Good Day Everyone,
Yesterday I was given this video of Nigerian author Chimamanda Adichie. In the video, she speaks about rejecting the single story which helps to create stereotypes we have about people and places. I have thought a lot about stereotypes as I prepare to go to Ghana. I don't know much about Ghana but I am comfortable in going and being present in every experience I have there. Sometimes when I tell people I am going to Ghana they have a fearful reaction. The fear is for my safety, and I am aware of that. But it is scary to those who may have only heard a single story. One thing I have heard multiple times is I shouldn't go because there are crocodiles in Ghana. I did not know if there are crocodiles in Ghana or not. So I googled it and found out there are. I do know there are also crocodiles right here in America. As a result I'm cancelling all future trips to southern Florida. (sarcastic smirk)
I realize those people around me who have these concerns are people who care about me and are just concerned for my safety. And for that I am thankful. When I saw this video it also shed some light on why some people may have these feelings about any country on the African continent. Many of us Americans have only been giving one story. This one story supposedly includes all of Africa and leaves little room for any other experiences. By expanding our minds and reading further we can discover the differences among the stories on the entire continent.
The speaker in this story is from Nigeria and I am going to Ghana. Two different countries with many different types of people with different experiences. It's what she speaks about in this video that can help many of us to discover these truths about many different places around the world.
-Austin
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Packing and preparing to go
So I have begun to pack up my place so I can leave. I have so much stuff. I am sorting my clothes between things I can give away and things I would like to keep here in storage somewhere. I am also throwing a lot of things out that I don't need. Many of the things being trashed don't need to go to anyone else. I'm also hoping to put all of my pictures in photo albums to help keep them safe. I've kept so many pictures over the years in boxes, and I think now is the time to organize them. So that's the latest update. Just a little over 11 days remaining until I leave Seattle and 15 days until I head to Ghana from DC.
-Austin
-Austin
Monday, December 14, 2009
The Motherland
The “Motherland”
As my time to depart for Ghana draws near I have spoken with many people in my life who have asked me how I feel about my pending departure. Am I excited? Will I miss the people I love the most? Of course I am excited and of course my feelings are mixed. I am so excited to begin my experience, yet I am also sad to say goodbye or "see ya soon" ;).
Many people have spoken to me about going to the “Motherland”. Throughout my life I have heard Africa referred to as the “Motherland”. I have probably used the term my self. But in truth it hasn’t really made an impact on me until my own trip to Ghana became a reality.
As I think about this term, I have wondered more about what it really means. Is “Motherland” just a term some people use or is there more behind it other than the obvious? When I say the obvious I am speaking about the thought of all humanity being birthed from the African continent and therefore making an African woman the mother of us all and creating the term “Motherland”.
I began to think of this more over the last week at two specific points. First I was watching the Travel Channel show “No Reservations” with Anthony Bourdain. It just so happened in this particular episode the show was in Ghana. It was an amazing episode where the host had the opportunity to see many parts of the country and eat different types of Ghanaian food. One particular segment was interesting to me in relation to my thought about going to the “Motherland”.
The Minister of Tourism of Ghana was speaking to Anthony Bourdain about Ghana’s connection with North America and specifically Black Americans. I am paraphrasing here. He said Ghana lost a large number of people to North America as a result of the slave trade. These were people who were very important to the Ghanaian economy. Many many people who were lost over years of slave trade originating in Ghana.
The minister of tourism expressed the desire of the Ghanaian government to establish connections with Black Americans who are potentially descendants of Ghanaian people taken during the slave trade. Encouraging people of African descent from North America to visit Ghana and create more economic and cultural connections.
As I still considered this idea of going to the “Motherland” I began to fill out the application for my Ghanaian Visa. I had to do this online with the Ghana Consulate General in New Your City. Filling out the application turned into a bit of an ordeal because it confused me at some moments, but that is for another blog.
