My trip to Ghana was like nothing I had expected. I came expecting to mainly teach and believed I had something to offer the community I would be living with. When I arrived I quickly learned that I would be learning far more than teaching during my stay in Atorkor. I found that the most wonderful part of Ghanaian culture is their genuine kindness and welcoming and gratitude towards volunteers.
From the very beginning of my stay, I felt like a part of village, all the community members were quick to ask questions about where I had come from, what my experience in Ghana was like thus far and tell me about themselves. I always felt completely safe and welcome, perhaps even more so than in America at times.
I worked mostly at the school teaching art classes to the younger students. I quickly fell in love with all the children and became even closer with them and began to learn all their names and about their lives.
Some of my most enjoyable times during my stay were with the children during and after the art classes when they would talk to me about their lives in the village or teach me words in their language Ewe, or ask me about where I came from. I think that I learned the most from the children because they had such a genuine interest in learning and especially teaching me things that they knew.
Two of the older boys started to come to help me with my classes each day when they were not in class themselves. I became the closest with these two, they gave up their free time to be with me and help me with language barriers just so we could get to know each other. They told me about their dreams for their futures , their families and their interests. The time I spent just talking with community members or wandering around the village were the most interesting to me because I was able to experience the culture at its best.
I went on two excursions and did one class while in Ghana. I went to the Central Region to Cape Coast. This to me was very interesting as a tourist from America especially. At home, I had learned about slavery almost exclusively dealing with what had happened in America. This took be back to what happened before the slaves had even arrived in the Americas. It was extremely powerful to actually come to see these sites and also understand Ghanians’ perspectives on what had happened.
The second trip I went on was to the North and the Upper East. On this excursion the most exciting was seeing all the animals. I saw elephants, antelopes, monkeys warthogs and got to touch a crocodile. To me this was absolutely amazing and I was happy to see a part of Ghana completely different from the village where I lived. We also were able to see some of the villages that still have some of the very traditional ways of building houses and arranging their villages. We were able to see the oldest mosque in West Africa and visit a traditional shrine.
Overall, I was glad that I went on the excursions to understand Ghana as a whole country, however I definitely feel that I learned the most and enjoyed myself the most in the village. I learned more from the village than I could have imaged. It forced me to reevaluate my own life and what is important to me.
Sarah Thaler
Los Angeles, California
ADF – Atorkor
June 2008