Kumasi

The large pink building is the birthing center where my Dad was born

The nearby daycare

The exact spot my Dad`s umbilical cord was buried

My Dad outside his childhood home greeting an extended family member

The Manhyia Palace Museum

After spending the night in Kumasi, the next morning we did a bit of sightseeing before continuing our journey to Tamale. My father was born and raised in Kumasi so it was really exciting for him to show us around. He pointed out to us the very building in which he was born (a birthing center), the house he grew up in, where he went to daycare and elementary school and where he used to play with his brothers. In Ghana, back in the old days in the '50s after you were born, they would take your umbilical cord and bury it in front of your house so that no matter where you go, no matter how far you travel and no matter how long you stay away, you always know where your home is. SO Kofi and I got to see and stand at the exact spot where my father's umbilical cord was buried!! That's what I call going back to your roots! We were also able to go inside my father's childhood home, and meet extended family members still living there. It was very cool! It's nice now to think back to stories he has told us about his childhood and be able to picture his home and the streets, and whenever he discussed having to walk so many miles or blocks to school or to the market, now I can say I have seen the distance. After seeing those places we met up with the nursing students and took a tour of the Manhyia Palace Museum. The Manhyia Palace is where the former Ashanti Kings and Queen Mothers lived. The Ashantis are the largest of the tribes of Ghana and make up 50% of the population in the southern half of Ghana. The Ashanti Kingdom is widespread and when my brother asked my Dad just how much power the current Ashanti King has, my Dad said that if the Ashanti King told his people not to vote for the president, they would not vote. The musuem had statues of the former Kings and Queens mothers, old thrones, ceremonial wear, guns, medals, chinaware and lots of other interesting artefacts. It was a wonderful tour. The palace musuem was beautiful, there was so much history and as I had found with the slave castles, so much had been preserved! It was all fascinating to see! Afterwards we set off for the second half of our journey to Tamale.

Road Trip!

Kofi and I with my Godparents

Former U.N Secretary General Kofi Annan`s House!

A mountain! According to my Dad it is Ghana`s version of the Appalachians

My 3 weeks in Accra really flew by, I could not believe it was already time to head to the Northern part of Ghana. Before leaving, my Dad, Kofi and I met with my Godparents for the first time. It was wonderful to meet them. They were very close friends of my parents and played a huge role as mentors to both of them, and also organized my parents' wedding. I really enjoyed visiting them, it has been rare (actually non-existent) for me during my life to hear people reminisce about my parents' wedding or even to meet true mutual friends. I really liked hearing stories about my parents from like 25+ years ago. The next day (Monday of Week 4) I finished up my shopping for my mom, brother and friends. I bought necklaces, bracelets, keychains, dresses, a flag, futbol jerseys, carvings and so much more! I went shopping at a marketplace in Osu and it was lots of fun. That night my Dad had some nursing students flying in from Michigan, so we went with him to meet them at the airport. These nursing students were taking a rural community health course that had an international option, so the students on the trip along with their course instructor had chosen to do their hands-on portion in the rural community clinics of Tamale, Northern Ghana. It was so funny when they got off the plane and started sweating and complaining of the heat, Kofi and I had looked at each other and been like: "Oh I didn't find it that warm this evening. It's actually kind of cool right now". Kofi and I had really gotten used to the weather. That night we all stayed at the student hostel at the University of Ghana Legon campus. The next day, after breakfast we all set off for the north in a bus. Accra is along the coast of Ghana and our final destination, Tamale, is in the center of the Northern region of Ghana. We drove north and spent a night in Kumasi which is about halfway between Accra and Tamale (about a 6-7 hour drive). The countryside was beautiful! There was so much greenery! Lots of trees, hills and mountains! Although it was a long drive it was wonderful to see so much of Ghana`s countryside and small towns along the way.