There was a specific section of the application where I was first asked for my country of origin. Then I was asked for my ethnicity. This is a normal section in most applications we have to fill out but what caught my eye were the choices under ethnicity. These were the available choices:
Ghanaian Born US Citizen
Ghanaian Born Canadian Citizen
Ghanaian Born EU Citizen
An African from West Africa
An African from East Africa
An African from South Africa
An African from North Africa
American born of Ghanaian parent(s)
Canadian born of Ghanaian parent(s)
European born of Ghanaian parent(s)
American born of African ancestry
European born of African ancestry
Canadian born of African ancestry
Carribean born of African ancestry
Jamaican born of African ancestry
Other
What is interesting is all of the choices are either for people of African birth or African Ancestry. If you are of Asian or European Ancestry you would have to choose other and then describe your ancestry further in another box.
It was the first time I had seen an ethnicity section of an application catering to people with an African Ancestry, and it made me further consider this notion of “Motherland” that people have. So I next sent a text to a bunch of friends asking them what the term “Motherland” means to them in relation to Africa.
Many of the answers people gave were about where life began, where humans came from, or where “we” came from. But if Africa is where ALL humans came from, which is spoken about often in science, isn’t it the Motherland for us all? Shouldn’t all humans have this sense of connection with the continent?
I actually don't know what the answer is. I do know I am excited about my adventure and I am open to what ever may happen along the way. I am not put beginning this journey with a lot of expectations. I just want to gain whatever the universe has in store for me. It is going to be an amazing time.
-Austin
As my time to depart for Ghana draws near I have spoken with many people in my life who have asked me how I feel about my pending departure. Am I excited? Will I miss the people I love the most? Of course I am excited and of course my feelings are mixed. I am so excited to begin my experience, yet I am also sad to say goodbye or "see ya soon" ;).
Many people have spoken to me about going to the “Motherland”. Throughout my life I have heard Africa referred to as the “Motherland”. I have probably used the term my self. But in truth it hasn’t really made an impact on me until my own trip to Ghana became a reality.
As I think about this term, I have wondered more about what it really means. Is “Motherland” just a term some people use or is there more behind it other than the obvious? When I say the obvious I am speaking about the thought of all humanity being birthed from the African continent and therefore making an African woman the mother of us all and creating the term “Motherland”.
I began to think of this more over the last week at two specific points. First I was watching the Travel Channel show “No Reservations” with Anthony Bourdain. It just so happened in this particular episode the show was in Ghana. It was an amazing episode where the host had the opportunity to see many parts of the country and eat different types of Ghanaian food. One particular segment was interesting to me in relation to my thought about going to the “Motherland”.
The Minister of Tourism of Ghana was speaking to Anthony Bourdain about Ghana’s connection with North America and specifically Black Americans. I am paraphrasing here. He said Ghana lost a large number of people to North America as a result of the slave trade. These were people who were very important to the Ghanaian economy. Many many people who were lost over years of slave trade originating in Ghana.
The minister of tourism expressed the desire of the Ghanaian government to establish connections with Black Americans who are potentially descendants of Ghanaian people taken during the slave trade. Encouraging people of African descent from North America to visit Ghana and create more economic and cultural connections.
As I still considered this idea of going to the “Motherland” I began to fill out the application for my Ghanaian Visa. I had to do this online with the Ghana Consulate General in New Your City. Filling out the application turned into a bit of an ordeal because it confused me at some moments, but that is for another blog.
There was a specific section of the application where I was first asked for my country of origin. Then I was asked for my ethnicity. This is a normal section in most applications we have to fill out but what caught my eye were the choices under ethnicity. These were the available choices:
Ghanaian Born US Citizen
Ghanaian Born Canadian Citizen
Ghanaian Born EU Citizen
An African from West Africa
An African from East Africa
An African from South Africa
An African from North Africa
American born of Ghanaian parent(s)
Canadian born of Ghanaian parent(s)
European born of Ghanaian parent(s)
American born of African ancestry
European born of African ancestry
Canadian born of African ancestry
Carribean born of African ancestry
Jamaican born of African ancestry
Other
What is interesting is all of the choices are either for people of African birth or African Ancestry. If you are of Asian or European Ancestry you would have to choose other and then describe your ancestry further in another box.
