My first days in Dzelukope have been filled with many fantastic learning experiences. I’ve experienced a lot of cultural food, learned some language and local dance (see my post “Paramount Tugbi” to come). Despite the fact that local mothers think we’re crazy for doing it, a few of us students, and some local friends, spent an evening at the beach. Because of strong currents we only waded in waste deep, but we enjoyed cooling off while watching the full moon and lights of the fishing boats reflecting off the waves.
Recently we travelled to Keta, a town just near Dzelukope. My host family technically lives in a sub-district of this town, of which the name means ‘King of the Sand’; a fitting name as I have yet to see ground that isn’t sand.
In Keta we visited Fort Prizenstein, a fort constructed in the 1700s as a part of the slave trade. It’s one of 44 forts in Ghana, and of 48 in Sub Saharan Africa. The colonial legacy is strong in Ghana, and the fort is symbolic of this legacy. I had a very heavy heart as I learned about the fort, the people that were taken there, and the way they were sold into slavery. It's difficult to speak with my local friends about the dark history of the ground we are living on, but the brief conversations we have had have been significant. It’s impossible to describe this, or to give any semblance of significance to it with my words, and although I doubt my pictures do it justice here are just a few.
2 comments:
Everyone I know who has been to that fort (myself included) has taken a picture of the "lion" quote. It's so powerful. There are no words to explain the feelings one experiences there, on the "other side" of the historic slave trade route, in the very place where the images we have only seen and read about in textbooks actually occurred.
i believe it that everyone has taken a picture of that sign. i certainly is powerful. great perspective tammy.
Post a Comment