A Whole New World

If you've been keeping up with my blog, I'm sure you're all wondering by now if my "study abroad semester" actually includes any studying or if it's just a vacation around the world.  Well, with only about 2 weeks left in the semester, I figure I should probably clear that up and explain what a typical day looks like for me on board the MV Explorer!  I'm taking 4 classes this semester- Women in Literature, Marine Biology, World Literature, and Experiential Writing.  I also have a "campus" job this semester, working with the dependent children (children of the faculty and staff) on board.  Typically, when I'm not in class or in the dining hall, I can be found working with any number of the 22 kids on the ship.  While this may not sound like a difficult semester compared to your semester back home, I hope you can believe me when I say this has been the most difficult semester of my time in college, by far!  My professors are tough, my classes are challenging, and my job requires a lot of time.  Most of my free time is spent doing homework, and I can honestly say that I've never done more writing in my entire life!  All of this is why the ship class week is usually only 3 days, instead of the typical 5 days at colleges and universities back home.  This semester is challenging for every single student on board, so after 3 class days, if we haven't already arrived in a new country, we'll have a study day with no classes or work obligations so we can catch up on our class work.  And for every single country on the itinerary, the ship has 2 different seminars, cultural and logistical pre-port, to prepare us for our time in country.  Cultural pre-port focuses on the history and culture of the countries, while logistical pre-port gives us the practical, safety information for each port.  So, I have no problem filling up my time with classes, country preparation, and my work study job!


              

                                                                      
Even so, I still make the time to have fun on the ship, although ship fun is a little different than what we would call fun back home!  Here on the MV Explorer, it's common to walk around and see people playing Sardines, sunbathing, playing cards, knitting, hanging out with the dependent kids, swimming (in the very tiny pool), having movie nights, and jamming out on the piano, guitar, or African drums.  We don't have internet access/Facebook (unless you pay a ridiculous amount), TV, or phones to talk to people back home, and so, we really have to make our own fun.  But because of this, the relationships made on the ship are so much stronger than most relationships back home, for the most part.  I can't even begin to imagine how much I'm going to miss my new friends once I get back home!


   


But for now, that's typical life for me on board the MV Explorer!  After being on Semester at Sea for so long, it's going to be hard to adjust back to life at good, ol' Roberts!

Love

It's been 20 days since I left Cape Town, and I'm still having trouble processing all my thoughts about South Africa.  Why? Cape Town, South Africa has one of the world's biggest gaps between the rich and the poor, something I experienced first hand during my time in port.  In the mornings, I volunteered at an orphanage for 39 children affected and infected by HIV/Aids. I tended to babies, entertained all the children, cooked, cleaned, and did laundry. But in the afternoons, I became a regular tourist again. I walked around Cape Town's beautiful waterfront, went to Table Mountain (one of the 7 natural wonders of the world), ate delicious food, and even went to see a movie. And if I'm being honest with myself and all of you, I enjoyed my afternoons much more than my mornings spent at the orphanage. I was completely out of my comfort zone at the small, crowded, and dirty orphanage. I didn't know how to cook or clean the way the women at the orphanage did, and I never once had to be careful about children's cuts before coming to the Emasithandane Orphanage. But as time went on, I slowly became more comfortable in the township and with the kids. With each day,

I began to recognize specific kids and the kids began to recognize me. Even though you aren't supposed to have favorites when working at an orphanage, I found my favorite kids each day and was able to do different activities with them, like coloring, blowing bubbles, and jump roping.  I learned many of the children's stories, like the little boy who had just arrived from Nigeria when his mother died, and who will be staying at Emasi until one of his relatives can be found. And without meaning to, I fell in love with the kids. And once I fell in love with the kids, I really couldn't understand life in South Africa. The extremely wealthy South Africans live less than 20 minutes away from the black, poverty ridden townships, like the Nyanga township where Emasi is located. These rich, mostly white South Africans live way above their means, while people are literally starving right down the road from them. I don't understand how this is possible; if the wealthy South Africans spent just 5 days in a township or orphanage, like I did, I'm sure their opinion of the poor would change.  But in Cape Town, the wealthy and the impoverished don't mix, something I learned as soon as I got back to the waterfront each day and didn't see any evidence of poverty until I returned to Emasi the next morning. And this is why I'm still trying to process my time in Cape Town. Even though I worked at an orphanage every morning, going back to the ship and the upscale waterfront each day almost made me almost forget that there were even orphanages and townships in South Africa. It was a constant struggle for me, to try and remember how I felt each morning with the kids once I was back in my comfort zone each afternoon. Even though I can barely remember my time at Emasi, I still remember the love I felt for the kids. That love will have to be enough for me to continue processing my time in Cape Town, South Africa.

    

A New Kind of Traffic

My fourth and final day in Ghana was spent on a field lab (or field trip) for my Women in Literature class.  It's pretty common not to look forward to field labs, especially field labs on the last day, because knowing it's your last day in a country always makes you think of one last thing you want to do but can't because of class obligations.  But, because I'm a bit of a nerd, I was actually really excited about this field lab.  Our day started with a visit to FIDA, the International Federation of Women Lawyers of Ghana.  FIDA provides law services to women who may not be able to receive these services anywhere else.  For example, in Ghana, it is extremely common for men and women to live together for multiple years (more than the U.S.), even having children without actually being married.  When these relationships are broken, the woman usually has no claim whatsoever to the house, her belongings, and even her children.  FIDA provides law services to women in this situation to help the women get back their children and some of the assets.  FIDA also supports women suffering from marital abuse, rape, and HIV/AIDS, as well as unexpected pregnancy. 


