By Andrew David, Wisconsin University Intern, USA
In the spring of this year, I found out that I was blessed with the opportunity to spend my summer working in Ghana. Traveling abroad, specifically to Africa, had been a dream of mine ever since I became enamored by topics such as international relations and global economics throughout my university years. To better understand how I have viewed and interpreted my experiences thus far in Ghana, some background knowledge upon the region that shaped me is necessary.
Washburn, Wisconsin, is where I call home. Washburn is a city in Bayfield Country, in the US state of Wisconsin. This town, of just over 2,000 residents and within just a few hours’ drive from the Canadian border, in many ways strays from the stereotypical rural, northern American town. However, like most towns of its type, it is certainly not a hub of cultural diversity. Approximately 90% of the town is Caucasian, almost exclusively of German, Polish, and Irish heritage.
I eventually moved away from my hometown to go to university, and while admittedly located in the most cultured city Wisconsin has to offer, the enrollment demographics were 75% Caucasian. For someone who had literally no international travel experience and is from an incredibly racially and culturally homogenous area, I was certainly going to undergo some culture shock.
From the moment I stepped off the plane, Ghana exposed me to a different world from what I was accustomed to. I immediately experienced different foods (I love all the variations of grilled fish, especially tilapia), different styles of dress, different cultures and customs, etc. With these differences, Ghana provided me with a plethora of “firsts”.
My first time trying fufu, my first time really getting lost in a city, my first time having to barter with taxi drivers (and getting ripped off the first few times). While these all have been incredible life experiences, my largest takeaway has not been from experiencing differences, but rather seeing similarities.
It is easy to learn about the differences of an area from far away, all you have to do is simply google the country and read the first tourist advising website. You have to actually be there, however, to see what the same cross cultures and countries is. No matter where you are, people are simply people and life is simply life.
After adjusting to the time difference and feeling a bit more settled in, I quickly found myself falling back into a similar daily routine as my life back in Wisconsin. Yes, there differences but they seemed small, just things like eating jollof or fried plantains for lunch instead of pizza or a sandwich, shopping at GAME rather than Wal-Mart, and after a long day, enjoying a Club beer in place of a Bud-Lite. While the periphery of life was different, the core remained the same.
This, however, is by no means an understatement on my time here. Feeling the history of Independence Square, taking in the all the colors of the bustling Makola market, and lying on the sands of beautiful Kokrobite beach are certainly memories that will last a lifetime.
During a walk one day, I said hello to an elderly gentleman in passing. He stopped me in the street and asked of my nationality. When I said I was from the U.S, he quickly dove into a rather lengthy lecture about politics and ideologies. He then said before parting ways, “If only all different people could talk to one another.”
His simple saying struck deep. Asides from both being male, we were just about as different as two people can be; he was an elderly Ghanaian who appeared impoverished with me being a young American from a middle class family. But during our brief chat, these differences didn’t register, we were two people on the side of the road enjoying what each other had to say. These differences only registered when I actively thought about them.
I have heard the saying “We are one people” from many Ghanaians. The moral of this saying is nothing new to me. I grew up in a household that preached this and am from a country that, despite its many racial issues, I like to believe attempts to uphold that statement.
I always knew the world was made of one people but it took me traveling over 9,000 km to experience it.
