Until We Meet Again, Ghana!
With some reason, Jürgen and I consider ourselves to be fairly “worldly”. We’ve been traveling the world almost non-stop for ten years. We’ve got this down. We know this wonderful planet better than most, and even if we aren’t experts in everything, we’re intermediate-level at worst… right? Well, not so fast. Our three months in Ghana proved how far we have to go. As it turns out, even “worldly” gents like us can still be harboring some laughable preconceptions and prejudices. Our trip to Ghana was a lot of things: adventurous, beautiful, exciting, exotic, eye-opening, amazing… but most of all, it was an education.
We had a conversation on the plane from Cairo to Accra, which I now look back on with shame. Neither of us had ever been to Africa before, and we had some ideas. “Just so we’re in agreement, we’ll always make sure to be home before dusk, right?” Definitely! “And we should treat people with respect, but also suspicion, shouldn’t we?” Oh, for sure! “Never should we carry too much money! Never needlessly expose our camera! Safety first”. Amen.
It took all of 24 hours to realize how silly our trepidation was. Without the slightest bit of exaggeration, I’ve rarely felt safer in any country — maybe Iceland. Maybe Japan. Almost immediately, we recognized what we had to fear from the people of Ghana, and the answer was “nothing”. This is the epitome of a peaceful people. Except for our visit to the Agbogbloshie electronic dump, we never once felt insecure. The people of Ghana were, nearly without exception, some of the most friendly, and genuinely welcoming we’ve encountered in our years of travel.
There was that time we exited a bus, forgetting a bag full of decently valuable gifts, and someone came running up to us a block later, bag in hand. “You left this!” The bus then motored past, everyone waving at us. There was that first time we explored Jamestown, a place of horrific poverty, and instead of people yelling at us, we had swarms of children hugging our legs, wanting nothing more than to communicate their immense joy at the novelty of seeing new people. There were all the times we went to a neighborhood bar at the end of a long day, and were immediately brought into warm conversations about our lives (different), our families (the same), our skin (different), our blood (the same).
The country itself is not without its problems, but the people of Ghana are inspirational. Whether interacting with the educated and sophisticated crowds in Accra and Kumasi, or the rural people who live in the mud-huts of northern Ghana, the experience was always similar: one of kindness and acceptance. Even when we found ourselves marching in a musket-shooting, machete-waving crowd in Tamale, we felt welcomed. Even when we mistakenly crashed the wrong tiny village unexpectedly, we found open doors and smiling faces.
This is our big take-away from Ghana, and so we’re not going to concentrate on the negative aspects of the land. Yes, it’s Africa. Yes, there’s institutional corruption, a disheartening AIDS epidemic, a culture destroyed by slavery, traditional colonialism, and the insidious neo-colonialism of our capitalist world. There are problems, let’s not deny that. But we knew that already. In European or American media, if you spot the word “Africa” in a headline … get ready, because it’s going to be some sort of hand-wringing journalistic investigation of how shitty the continent is. But once you’ve actually visited Africa (or at least Ghana), it’s amazing how fast the hardened scales can fall from your eyes.
Ghana opened our eyes and our hearts. Our experience here made us question deeply-held assumptions, and has opened up so many future doorways. Already, we can’t wait to return to Africa, and see what else we can discover. After visiting a new country, Jürgen and I always grow as people… but I think we shot up a few inches while in Ghana. Thanks to this amazing place, we look at the world differently now, and we’ll never forget the three months we spent here.
