Old and New

Erin Parks
Journal 4
Ghana Study Abroad Program 2008

I really enjoyed the lectures at KNUST this morning (My 20). I almost started to nod off because I had not slept very well the night before, but I held it together. I have to say my favorite lectures were the first and the last by Dr. Ackam and Dr. Tagoe-Darko. Unfortunately, Dr. Darko's presentation had to be cut short and was a little rushed because we were running out of time, but she was really talking about the culture and I enjoyed that greatly.

What really stood out to me about Dr. Ackam's presentation was when he challenged one of my classmates about what Ghanaian art is. The point he was trying to make is that Ghana can be just as contemporary and that no country magically develops all of its own at the speed of light. His comment about Ghanaian art and even Africa in general not just being represented by the old and crude (wood carvings, kente clothe, etc), but also the contemporary and sophisticated (oil paintings, etc) is really applicable to what I have been seeing in terms of development as we go along.

The fact that you can have a nice University, such as the University of Ghana or KNUST, but then go forty minutes away and be in a village that has little to no modern amenities (indoor plumbing, ect), is confusing to me. I would like to say that the government or whoever is in charge of development in a given area is trying to preserve people's way of life, but honestly it just looks like disregard.

As we moved North it was really exaggerated. For example, our hotel (with indoor plumbing, electricity, etc.) was ten minutes away from a village where they were fighting against a parasite in their water and using a pump. I am not saying that there should not be anymore villages because the Sugashea village seemed pretty organized and the people looked like they were suited in the manner in which they lived. However, the world outside is changing and the pressures of disease and a need for commerce can be felt. It is quite difficult to balance two opposites. For example, the pride over having a large number of children and the practicality of birth control, as Dr. Tagoe-Darko mentioned.

Fast Forward

Since my return people have been asking me how my trip was. In some cases they want to know all about what I did, but in other cases they just want to know what I saw. Or in other words, whether or not the people are all living in jungles and running around with spears. I went no where near a jungle. Further more, if I did get lost in the jungle there would probably be a radio blasting 'Golddigger' by Kanye West.

The point is, Ghana has absorbed far more Western influences and is a lot more developed than people are led to believe. As an American I could have been as comfortable as I wanted to be (for example, stay in a five star hotel and log onto the Internet everyday), or I could have been as uncomfortable as possible, (for example gone without instant electricity in a village). Who am I to say that to live in a manner that requires more effort and skill is inadequate?

The real truth, is that I discovered that the pipes in the Sugashee village, for example, are long overdue for a replacement. In America that is a city job, to go in and fix pipes in a neighborhood. In Ghana there is no such thing as a city job, so who's to blame for water that must be boiled before drinking? The fault is of an independence only fifty years old, but a country as old as time that must whether exploitation and greed. In some places, for the sake of profit, you can not tell that you are in a developing country and in other places (like Sugashee) you can.

The educated, formal job market employees live one way and the uneducated, informal job market employees live another. Either way they both can live in the city, a house with a tin roof or a thatch roof is not a hut, and I saw Bill Clinton's book in a bookstore.