Journey With Janelle: Accra: Day 4!

Today was probably the most 'academic day' so far. In the morning we went to the University of Ghana, Legon to get a lecture by Dr. Godson Ahortor about Religion and Disablility. The topic was very interesting. The major religion in Africa is Christianity, however there are very traditional views as well. For example, if a person is disabled, people will look at that person as if he is cursed. Or if a baby is born with a disability, people will think his/her mother did something awful in the past to have that happen to him/her. It was interesting to me because in the states, whenever I've heard someone with a disability who is also religious, they would say something like, 'this is what what has planned for me' or believe it is part of 'God's plan'. So here for people who practice Christianity to look at people with disabilities as 'cursed' seems still very traditional to African culture. Maybe Ghana (and pretty much all of Africa for that matter) has just been so colonized over history that everything starts to mix eventually. There is definitely a hint of Karma and Buddhism in this way of thinking and to 'heal' people, often a ritual will be performed or special ceremonies will take place. So the religion and views seem to be very mixed and infulenced by not only other cultures but by old traditions as well.

The University campus! It was really big and spacious and actually reminded me a lot of the UCSD campus!

Our class with Dr. Ahortor!

After the lecture, we stopped at the Accra Mall. The mall is like a typical American mall and very small. There was a Shoprite (grocery store) in the mall where we got food for our weekend trip. I bought some chips (the Lays actually tasted a little different), dried mangos and granola bars. I still had some cookies from my roommate (shoutout to Harmony aka Bone Thugs) so I thought I'd pack some of those so I didn't really have to buy much! I also went to the bank and then back on the bus!

We didn't have much of a break so I went back to the hotel and ate a delicious avacado and tomato salad for lunch and then the bus picked us up to go to class!

At class we had a guest lecture from Ibrahaim Mahammad who is a local artist. He used to do art therapy with children at the Autism Center in Accra and now is a full time artist! He has done many exhibits and is currently in talks to exhibits overseas! He does what he calls 'art insulations' which are these pieces of recycled material sewn together and he covers large buildings with them. For his masters project he covered a museum in Accra and it looked really cool! He also talked about other artists from Africa who have disabilities. It was very interesting!

After the lecture we had dinner at Sunshine and then ice cream accross the street that was so delicious on the hot night!

Here are some random pictures that I don't know where else to put!