Yo también miro el mundo de manera diferente desde que hace ya más de 4 años por primera vez viajé a Ghana. En mi segundo viaje sentí el racismo del negro hacia el blanco cuando trataba de conseguir un alquiler asequible ya que intenté vivir en Ghana para siempre pero al final sólo pude vivir 3 meses, tuve que volver a España para arreglar unos asuntos y me dejé convencer para quedarme. Sin embargo no dejo de viajar cada año por lo menos 15 días para visitar a todos los amigos que dejé allí que ya son como de mi familia. He aprendido bastantes frases del Twi, visto el Dashiki cada domingo para asistir con respeto a sus Iglesias, trato siempre de comer sus platos tradicionales aunque mi estómago no logra aceptar el picante pero sigo insistiendo. Siempre trato de vivir como un local y conocer su cultura. Siempre tengo “ghanas” de revivir experiencias en el país donde sólo hay que pisar la calle para que pasen cosas, de los honrados tro-tros que nunca engañan y su enjambre de vendedoras con sus mercancías en perfecto equilibrio sobre sus cabezas que revolotean alrededor de las ventanillas en cada semáforo, del agua y el helado en bolsas, de las alcantarillas a cielo abierto, de las telas coloridas, donde no se fuma por la calle, de los mercados colosales, de los coloridos lagartos urbanos, de las mujeres bellas, estilizadas y perfectas, de grandes árboles de los que cuelgan centenares de murciélagos grandes, de donde cada día las mujeres te van pidiendo el número de teléfono por la calle y te proponen liarte o incluso casarte con ellas, del inglés y el Twi, de la alegría y los colores, el país del imperio Ashanti… Necesito volver a ser el blancobruni de todas las miradas… Necesito volver a recobrar la esperanza y el optimismo. Por eso no puedo dejar de volver cada año. He sido testigo del encuentro de la felicidad verdadera en los corazones de una gran mayoría de personas con las que me he relacionado a lo largo de mis estancias en Ghana. Ahora amo a Ghana, colaboro con ellos para intentar paliar los estragos que el hombre blanco hizo con la colonización. Sé que yo no voy a cambiar nada en África, pero sí trato de inculcar a los jóvenes y niños de allí que no hay motivos para desear vivir fuera de su país, que la vida en Europa sí, es cómoda pero no gratuita y que nuestro esfuerzo nos cuesta cada mes pagar todas nuestras comodidades… Trato de abrirles los ojos y explicarles que viven en un país bello, con muchos recursos y tengo plena confianza en que el futuro está en sus manos, que deben estudiar duro para luchar contra la corrupción. Educación y respeto, también Europa debe empezar a respetar a África, debe dejar de expoliar a África. Un ejemplo es el expolio con el cacao, ¿por qué en las tabletas de chocolate que todos tenemos en nuestras casas nunca pone el país de procedencia del cacao? A mí me resulta muy sospechoso… No existen cultivos de cacao en Europa. Costa de Marfil y Ghana, los dos principales productores del mundo de cacao, anunciaron el miércoles 12 de junio que ya no venderían su cacao a menos de 2.600 dólares por tonelada, una decisión histórica presentada como una forma de pagar mejor a los agricultores… Todo esto debe cambiar. Yo lo veo así: el futuro de África está en la Educación y el Respeto. Ya no siento el racismo del negro hacia el blanco sino todo lo contrario, formo parte de ellos. Amo a Ghana, ya soy uno más de ellos.
You write very well. So animated . Am glad u enjoyed staying in my ghana
Thanks for your inspired lines, as a German living in Ghana for three months I can relate to every word. The people’s kindness here is immensely beautiful and eye-opening. Everybody should try to take it as a lesson and just walk through life a little bit more humble.
I have visited Europe a few times and am so shocked how sad their view of Africa, in fact there is a set/series of injections you have to go through from your GP before you venture into the unknown(Africa) That alone puts a whole lot of even curious adventures off.
People usually don’t have that time to go through all the injections before they traveled, I wouldn’t anyways.I had a lovely host in UK and wanted to get them to visit Ghana, there was so much obstacles and even the travel and tour guys had reservations about visiting Africa. Infact most non Africans ,think of Africa as one country. Amazing 😂
It makes we wonder if all the resources spent in promoting Ghana and Africa is worth while.
Is only well traveled guys like you that can venture here.Thank you.
Thanks for the lovely write up , very balanced.
What a great article! We’re currently dreaming of going to Ghana again – we’ve been
there before and we love, love love it! Here’s to a year with loads of travel plans and new experiences!
– Veronika