A few pictures from the passed few days.

On Tuesday, we visited New Horizons School for people with developmental disabilities. Made a donation of books from Simon &Schuster and some school supplies.

Then we traveled to the other side of town where we visited Awaawaa2 (http://awaawaa2.org/) an organization that provides services to children with communication disabilities.

Along the road...

On Wednesday visited a national school for children who are deaf or hard of hearing in Tema.

Then we went to Shai Hills reserve where we saw baboons and  ostriches.

This little one is examining a sesame stick from Trader Joe's trying to figure out what the heck it is. 

Ostriches in a large pen behind the fence.

and a hike to a batcave.

My new favorite tree, the Babou tree

Last stop was Cedi bead factory to learn how traditional glass beads are made.

Polishing the beads with water and sand.

Kwami loads our luggage on the roof of the bus as we get ready for our weekend trip to Cape Coast

 Along the way...

 the Elmina Slave castle, which is where the slaves were imprisoned before being shipped to other places. Very depressing to see it and to hear about what went on there.

In order to give all of us the chance to process what we saw we moved on to Kakum Nat’l Park where they have a rainforest canopy walk. 

A doorway from the courtyard to the women's dungeon.

On the other side of the entry... at the time when the prison was used, there were stairs along this ramp to get into the room.

The doorway from one room to the next.

And the view from the roof.

Along the way...

Sunset

 Then back to the hotel for dinner and a bond fire. Stopped at the beach for a few hours respite on the way back to Accra.

The hotel's dog- moved too fast as I tried to take a picture.

On the ride back to Accra

We stopped at Bojo Beach for a few hours on the way back to Accra. Here a guard makes a  little bit of shade for his post.

This morning we visited a Junior High and had a chance to talk with the students in small groups. The group I spoke with was studying culture and they thought it was amazing when I told them we were studying the same thing. We had a great conversation about our cultures and things we enjoyed. 

They also asked about religion and whether there were people who did not believe in god. That led to an interesting discussion.

This afternoon Professor Anyidoho, Director of NYU Accra, spoke with the class about education and curriculum in Ghana. It was a great explanation of the school system here. Thanks Akosua!

Tomorrow we visit a developmental center and a center for programs for children with autism and other  disabilities.

 OK. Here’s an update. Last night a seamstress visited the class during dinner so students could arrange custom made clothing from cloth bought at the market.

Today’s morning lecture on disability and religion was really interested. We traveled to University of Ghana where Professor Godson Ahorto from the religion department. He spoke about traditional African beliefs and the relationship between Christianity and religion and Islam and religion. Ghana is 70% Christian, 16% Muslim, 5% traditional. The remainder is comprised of the rest, with the majority of the group being eastern religions. Very few people hear are not religious and religion is imbedded in all aspects of life. He was clear in saying that most Christians and Muslims also maintain traditional beliefs so it gets complicated. Here are a few points I remember:

• Traditional beliefs are imbedded in the lives of almost all people. For example, Christian weddings take place after the traditional ceremony, including the tradition of dowry.
• The World Health Organization defines health as ‘a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity. For Ghanaains this is missing the spiritual aspect. I don’t think that’s much difference than in the US. Many people I worked with have viewed disability as the will of God.
• Before you are born you’re in spiritual life, after you die you’re in spiritual life. This is the basis of belief in reincarnation. People are life centered and evil threatens abundant life.
• Spiritual causes of ill health or disability may be immoral behavior, evil acts, sorcery, and witchcraft. It could be what the person did or from someone in their heritage or past life.

There’s more but that gives you an idea. Very interesting.

The bookstore at the University.

And here are some more pictures from along the roads.

This is Independence Square where independence was first declared.

This afternoon’s lecture was by artist Ibrahim Mohammed who talked about culture in African art and about his own work. You can see some of his work at the following:

https://www.facebook.com/fcaghana/posts/116289921890319

http://anoghana.org/ibrahim-mahama-mohammed/

Dinner. Ibrahim joined us at Sunshine in Osu.

Full day of class today. Orientation in the morning and discussion of physical accessibility for people with disabilities in the afternoon.

Touring the NYU Accra campus

 Professor Akosua Anyidoho begins the orientation session in the open air classroom.

Mixing it up with the group from NYU Abu Dhabi learning about economics and development.

Lunchtime buffet

Raking leave on campus

Students rocked measuring the NYU Accra campus for wheelchair access. I can't believe I didn't think to take pictures. Tomorrow they take this new information to the Makola market to investigate how people with disabilities get around in and use the market.