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.