African Union Day

During my last week in Accra (3rd week of my trip) I celebrated the holiday African Union Day. It falls on May 25th and to celebrate I went to watch a charity futbol match at the Accra stadium! It was so exciting! Stars from all over the world played to help raise money for peace initiatives all across Africa. It was Africa 11 (the best eleven players in Africa) versus World 11 (the best eleven players in the world...) It wasn't really the best players in the world but there were some renowned European stars I believe, however I don't follow soccer so I really don't know. I did however recognize most of the famous African players from Ghana's national team that played (so well) in the FIFA world cup. They are SO goodlooking in real life :). The game was great, sadly Africa 11 lost but it was all in the name of charity which was nice. I went to the game with one of the doctors that I worked with, and since he is a doctor he was able to actually go into the lockerroom of the players, meet and take picutres with all of them! AND later that evening before going out for sushi (of all things) my friend was able to get myself and a couple of girls staying at the hostel, into the hotel where the stars were staying! I got to meet Michael Essien who was the captain of the Africa 11 team and whom the charity game was actually named after! He plays for Chelsea and is one of the best soccer players in the world. I also got to meet Saloman Kalou (another Chelsea player) and this Spanish star who's name I have no idea. It was SO cool! They were such nice guys and obviously VERY attractive, we had a lot of fun meeting with them.  It was a great way to celebrate and to spend my last week in Accra before travelling around Northern Ghana.

Last Week at the Hospital

The Gynaecology Operating Room

The Gynaecology Clinic

The Blood Bank

So my last week at the hospital was a sad one, but also the peak of my hospital experience. On Mondays my team was on duty from 8:00am to more or less 12:00p.m the following day. The team was split up covering the obsetrics clinic, gynaecology clinic, maternity ward and the labour ward. I spent time shadowing in all areas, and obviously the labour ward was the COOLEST. It was incredible. I was lucky enough to SCRUB IN on TWO C-SECTIONS! It was the single most amazing thing EVER. I got to hold clamps, dab at blood and help squeeze out newborn babies!! I couldn't believe it! I loved every moment of the labour ward and working at the hospital in general. My entire experience at the hospital was unforgettable, all the doctors I worked with were great and all the patients were such strong beautiful, women :)

Visting Grandma's House

Kofi and I at Kakum National Park on the Canopywalk

My Cousins

Harvesting Plantain (Left to Right: Auntie Theresa, Auntie Agatha and Grandma)

Plantain!

Kofi helping my Auntie Josphine pound fufu

Frying plantain

Breakfast :)

Kofi, Grandma and I

Left to Right: Auntie Josephine, Auntie Theresa, Kofi, Anthony, Maame Ekuwa, Grandma, Me, Auntie Joanna and Auntie Agatha

