Wed, Feb 15-University of Ghana

Here is the blog for the third day in Ghana- Feb 15th Lauren's Birthday!!!!

We had a beach side breakfast of banana pancakes (which had an omelet-like look). Two of our friends from the previous night volunteered to escort us through Accra to the University of Ghana. These two men (Richie and Jay) were both about 25 and were working at the hotel in order to make enough money to attend school. Richie attended a polytechnic school nearby and was from Nigeria. Jay was from Northern Ghana and wanted to study at a university.

Now having 2 locals to travel with made negotiations and wandering less stressful and easier. They knew the streets and short cuts well and also were able to get us the cheapest fare for the taxis because Ghanaians usually take advantage of Americans ignorance to average prices. We certainly were approached less by vendors because of our escorts. Jay also had many different “brothers” in Ghana. Jay would call up a brother to get a cab or a brother who attended the university. However, every time he said brother we asked him to clarify whether there was a genetic relationship.

We walked out of the hotel through a shanty neighborhood in order to get to the main market and from there we took cabs to the university. The University of Ghana covers a huge area of land and looks very much like a modern university. Not many of their buildings are very tall but they had many of the same departments as the US. Many of the students were dressed nicely for class because it is treated with more reverence than in the US. We wandered around and played a little on the soccer or football field. Some of the guys wrestled for a bit and there was a lot of fun and laughing.

Jay knew somebody living there and we were able to visit a dormitory. The building had old paint and there were different posters for upcoming events or raising awareness for different issues in between each stairwell. You entered the dorms from a balcony (like a motel) and all their laundry was hanging up outside.

The buildings kitchen was spacious but only with one microwave, oven and sink. Each dorm building is separated by sex to prevent students from doing “jiggy jiggy” as they explained it. The dorm we went into had two bunks for four people but were the same size as an average college dorm in the US. We chatted with two of the students living in that dorm, Francis and George. I had asked them if there was a lot of partying at college and they said their university had a reputation for it! Parties were usually broken up because of noise complaints or disruption of peace instead of illegally drinking.

For those reading this blog and do not know I am a Social Work major and have decided this as my career choice almost four years ago. I am really enthusiastic about this profession and hope to reach out to a lot of people through it. The reason I am now mentioning it is because one of the guys in that dorm that we had talked to was a Social Work major! I was ecstatic to have somebody internationally to share ideas of justice issues with. He told me that the Social work profession in Ghana is not really considered legitimate at this stage; they are still coming to terms with how to handle many of the issues they are facing. He hopes that after he graduates with his Masters (because like in the US you cannot do anything with bachelor’s degree) that the field will become more legitimate. He wants to work to help raise up impoverished