May 15, 2009
...The Ghanaian people have lived up to their reputation of warmth. They appreciate our attempts to respects their customs, while they are still interested in our personal backgrounds. For example, today we ate lunch at a small restaurants on the University of Ghana, Legon, campus called The Basement. A few of us were eating with our hands, as Ghanaians do, and perceived that many of the clientele were staring at us. However, soon after that, one of the seemingly primary employees came to our table and said that she like that we were eating with our hands. She also was very receptive to me while I was ordering my food - using greeting and thanks in Twi. I have genuinely been trying to greet and thank people as much as possible, and today I noticed positive responses - warm conversation and smiles....
Everyone in our group seems so moved by the children we see, myself included. The kids are so cute and friendly, but is as if we think they alone are innocent and deserving of our assistance and "rescue." However, as we heard in the lectures, various generations have felt the repercussions of Western influence and domination. How can we - that is, all concerned with this problem - stop this cycle and rework the world system? DESTROY THE IMF/WB! That's perhaps a starting place.
Also, I have been somewhat surprised by and disappointed with some members' knowledge of issues pertaining to Africa, ranging from colonialism generally to the Rwandan genocide. For example, I was speaking with someone privately before dinner about my trip to Rwanda, and she asked me, "Isn't there a war going on there now?" I told her that there was not but rather that the genocide had occurred over ten years ago. Than she asked me what genocide was.
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