Elmina Castle

Cape Coast Castle

The weekend after my birthday I travelled with my Dad and brother to Anomabo again and spent a night with my Auntie Mary and her two youngest children Efua and Kofi Essuman (my Auntie Mary was born on a Friday too so between them and us...it was a house full of Friday-borns). The next morning we went to church. My Dad attends the Seventh-day Adventist Church and they are Saturday worshipers so around 9:00 am we walked to church, which meant climbing up and down small hills and walking along a path for about 10 minutes while passing goats, chickens and pigs. The church (I didn't think to bring my camera) was a huge concrete structure with no fan or air conditioning (we had worked up a serious sweat by the time we reached the church because at 9:00 am it already felt like 30 degrees) and there were only about 15 or so members in the congregation. The entire 3-hour service was in Fante (the local dialect) and so naturally Kofi and I STRUGGLED to stay awake, but I enjoyed what I was awake for :P. Ghana, I have found, is VERY religious and although I don't consider myself very religious it is inspiring to see people have such a deep faith.
After church we returned to my Auntie's house, changed out of our church clothes and set off for Kakum National Park. The park is named after a river that runs through the remains of the only tropical rainforest in West Africa. It houses several rare and endangered species and to tour the park you walk along a series of narrow bridges in the forest canopy. The bridges are 130 feet high and were actually built by 6 Ghanians and 2 Canadians (woot woot!) in 1960. Apparently the bridges are strong enough to carry the weight of 2 elephants but it certainly didn't feel like it. To get up to the canopy we (I went with my 2 cousins and Kofi) had to climb up the side of a mountain; there were built-in stairs in the mountain side and it probably took 10 minutes at the most to get to the top, but to me it felt like at least 25 minutes. We were all sweating buckets by the time we got to the top, however it was totally worth it because the view alone was incredible. We didn't see any cool animals....a lot of them are nocturnal so the guide warned us we probably wouldn't see any but it was so fun walking along the canopy bridges! The Kakum National Park is another must see/experience in Ghana.
After the canopywalk we went back to my Auntie's house for a late lunch/early dinner of fufu. It was delicious of course and then my Dad drove Kofi and I to my Grandma's house where my Aunties Agatha and Theresa (from Tema) were staying for the weekend. This was the first time Kofi and I were visitng my Grandma at her home and my Auntie Joanna (one of my Mom's sisters who lives in Cape Coast) was also there waiting to meet us for the first time. I know I've mentioned before the nice feeling of visiting my family and seeing my baby pictures there and just feeling so welcome and 'at home'.....well my Grandma's house was no different. In the past when I've met my Grandma (she has visited us at least 2 or 3 times) she has always been very quiet and our conversations have always been somewhat limited because of the language barrier. She can understand English but my Mom explained that my Grandma gets nervous thinking she won't understand me when I start to speak (because I speak so fast) and so she freezes up a bit, and then doesn't take in anything I say, making conversations a bit difficult. When Kofi and I arrived at her house, I can tell you I have never seen my Grandma so happy and excited. She was talking a mile a minute saying over and over: "By the grace of God Efua and Kofi are finally home! Efua and Kofi in Cape Coast! I cannot believe it! Welcome! Akwaaba!" (which means welcome in Fante). She kept hugging us and of course brought out baby pictures, and served us food. Keep in mind Kofi and I were stuffed from the fufu we had just before leaving Anomabo so my Grandma brought us something "small", it was a plate full of fried chicken, jollof rice, french fries, vegetables, plantain....the plate was overflowing and this was something small. It was so nice visting with her, and also meeting my Auntie Joanna and her youngest son (of 3 sons) Anthony. We chatted for a few hours and then went to bed. The next morning we hung out in my Grandma's backyard where she has a small farm. She has plantain trees, sugar cane, chickens, fresh spinach and some other vegetation. Kofi and I were lucky enough to be visting during a time where she was harvesting some of her plantain! She and my Aunties used this giant machete to chop at the branches and pluck the stalks of plantain from the tree....it was very impressive. My Grandma definitely wins the Farmer of the Year Award with her bountiful crops and my Auntie Theresa wins Harvester of the Year Award with her use of the machete. That morning my Auntie Joanna stopped by again with her sons Anthony and Jude (her eldest son is studying at St. Augustine's High School, the school my Dad attended and where my Mom grew up) and my Mom's fourth sister my Auntie Josephine stopped by with her youngest of 2 daughters Maame Ekuwa. It was my first time meeting them as well and for the first time I was with all of my Mom's sisters! I wish my Mom had been there of course, it was wonderful seeing them together! After harvesting some plantain my Grandma took some eggs from her farm and along with my Auntie Agatha they prepared a nice breakfast with sausage, eggs, toast (the bread in Ghana....I'm going to do my best to bring some back....is thicker and sweeter and better) and some freshly harvested deep fried plantain (courtesy of my Auntie Theresa). It was all amazing!
After breakfast my Dad picked us up and took us to visit the Elmina and Cape Coast Slave Castles. We visited the Elmina Slave Castle first; it is 529 years old and absolutely beautiful. For the history lovers it (and Cape Coast Castle) are recognized by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site and are so worth seeing I cannot stress it enough. Elmina Castle was first built by the Portugese in the 15th century and was used as a place to sell and trade gold, silver and other tools and goods. After a couple hundred years the castle was attacked by the Dutch who then took control of the Castle and ran the slave trade from the castle. The Dutch also built the Cape Coast Castle which is just over 300 years old. When the European slave trade began to pick up speed the Elmina Castle had quickly changed from a place of trading goods, into a place to auction and sell slaves, hold in dungeons, and ship off to Europe and the Americas. In both castles Kofi and I toured the dungeons, the holding cells, the governor's quarters and the point of no return. The dungeons still smelled and were very dark with little to no ventilation. It was very interesting to see...it was like a museum but instead of fake exhibits or pictures, you were right there standing in one of the dark 8x10 dungeons where over 200 slaves truly were once chained and forced to eat (once or twice a day), sleep, urinate etc for 2 or 3 months before being shipped off. Another thing that struck me was that both castles had small museums and in addition to the exhibits of the history of Ghana and the slave trade, there were exhibits about Harriet Tubman, Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King Jr. etc. It dawned on me I guess the real meaning of African American history because their history really is the same history. I wasn't expecting to see anything 'American' but Africans, Ghanians at least, see the history of the Civil Rights Movement as an extension of their history....which it is, all of those leaders were descendants of the people that were captured and sold as slaves from Cape Coast. Visiting the castles really put things in perspective for me and made slavery seem more real and not a concept I learned in school. I also loved the architecture of the castles, not only in Ghana but all over Europe and in any former colony, the old buildings are stuning...they knew how to build back in the day. It was a packed weekend! Afterwards we went back to Accra to get ready for our last week at the hospital...