Journey for Change, Ghana Blog – Day 6
Sydney Smart, Age 13
Visiting Ghana has been one of the best experiences that I have ever had. I would not have changes a moment no matter how many hours we stayed on a bus. I would not even change the food that I did not like or getting up very early in the morning. I loved listening to the music in Ghana especially the drumming and watching the African dance. Our partners and the people from Touch A Life Foundation, arranged for traditional dancing on a daily basis and I loved it.
It was also great to spend time with the children my age. They were former child slaves and it was the most beautiful thing ever. Unlike South Africa, we got to know everything about the children we were partnered with and developed good and close relationships with everyone. My partner was Gideon and he was 13 years old. It was so nice to get to know about his life as a former slave and about how his life is now that he is rescued and in school. After a few days, he really started to open up to me. He did talk about his life on Lake Volta, he felt solemn talking about it. But through the days he opened up more and more like a flower. On the bus, we both learned that we had a lot in common like our personalities as we are outgoing, shy, playful, and get bored quickly. Between all of the children, day by day, we would feel more and more connected from our experiences. From Elmina Slave Castle and to Lake Volta, we
Even though this trip was based on child slavery, we also got to reconnect with our ancestors. Luckily for my fellow Ambassador Joshua, his ancestors are from Ghana but I am from Sierra Leone. That did not stop me from visualizing how my ancestors were treated and also making a connection that this is where my people stepped away from where they were raised and from their home. People from many countries like my ancestral country of Sierra Leone, as well as Togo, Benin, Cameroon, Nigeria, Ivory Coast, and more, came through Elmina Slave Castle. To be vanished and brought to a strange place, to be treated like you were a mutt dog and also to work endless hours only to be beaten and starved. Anytime I think of that, my heart skips a beat. But luckily for Gideon, not only was he rescued and saved, because he is from Ghana, he knows his ancestry. But he did lose information about his village and past due to being sold. And that is a big similarity between the two of us. We have lost information due to slavery.
Ghana was a great trip. It was multidimensional and the whole experience meant a lot to me. I now have an opportunity and an obligation to speak out and make sure that all children go to school and play and not live their lives as a slave.
To view photos of the mission to Ghana, please go to: http://angelrockproject.com/arp/photos/default.asp?fol=809
Journey for Change: Empowering Youth Through Global Service uplifts the lives of inner-city youth through global travel, volunteerism and advocacy work. More information on the program can be found at www.angelrockproject.com.
