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| The Elmina Slave Castle near Cape Coast in Ghana |
I had the opportunity to go to Ghana for Christmas which was such a lovely time! I stayed with a Ghanaian friend and her family who I know from Calvin College. It was the perfect balance of spending some down time and also touring around Ghana. I was able to just relax and enjoy some luxuries that we do not have in Kabala like cable tv, fast internet, and air conditioning. But I also had the opportunity to travel around Ghana for a few days. One of the most fascinating and yet difficult places to go was the Cape Coast Slave Castle. Being from the United States, we hear about how the slaves were brought over from West Africa, but it was so real to actually be in the castle. At the beginning of the tour, the guide brought us down into one tunnel where the men were kept before boarding the slave ship, usually up to six weeks or more. There was one small window for light and there was a small gutter for waste to go. More than 1,000 men were kept in this small underground tunnel at a time. And the most horrifying thing about this is that right above this tunnel was a church, where the European slave traders would worship every week.
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"The Door of no Return" where the slaves would
exit the castle and board the slave ship |
After going to the Slave Castle, the guide made a comment about how we need to remember that slavery is still happening today. That has made me think about the relationship between black people and white people and how slavery has impacted it. I know that for myself, I sometimes feel uncomfortable when I go to a restaurant and someone black is serving me my food. But I do not feel the same way if I go to a restaurant and someone is serving me food if they are white. Why should this matter if the person serving me my food is black or white? But somehow to me, I feel as though there are underlying connotations if the person is black. This is something that I have thought about often while I have been here in Sierra Leone. If someone is serving me, how can I be a servant back? I really struggle with this here. Even if one of my students comes over and helps me wash my laundry, I like to be outside helping him. I do not want anyone to think that I am superior because of my skin color. Unfortunately, that often happens. I have to keep asking how do I undo what has already been done?
Aside from seeing the Slave Castles, I got to spend time enjoying some things that we cannot find here in Kabala. One day we went to the shopping mall! Wow, what a wonderful experience that was. I could go into a store and the item had a price already marked on it. Bargaining was not even an option. Although you can often get good deals bargaining, it takes so much time and it can be so frustrating, especially when people think I have a lot of money. I did not realize how much I missed the concept of price tags until I went to the mall. We also got to enjoy good pizza and real ice cream.
But on every vacation, you reach the end and you are ready to go home. You are ready to go back to something familiar; to back to your own bed. I guess I have come to realize that Kabala is my home now. And it feels so much more like home once you leave it for a period of time. I have only been back for two days but it has been a blessing to see familiar faces and familiar places. I am beyond excited to see my students again and I am looking forward to the start of school on Monday.
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| Wli Waterfalls in Ghana |
I know that the challenges are awaiting me inside and outside the classroom but I am looking forward to see how God continues to show himself. As I have been traveling around, you see pain, you see broken people, you see death. You see people struggling to make it through the day, you see imprisonment, you see corruption. But what continues to redeem everything is the beauty that God has given to us through his creation. He has and is making beautiful things out of the dust. I am so thankful everyday for his creation. I think it truly helps me wonder and awe and beauty of God.
Very thought provoking, Sarah. I think about the same things--and still have no complete answers. But definitely you are part of equalizing things between the different races because a good education gives opportunities to people who would otherwise be discriminated against. One of my colleagues in medical school was Jewish. His father told his kids to choose a "necessary" career--one that people cannot do without (medicine, law, etc)--and then when things get hard for Jews in general, they personally might be treated more kindly. So as a doctor, your patients might help to protect you in times of trouble.
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