Finding familiarity in the countryside of Ghana

by Lydia Michael (United Kingdom (Great Britain))

Making a local connection Ghana

Everywhere on the media, we often see the unnecessary, too big, and bright white-teeth smiles of African school children hugging a generous-looking white man or woman. The moment people see these pictures assume two things. Firstly, the white person is the good Samaritan who went out of his/her way to provide and help, while the children live unhappy lives with little to nothing to survive. As a university student, I remember all these volunteering projects, NGOs and charity organizations advertising programs such as “Build a kindergarten,” “Teach English,” or “Work at a nursery.” I remember myself thinking of how noble would be to volunteer and help vulnerable people, especially children. At that time, I could not afford the volunteering projects – showing that even if you want to provide your knowledge and skills for a noble cause, there is still structural discrimination between the poor and the rich. However, I did get my chance to experience Africa. My experience was certainly different. Still, it was wholesome and simply beautiful. In 2017 I got the opportunity to travel to Ghana for 5 weeks and live life as both a local and a tourist. I visited Ghana as an intern for a research project on ecotourism. Exploring and learning about the wildlife of the country was a fantastic experience. But, living among locals was a lifetime experience. The supervisor of the whole project was a lovely man from Accra who not only was the project manager, he was also my host. For my entire stay in Ghana, he would always go out of his way to provide me comfort. Because of the nature of the project, I had to travel to several parts of the country. Yet somehow, this man always had a place for me to stay. Basically, I would stay at a family home, such as his sister’s, brother’s, or cousin’s home. One of the best experiences I had was going to his hometown. Originally, he was from a small village in the area of the city Takoradi. He told me that he was born there, but because of his parents’ job, the whole family moves to Accra. However, nowadays, many of his siblings or cousins moved back to their hometown. The village was in a rural area. Thus, most people are farmers. Everyone seemed so peaceful and happy. For people who come from big metropolitan cities, the village was like a haven hidden in coconut trees. Yet, somehow while interacting with the numerous relatives of my manager, I got rather close with his young niece. She was a lively girl who loved dancing and reading. I could tell that she was brilliant, and her dream was to become a doctor. In the media, we only get to see the poor and ugly side of Africa. We see poverty, starvation, and little huts in the middle of nowhere with no water within dozens of kilometers. But let’s face it. Africa is the second-largest continent in the world, and undoubtedly areas are struggling with poverty. However, there are also big metropolitan cities and areas designed to please every single desire of city people. Therefore, for my little friend, this small village that I came to love was merely dull. There was nothing for entertainment apart from perhaps feeding the goats and the chickens. To her, it was just another remote village in the countryside. I remember being so surprised by her telling me how she would rather be in the city. But then I thought back to my own hometown, a small village in the countryside. I hated being there. Living in a small community means everyone knows you, and if you do even one thing slightly different from the normal, you’ll be the talk of the town for at least a month. In the end, I did move to a bigger city, which could potentially provide me a better life. Thus, I could understand this little girl. I could understand her desire for greater things. For a life in the city and perhaps one day achieving her dream and become a strong independent career woman. It is strange how you can find familiarity in the most unexpected ways.