This journey has certainly marked me for life and taught me so much about myself, others and the world around me. I would recommend everyone take a journey to a foreign country by him or herself if they want to figure out exactly who they are and what makes them ‘tick’. This global experience has had many up’s and down’s, many laughs and many tears. I LOVE GHANA and the people of Ghana. I do not think I really experienced Ghana until I began to befriend locals. Never have I met a group of people that are as funny, welcoming, eager to help, quick to speak their minds and proud of their culture as I have encountered here in Ghana. Yes, Ghana has many issues in their education system, in the ill treatment of girls/women, in the unemployment rates, the list goes on and on, but I have concluded that they are a people with heart. Their culture is based in Christian values and they fight hard to maintain those values in a world that has become dominated by secularism. As a Christian myself, it has been so refreshing being in Ghana and having co-workers pray for each other, listening to gospel music at work, encountering children who know the bible better then I do and seeing so many people honour the Sabbath day (Sunday).
Recently, the president John Evans Atta Mills passed away. It has never happened before in Ghana that a president passed away while in office. The city is filled with tribute to him in signs and ribbons of red and black all over the streets and cars.
When he first passed away, I was a little bit worried that their might be violence in the streets. However, as the days passed, I saw that people were very peaceful and simple dressed in black and red more. This is one of the things that Ghanaians pride themselves in, their peaceful nature. Ghana has never experience any civil unrest and the people of Ghana are easy going in comparison to other African nations.
– Rita
THE GLOBAL EXPERIENCE BLOG 