Ghana Part II

Epilogue: I've recently been introduced to the term "poverty tourism," which is often said with a disdainful look like it is the worst kind of tourism. A friend told me of an example of "poverty tourism," that she witnessed in Haiti while volunteering there--A group drove in a fancy bus through a poor town throwing candy out of the window for the children--never leaving the bus and failing to realize that in the culture they were visiting, eating off of the ground was seen as demeaning. I mention this topic only because it is something I'm struggling with even as I write my blog post for the Togorme Village visit that I went on for my last two days in Ghana. Questions that I still have--Did my visit benefit the village community? Did I learn anything more than the fact that I am lucky to be born in the United States and not in a third world country? Are my photos justified or exploitative?

The Village:
I think it would be easier to explain my two-day stay at Togorme Village through pictures. I'll walk through the experience using captions (hopefully there is enough Internet for me to do this).

The first thing we did when entering the village was to greet the village elders.

Everyone came to welcome us including the village chiefs.

A ceremony took place that included drumming...

dancing, and prayers by the village elders.

The children who weren't in school were fascinated with our cameras and asked repeatedly for us to take their photographs.    

After the ceremony, we walked over to the school to visit the students. The elementary grades wore green uniforms.

The teachers were there to answer questions and show us the students' assignments.

Each of us was assigned a host family. This was the young man from my host family who showed me around the village. He's holding up the Kente cloth that his family weaves.

Here is the room I stayed in for the night. It's behind 

the bricks.

A little more of the village

After seeing these all over the village, I finally asked. It turns out that they are chicken coops.

This is Jennifer. She wants to be a doctor when she grows up. I hope she succeeds!

After a long and hot walk to the nearby dam, we relaxed with fresh coconuts

The view from the dam

Here's everyone who went on the walk.

Moments after we took our group photo, a storm started to come in. Our host families were so afraid that we would get wet that they quickly whisked us back to the village.

In the afternoon I sat and talked with everyone who was part of my host family. Here, one of the girls is cooking dinner for her family. She's making a corn porridge called Banku.

In the evening, all of the families came together for a big bonfire. Here are the remains.

And the next day our trip was over. We gave a small thank you gift and said our goodbyes.

I think this is a trip that I will continue to reflect on for sometime from now. I hope Jennifer becomes a doctor and I hope that as a community this village is able to thrive. I worry about their forgotten library that hasn't received funds since 1993, the overcrowded school, and the fact that there are limited ways other than making ceramic pots and weaving for the families make money. Did my visiting change their course in any way? Probably not. But I will keep this village in my thoughts and maybe one day return...

View from the countryside near the village.