After visiting FIDA, my class had lunch with Amma Darko, one of Ghana's most famous women authors.  We had read her novel, Not Without Flowers, and used our short amount of time with her to ask questions about the book and her views on women's experiences in her home country.  Hearing Amma Darko talk was one of my favorite experiences in Ghana; Amma Darko is one of the most impressive women I have ever met.  She works a 9-5 job every day, goes home to take care of her children, make dinner, and clean the house (since men and women don't share the work at home, something Amma Darko was very adamant in telling us she didn't mind), and then somehow still finds the time to write!  But she made a good point saying, "If you want to write, if you love to write, you will find time to write."  I strongly encourage everyone reading this post to read Amma Darko's novel, Not Without Flowers.  It has love, mystery, suspense, and so many twists and turns that I can guarantee you won't guess the ending until Amma Darko reveals it.  I'll be more than happy to lend out my newly autographed copy once I get home!


Our last notable stop was at Global Mama's, a fair trade organization that employs single mothers and women living in poverty.  These women learn a specific trade (sewing, tailoring, bead making, weaving, soap making, or Shea butter producing) and then create products based on their newly acquired skill.  Once their products are sold, all the proceeds go directly to the women and the non-profit program of Global Mama's that helps the women develop their business. Because of traffic, my class only had about 15 minutes to browse the Global Mama's store, but what I was able to see in that short amount of time was incredible.  The women made jewelry, clothing, household decorations, kitchen necessities, pet items, bags and purses, and a TON of other goods as well.  It was especially cool knowing that everything being bought was benefiting local women in need throughout Ghana. 

After stopping at Global Mama's, it was time to head back to the ship.  Let me just say that the bus ride back to the ship turned out to be a whole new cultural experience.  Since Global Mama's was in the middle of the city, Accra, we were trying to head out of the middle of the city during rush hour.  But rush hour doesn't just mean vehicle traffic in Ghana.  Rush hour also means people traffic.  Since it was already starting to get dark, marking the end of the day, all the market and stand owners were trying to sell the rest of their goods.  So, Ghanaian men and women were everywhere, weaving in between cars with baskets of fruit, household goods, snacks, ice-cream, and school supplies on their heads, gesturing at every driver they passed, trying to sell their items.  In addition, the big tour bus we were in was hard to ignore, so some stand owners specifically targeted our bus, running over to try and sell us last minute souvenirs out the window.  Many people in my class actually bought chips or other snacks out the window (to the great annoyance of our tour guide) and one person even managed to buy some fabric before the bus pulled away!  Apparently, buying goods from your car is a very common thing in Ghana, but since this was the first time I had ever seen this, I was freaking out (in a good way)!  This encounter made me realize how little I had actually seen and experienced in Ghana, since I was only there for four days, so it would certainly be interesting to travel to Ghana again someday! 

Fun Fact: There is an overwhelming number of Ghanaian shops named after aspects of Christianity. I'm not kidding when I say "Prince of Peace Electronics" and "To God be the Glory Cosmetics" are real shops in Ghana. 

Light in the Dark

I spent my next day in Ghana at the City of Hope/Refuge Orphanage.  Now that I'm thinking about it, God may have planned for me to get sick the first day, so I would miss my home stay and be able to serve at City of Hope instead! While it wasn't fun being sick, I am so thankful I was able to spend time at City of Hope because it was one of the most amazing and rewarding experiences of my semester.  To give you some background, City of Hope is a Christian orphanage that rescues children from human trafficking/child slave trade since many fishermen in Ghana keep child slaves to help with their fishing business.  These fishermen will not only force the children to go out on their fishing boats to catch fish, but they will also force the children to untangle the fishing nets when they get caught underwater.   This means the kids will have to get into the water, most of them barely knowing how to swim, and be able to hold their breath long enough to untangle the nets.  Not only is this horrible simply because it's child slavery, but the children are always in danger of getting tangled in the nets themselves or drowning.  The shining light in all of this however, is City of Hope.  City of Hope will go into these fishing communities and villages to negotiate for the children being kept against their will.  Sometimes, this means paying the fishermen or the village chiefs for the children, but more often than not, their goal is to release the children through education.  City of Hope negotiations can sometimes last for months, educating the fishermen about why keeping child slaves is wrong, and just waiting for the fishermen to release the children on their own conscience.  When the children are freed, they go to City of Hope, finding a refuge where they can become kids again.

But, City of Hope is not just an orphanage.  During negotiations,

City of Hope always asks the children what they would ask for if they could have anything in the world.  The overwhelming answer is "to go to school."  So, City of Hope started the Faith Roots Academy on site, where the 42 orphans and 178 children from the outside community come together to go to school in a Christian environment.  While I was at City of Hope, I was able to get a first hand look at this school through helping in a kindergarten class, as well as an 8th grade class.  After spending just 5 minutes in Faith Roots Academy, I realized the teachers give 110% to their students and most of the kids truly want to be in school.  It was amazing to be in a school environment where everyone- faculty, staff, and students- wanted to be there!  As an Education major, I hope I can be like the teachers at Faith Roots Academy, motivating my students to learn as much as they can each and every day.  However, as an individual, I was inspired just by being at City of Hope and learning about their work to end child slavery.  Upon my return home, I hope to somehow remain involved in ending child slavery alongside City of Hope.  
       
     

 

       

"And Jesus said, 'Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.'"    -Matthew 19:14