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Ghana Community Service |
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The Project: The group arrives in the capital city of Accra, and then heads west along the coast to their host village of Cape Three Points, located close to the beach at the southernmost point of the country. Living conditions are very basic. The group’s meals, featuring rice, pasta, chicken, fish, fresh vegetables and fruit, are prepared by local women with the help of student cooking crews. Weekdays are spent working on projects alongside people from the village. Exact projects for this summer will be determined in the spring, and will include helping with the construction of classrooms for a new high school, teaching in the local primary school, and learning about local agriculture in nearby fields with local farmers. After the work day is done, students have a chance to join in a pick-up game of volleyball on the beach or learn Nzima, the local language. Afternoons also include West African drumming and dance instruction.
Weekends: On weekends the group travels to nearby points
of interest including Busua Beach for surfing lessons and to the
nearby city of Takoradi where students join the bustling crowds at
the local markets with their mountains of vegetables, drumming
street performers, and brilliantly colored kente cloth stalls. The
group will also visit the Cape Coast Castle where students learn
about the centuries of slave trade and Kakum National Park where
they traverse the jungle canopy by rope walkway. After saying
goodbye to Cape Three Points, the group travels east to Ho in the
Volta region for a traditional Borborbor drum performance and a
visit to the Boabeng-Fierna Monkey Sanctuary. Students will have the
chance to hike through the mountains of Logba Tota and Fume to see
the incredible vistas of Lake Volta before returning to Accra for
their journey home. |
beginning
to thrive, yet few tourists take the time to lend a hand. Beginning
in the 16th century and continuing for 300 years, the West African
slave trade carried hundreds of thousands of captives to the
Americas. As commerce in gold and cocoa replaced the slave trade,
British influence in the region increased, leading to the
establishment of the Gold Coast colony. At the time of independence
from Britain in 1957, Ghana was the most prosperous colony in
Africa. In recent years, problems resulting from corruption and
political conflict have interfered with economic growth. Today, the
average Ghanaian family farms or fishes, lives in relatively
primitive conditions, and confronts serious challenges in accessing
education, health care, and adequate income.