Photos

I have lots of photos, and I still need to upload some of them, but for the moment the majority are located here: https://picasaweb.google.com/108337764606613711349/Ghana02?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCMKR8vjV3Yn4zAE&feat=directlink

I still need to upload the photos I took on my phone after my camera died...

Summary

I just want to say that I had a great time in Ghana. I made it home safely, and I am very grateful for all the wonderful experiences I had and people I got to meet.

We got to have a Skype chat with Emmanuel Ofosu Yeboah, and it was such a wonderful conversation. I think we were all a little starstruck. He shared so much of his inspiration with us, and I am excited to see how his endeavors progress over the next few years. You can visit his website here to learn more about his projects: http://www.emmanuelsdream.org/

On our last day we visited the New Horizons school, and that was both exciting and educational. I was very happy about what I saw at this school and about talking with the students we got to meet. This school is doing an exceptional job of increasing awareness while providing education and encouragement to its students. I could feel the warmth and good energy as we moved from classroom to classroom, and as we spoke with the students and teachers. Here is a great blog by one of the students: http://www.mukeeydisabilityconsult.blogspot.com/

As some final thoughts trickle through my head, I just want to say that I appreciated all of the hospitality and kindness that we received from the people we met in Ghana. I may have had a few critical thoughts or questions in regard to some of the attitudes or circumstances that we came across in various situations, but I feel that in order to evolve as humans, we (the human race) need to continually challenge and question. If we don't push for more, we remain stagnant in ways that may not benefit all members of society. I don't think this is a uniquely American or Western perspective. Humans all over the world want (and deserve) to be treated with respect and dignity and have the opportunity for happiness, whatever that means to them. Unfortunately, those things are not always a given and sometimes you have to fight for them.

As we learned about universal design, I couldn't help but think that the concept should apply to rights and attitudes as well as environment. And in speaking with some Ghanaians, I think there are quite a few of the younger generation who feel that equal rights for those with disabilities is not only fair, but necessary. I hope that this points to positive things to come in Ghana's future.

Cape Coast: Elmina Slave Castle and Kakum Treetop Walk

Here are some photos from this weekend, my camera battery died right before the treetop walk, so I will have to add photos I took with my phone later. The first few are from the hotel where we stayed.

The area is really beautiful, but the slave castle wasn't what I would call enjoyable considering the history it has.

Speaker: Mr. Godson Ahortor

This morning's lecture was by Mr. Godson Ahortor, who (if I remember correctly) is getting his PhD in Sociology and Traditional Values in African Society. He spoke to us about religion, health, and disability in West Africa. We learned about the traditional values held, specifically what is considered evil and how that defines moral attitudes, as well as how that then informs people's attitudes about disability and illness. As with anything, it is safe to say that not all Ghanaians hold the same beliefs, and that even if a majority has a belief about something, there are always exceptions to that majority.

According to our lecturer, even members of Christianity and Islam who live in Ghana cling to the traditional beliefs about health, illness, and disability. And even the practitioners of traditional religions use values and beliefs of Christianity and Islam to influence their values. They are all interconnected, and they permeate every aspect of cultural life. The view of health is that it is not just related to the physical world, it is also related to the spiritual realm. The traditional belief is that if someone comes down with a chronic illness, they have done something or someone in the community has done something evil to bring it on. The illness can not be treated until the person who has brought it on has confessed to their wrongdoing. These immoral or evil acts are thought to be anything that threatens life, health, harmony, and society. If a baby is born with a disability, it is thought to be caused by any number of things: either a witch saw that the baby was going to have a happy life and wanted to ruin that, or the mother did something cruel to an animal or other person, or the parents were exchanging harsh words during the pregnancy.

He showed us a scripture, Leviticus 21:16-23, and also shared the WHO's definitions of impairment, disability, and handicap. The scripture shows an example of why disability and diseases are so rejected by society. This contrasts with the WHO's definitions which are clinical and have no spiritual connotations. I really enjoyed his lecture, and I thought that it was a nice way for us to understand the views that society has about disabilities. I think that it is important to understand why people view things the way they do in order to help address the issue. It is important for people to maintain their cultural beliefs and values, but when those beliefs separate a group of people who desperately need to be able to rely on their society, it is time to re-evaluate them. It is possible for Ghanaians to maintain their cultural identity and still accept people with disabilities and chronic illnesses for who they are. For this to work, I think that education and exposure will need to be implemented either through education of religious leaders and society, or through a public awareness campaign.