It was the first time I had seen an ethnicity section of an application catering to people with an African Ancestry, and it made me further consider this notion of “Motherland” that people have. So I next sent a text to a bunch of friends asking them what the term “Motherland” means to them in relation to Africa.
Many of the answers people gave were about where life began, where humans came from, or where “we” came from. But if Africa is where ALL humans came from, which is spoken about often in science, isn’t it the Motherland for us all? Shouldn’t all humans have this sense of connection with the continent?
I actually don't know what the answer is. I do know I am excited about my adventure and I am open to what ever may happen along the way. I am not put beginning this journey with a lot of expectations. I just want to gain whatever the universe has in store for me. It is going to be an amazing time.
-Austin
I got Shot!!!!
No not really.....well sort of. I am wrapping up my campaign towards Ghana and I decided to write a blog about my immunizations. I got the first set of shots back in June and I got my second set on Friday 9/4/09, and last Monday 12/07/09 I received my last set of vaccinations
The vaccinations I had to get total were:
Hepatitis A & B
Polio
Meningococcal conjugate
Typhoid
Yellow Fever
Measels, Mumps, and Rubella booster (MMR)
Tetanus, Diptheria, Acellular Pertussis (TDAP)
In june I received vaccines for my first Hep dose and the TDAP. In September I was scheduled to receive another shot for Hep A&B, the polio shot, yellow fever, meningococcal and I would get my prescription for the pills for the typhoid vaccine.
The vaccinations I had to get total were:
Hepatitis A & B
Polio
Meningococcal conjugate
Typhoid
Yellow Fever
Measels, Mumps, and Rubella booster (MMR)
Tetanus, Diptheria, Acellular Pertussis (TDAP)
In june I received vaccines for my first Hep dose and the TDAP. In September I was scheduled to receive another shot for Hep A&B, the polio shot, yellow fever, meningococcal and I would get my prescription for the pills for the typhoid vaccine.
Since I was paying for everything out of my own pocket, I decided to space the vaccinations out. So in September I got the polio shot, meningococcal, and the typhoid prescription. For the typhoid I had the take four pills every other day until they were gone. It wasn't very difficult because there were only four pills.
I chose to wait on the yellow fever vaccine because it would be mixed with a Measels, Mumps and Rubella (MMR) booster, as well as the final Hep vaccination.
When I got the shots in September I had a slight reaction to them and actually had to rest for most of the day after I had the shots and the following day. I had scheduled a dinner party with my friends the day after I got the shots. I had planned to cook and have us all hang out. I was so out of it and tired that I ended up ordering take out.
So this month when I went in for my final shots I was ready. I didn't have any parties or events scheduled. Mondays are also a day when I only have hours at one job so I could go home and rest if need be. With that considered, last Monday I went in to Group Health's travel clinic and received vaccines for Yellow Fever, the MMR booster, Hepatitis, and the seasonal flu. After feeling sick in September I was prepared to have something happen again but this time I had no problems or issues.
Everything went really well, and as usual the nurses at the travel clinic were really nice. One told me she enjoys "sticking" people with needles who are going on amazing trips since they (the nurses) can't go on any themselves. They have to just sit and hear about the pending adventures the patients are having. I laughed and told her "You can go if you want." She responded "Maybe but I don't think so. I have too many responsibilities and can't afford to do something like that" I've heard that a lot since I started this journey. There was a time when I was only wishing I could do something like this and I am glad now that I made it happen.
After the shots,I went to the pharmacy and picked up my Malaria and Travel diarrhea meds. I know gross but necessary. I have to start taking the malaria meds one day before I leave for Ghana and continue them for four weeks after I return. I have to take one pill per day to prevent getting malaria. The travel diarrhea meds are only just in case I get diarrhea while I am there from drinking or eating something.
Late Monday afternoon, after receiving the vaccines, I felt like I was dragging. I decided it was all in my head and continued with my day. After I decided I was fine I became really excited to finish the process of applying for my Ghanaian Visa. Part of the application process is providing a copy of your yellow fever vaccine.
More about the Visa application process soon.
-Austin
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