Finally, we arrived at the International Student Hostel in Legon (University of Ghana). Upon our arrival, we were reunited with the three girls who are stationed at the other Mampong research location. Together, we went to our rooms and then proceeded to the market with Prince, a recent graduate from the University of Ghana. He is doing his year of service in the International Student Office and I suppose he was assigned to accompany our small group for the weekend. Later on, we went to the mall and met up with Kwaku and Polina at Rhapsody’s. That was lots of fun, I had a white chocolate martini, met a guy who owns an IT business in Atlanta and another dude that lives in the UK and gets free Chelsea tickets. And most exciting of all, Kwaku took a picture with Acion(sp?), who is (according to Kwaku) the best midfielder in the World! The next morning, I woke up at 5:30 am (don’t know how I did that) and we headed to the Volta region to take the Dodi Princess to Dodi Island.
The Dodi Princess was a typical Ferry Boat. They served great fried rice, grilled fish, cabbage, and stew. We also enjoyed a live band and took pictures, with the scenic mountains and vast river in the background. Dodi Island wasn’t exactly what I’d expected. There wasn’t any beach only jagged rock formations and children everywhere, looking for hands to hold and asking for money…it was very unnerving. I gave money to some girls who were singing, dancing, and playing instruments because I felt it was a more respectable way to earn money and a more respectful way for me to contribute. The situation sparked a huge conversation on the boat ride back. Kwaku posed a question to the group, “Would you rather be as rich as Bill Gates and live until your 50 or be poor and live until your 100?” (Poor meaning pay check to pay check) I won’t go in depth but it is a very interesting conversation, it seemed to draw out our values and varying thought processes. I must say Kwaku did a wonderful job facilitating the conversation because it was the type of conversation that could have easily got out of hand; people got really animated and emotional. To summarize the conversation: Kwaku and I chose to be poor and live until we’re 100 because with more years you can see generations of your family grow and provide guidance and instill values in your descendants. In addition, you can contribute positively to society in smaller but still impactful ways and who knows your children may grow up and become extremely wealthy and help the world with greater financial contributions. The others chose to be as rich as Bill Gates in order to give the majority of money to cancer and HIV/AIDS research. So, we all argued our various points…They thought we were selfish for not wanting to save the world and we covertly accused them of being unrealistic idealists. At the end, Kwaku summed it all up by saying there is no wrong answer, everyone is entitled to have their personal preference but in the end, we can all make a positive contribution to society no matter how much money we have.
Back at the International Student Hostel, I met PD, a Nigerian Computer Engineering Student and Evan, a Brown University graduate, currently doing Teach for America and working with a Ghanaian NGO for the summer. We invited them to come out with us to a chill spot called the “Bus Stop,” where we played pool and listened to music until the electricity went out…hahaha! I love it!
"we played pool and listened to music until the electricity went out…"
ReplyDeletehahaha, oooh Africa