Visit: Autism Awareness & Treatment Center UPDATED

On Friday morning we went to the Autism Awareness and Treatment Center in Accra. It was founded by a woman named Serwah, and she is a former nurse practitioner and the mother of a boy who has autism. As we pulled up, I noticed that they have a nice playground with swings and slides for the children to play on. The courtyard was rather small, and the building itself seemed small once we learned that it serves 32 children. I observed in the class of children aged 4-7 years old. Since it was Friday, there were only 3 children in the class, not the usual 10.

But even with only 3 children, the aide/teacher in charge had her hands full. They had circle time, where they placed a mat on the floor and then dumped a pile of toys in the middle and let the children play with them as they observed. There was a small amount of interaction between the children and aides, but it was not as hands on as I have seen other aides be with children in the US. That is not to say they are not receiving adequate care, it was just something I noticed, which could have also been because there were a group of seven additional adults crammed into the classroom.

On the walls I noticed that there were small posters that described an activity and how it was improving the quality of life of the children. Things such as music, playdoh, dancing, etc. where related to the brain and motor skills. There were more that I would have liked to see because I was interested in the different types of interventions they were doing with the children, if they were doing any at all.

This place is amazing in many ways. They give resources and hope to parents and children with autism, and they've been doing this for the past 15 years. Serwah said some things when she was talking to us that really struck me. The first thing that caught my attention was when she said that “the need is greater than the amount of services they can provide”. This seems to be a common theme in what we have been learning about disability in Ghana. She also said something along the lines of “we don't need to worry about the 20% of people with disabilities, we should worry about training the 80% of people who don't have disabilities”. This is something that we are taught with the social model of disability, and I think that this is something that may take awhile for society in Ghana to embrace.

We also got to speak to the movement therapist, Yesuko, whose name I am probably misspelling. She was lovely, and she said something that stood out to me. She said that the kids at the center “could learn anything as long as we teach them in the most convenient way for them”. This is something that should be taught for the inclusion teachers to help them start to think about how to help someone with autism learn in their classroom.

Visit: Accra Rehab AND Speaker: Faustina Oware Gyekye UPDATED

When I heard we were going to Accra Rehab, I had an image in my mind of the rehab gym at the hospital where I did my first fieldwork observation. I imagined patients in various states of recovery after accidents, relearning how to do their ADLs (Activity of Daily Living) and how to move their bodies again. This was incorrect. Accra Rehab is one component of the Ghana Federation of the Disabled, which encompasses the Ghana Blind Union, Ghana National Association of the Deaf, Ghana Society of the Physically Disabled, and several other organizations.

Accra Rehab is a training facility that admits students with disabilities and teaches them trades such as carpentry, shoe making, craftwork, and information technology. Once the students have studied their trades for six months, they are released back into the care of their parents or caretakers and have a skill that they can use to earn money. Unfortunately, they do not admit people with disabilities who are homeless, which seems like a big problem to me. The director said that it was because if they admit the homeless, then the center will fill to capacity and they will not have anyone moving on and therefore no space to offer new students. In my opinion, the homeless with disabilities are the ones who need an opportunity like this the most. And if they took a little time to let them save some money so they could find a new place to live after the program, that would solve the issue of not being able to admit new students. However, I know that this type of program would probably be more complicated and time consuming than what they typically do, so perhaps it is something they could work on adding in the future.

On one hand, from what I saw I think that this organization is really benefiting the clients it serves. On the other hand, I feel that it is doing a bit of a disservice by not empowering them to aim higher. However, with limited resources and infrastructure from the government to work with, it is doing the best that it can. Also, currently they are only working with male clients, and this leaves out what I assume is approximately half of the population of people with disabilities. It's still a work in progress, and they know that they have a large job ahead of them, but the important thing is that work is being done, and that has to happen for progress to be made.

Our lecturer tonight was Mrs. Faustina Oware Gyekye, NRS and she spoke about the family structure and health care system in Ghana. It was a very educational lecture, I felt that I learned quite a bit of new information about the health care system here. I wish we could have had a little more time to ask her about the way that disabilities fit into the health care system, especially since we were told that there are currently no OTs in Ghana. It seems as though this country is pretty well established in its health care system, but there are always room for improvements, no matter what part of the world you are in.