first few nights, we spent hours organizing the generously donated medicines into bags and then grouping them into suitcases. We rotated shifts and my first day I spent mostly in the pharmacy. I became close with the local pharmacist, Kofi, when he taught us about all the medicines. When the doctors prescription would come down, we would fill the orders and give the patient a “goody bag” with the proper medication. After shadowing the doctors during consultation for a while, they would stop giving a diagnosis right away and see if we could answer based on the symptoms. “So they are eating but still malnourished, what could that be?” I would reply, “They most likely have worms-” and since I had already worked the pharmacy, I’d continue “-so prescribe them albendazole.” As the week went on, I got to take patients blood pressure and temperature and talk to them about their symptoms before they went to the consultation. I saw teeth being pulled, cases of malaria, hernias, and even a protruded uterus. The last one I wish I could un-see.

As much as enjoyed the medical aspect, especially because of how much I was learning in a short time, it was the immersion into the culture that really made my trip memorable. Nana and Atto found me everyday just to say hi and hang around when I was free. They were 8 and 9 respectively, so they had learned a little English already. Nana was a great dancer even though he was missing most of his toes. He was the one who taught me how to Azonto on the first day. Every time I miss Ghana, I just listen to that song and I am transported back to Abor. We spent the last few days discussing public health and split up into age and gender groups to answer any other questions they might have. I was with the teenage and younger adult men. Many of them I got to talk to before on a personal level about our lives as well as our countries. One day, I spent over two hours answering questions about America’s politics, government, economy, religions, social customs, and more. Everything from gays and lesbians to why some people call Obama the anti-christ. It amazed me what specific things they knew or did not know about America. It was refreshing to see how curious and intelligent they were. Also it made me think hard about America when I answered their endless questions. Of course, I had my fair share of questions for them and I cherished the fact that we could sit down and talk about the differences between our lives. Some of them even had Facebook so we added each other when I got back, but they don’t use it as obsessively as American youth do.

The last day we spent in the capital city of Accra. Our friend Thomas, who worked with our program, guided us around. We visited Cape Coast Castle, which was an old slave trading point. It was well-built and lined by the coast with canons to guard from invaders.

View from Cape Coast Castle

The castle changed hands between many people trying to advance on the slave trade, yet the slaves were provided by many Ghanaian tribes who sold the people of opposing tribes they had conquered. Our tour guide discussed this difficult part of their past as he walked us down into the holding areas. Large underground rooms with very little light used to be packed with slaves. Many would never survive this part of the journey due to the fact that they would have to eat, sleep, and defecate all in the same area for months. There was a thick permanent layer of hardened blood and feces covering the brick floor. Ironically enough, there was a church for the slave traders right above the holding cells. I felt a wave of emotion come over me as I stood where many suffered and died due to the greed of others. The castle was beautifully morbid.

Walking around Accra, we had a chance to do some shopping. The shopping reminded me of that in Iran - you have to haggle. I bought many local paintings and woodwork to bring home to my family. I even bought a small drum after we had an exciting jam session in one of the stores. They taught me some rhythms and we all played together for a while. When we got back to our bus, we were still waiting for a few people so the local vendors walked up to offer their wares to us through the window. My friends saw that I knew the language of bargaining and asked me to help them get a decent price. At this point the artist liked me so we had fun throwing prices back and forth until we agreed. The locals liked my spirit so much that one of the artists gave me a painting for free. I gave him a bracelet I had made earlier as a gift in return. Though I am sure even with all the haggling, we were charged more than any local would be, we still got fine items while stimulating the economy. Everybody wins.

We also went to Kakum National Park where we walked across rope bridges above the forest canopies. The view was breathtaking. Afterwards I tried chicken gizzard.

Mmmm gizzard

Before I left, I finally got a taste of Fufu. It was served with chicken and their own spicy sauce. It smelled great as Simone’s wife was preparing it earlier in the trip and on our last day Thomas got me some. We even shared a Ghanaian beer together. Saying goodbye to Thomas at the airport was hard but thanks to modern technology, I know we could find each other next time I am in Ghana.

My trip to Ghana was the first time I had ever been to Africa and it will not be my last. I would love to go back to Abor and visit the friends I made. Africa is the birthplace of humanity and is all of our motherland thus she should be treated with respect and appreciation. With any place, do not let the media’s image be the only one you know. I went to Ghana with an open mind and returned with a full heart. Though I could not simply capture my entire trip into words and photographs, I tried my best to share my experience and why my time in Ghana had a lasting impact on my life.