A second "St. Michaels in Ghana" trip is in the works!

5 St. Michael's students will be making the journey to the Dagbe Cultural Institute and Arts Center this coming May (2015) to study the music, dance, song, and other traditional forms of art and expression.  We are lucky to have an SMC Alumni, Brian Dukehart, as our co-leader this year, who brings knowledge of both undergraduate college life and concerns and an established relationship with the Dagbe staff and personnel from his own multiple trips in past years.

Our initial trip was supposed to go during the winter break between fall and spring semesters this past year, but concerns about the Ebola outbreaks further out in West Africa (not in Ghana or in any neighboring countries, thankfully!) called for a delay of our trip.  The students had much of their heart and emotion put into this journey, so it is with great pleasure that we are able to make this happen regardless of the hiccup in our dates of travel.

We have less time to fundraise due to this delay but we are trying hard to defray our costs with three endeavors:

1. We will be helping to perform Ghanaian and other African Diasporic music and dance on Thursday, April 23rd, 7:30pm on campus at the Dion Student Center Event Room (3rd Floor).  Please come, join in the fun, and if you feel called to make a donation, we'd be grateful!

2. Students will be organizing a 50/50 raffle by manning a table in the student center on select days and times.  To enter without needing to go to a table in person, contact one of us directly!

3. We will be pre-selling a limited amount of Ghanaian cloths (2-yard sections as worn in festivals and ceremonies in the Volta Region) and beads.  If interested, contact trip leader Josselyne Price for information.

Specifics will be updated soon, and students will introduce themselves.  Please share the blog!

Thank you for all of your support.

Toque at Dagbe

Ghana, the land of the Gold Coast.......

Well i arrived back here, but i feel like it was just a dream that happened yesterday, in a beautiful conutry like Ghana, you never want to leave it, I love the snow cause its a nice change, but all the different experiences i had in Ghana, has made me appreciate and understand that different culture than my own. I will definetly be going back there some time soon, but until then, i once again appreciate all the people who has made this possible for me to go, it was really amazing, and I loved it.......

Home again... it's cold here.

Hello all,

We are back in Vermont, safe and sound after a looong day of travel.

Hope you've been enjoying the blog posts to date. The students will be posting a bit once they've settled into their semester a bit - quite a shock, switching from a slower, introspective 90 degree Ghanaian reality to Vermont in the winter - and, after arriving at 10pm into BVT last night, they all have classes and sports practices that started as early as 6am this morning. Once again I'm amazed at their resilience...

MANY photos will be posted here shortly, and many more along with video and audio will be on display during the spring semester at our annual spring concert. We have so much to share!

Thank you for staying with us during our trip and I hope you enjoy the images that get posted here... probably over the weekend.

Joss

Goat. It's what's for dinner.

With fufu and groundnut soup... yummm! Danielle, Brian, Sean and I just finished our lunch at a chop bar, where we spent about $2.60 for lunch for the four of us - the goat meat was amazing.

So we're in Cape Coast now, and it's quite a change from Kumasi. Each place we've visited has been incredibly distinct, and has offered different insights and challenges. I remain proud of the students for their flexibility and for being able to adapt to new situations with grace.

We toured Kakum national park today, walking on the rope bridges from tree to tree, VERY high up. I could spend a lot more time there, and hopefully will go back someday for some intensive birding.

The rest of today is relaxed, and tomorrow at some point we'll head to Accra, our last stop before returning home. Need to find a way to pack all the drums and other things we purchased... yikes!!! And laundry is in order, because if I don't get a clean outfit for the plane, I pity the person next to me....

Ok folks, see you soon....
Josselyne

Ghana:05

We are coming into the final stretch!! I can't believe three weeks has already gone by. Time at the Dagbe center seemed to fly since lessons four hours a day really kept us goin! Our final performance at Kopeyia was great; it gave us a chance to show what we had learned and how hard we had worked! I miss the Volta region and it's quiet friendly atmosphere. After morning lesson we could just go for a walk down the street to explore another village, go for a run to the internet cafe(boy did got a lot of weird looks! Ha!), or nap with our Ewe friends under the gazebo.

After saying a sad good bye we hopped in a van down another bumpy road to the bus station. As Ghana would have it the bus wasn't ready. We were a bit hungry and went searching for something to eat at a local stand. It was then that it happened...I have never been so excited to see CHEESE, yes, laughing cow cheese!!! It was a thin slice of heaven. It's always fun talking about what foods we are missing the most- guess I can cross that off my list! A root beer float has been another top! Eventually we arrived in Kumasi. It was quite a change from what we had been used to - I'm sure everyone would agree. I enjoyed going to Koo Nimo's home, a musician specializing in palm wine music. We learned an Ashanti dance and song. The difference in style whether it was song, dance or drumming was definitely recognizable.

I think that the biggest shock at the home stays was at meal time. I never once ate with my family. I believe it was a common theme in other homes. I was always served first and sat alone. It gave me a chance to reflect on my day and appreciate the food that was prepared, however, I would have much rather engaged in converstation with the family and avoided any 'special' treatment. Trying to get a taxi around the city was a lot of fun. The Ashanti were always willing to help. One ride home I jumped in between three different cabs (each going a different way than I needed to). The drivers simply honked at other taxis and passed me off, thank goodness!! The traffic was usually pretty bad - hence whenever someone asks "what time are we going?" or "what time are they going to be here?".....we have a saying.."Ghana:05"!!

Currently, we are in the central region of Ghana enjoying the coastal breeze! We toured Elmina slave castle yesterday. It was amazing to stand in the chambers where so many died. Elmina is a fishing town and from the top of the castle you can see rows of fishing boats. The boats along with the people in the town are so bright and colorful. It has been one of my favorite views so far. We also bought fresh pineapples right on the beach for 20 pesewas (about 15 cents)! The women cut and peeled it right there for us! Can't beat fresh fruit! Speaking of which I think I am going to go find some and spend the rest of the day on the beach!!

I LOVE BUS RIDES!

After spending around 20 hours on STC buses and trotros in the past two days, I am very happy to be here, right next to the beach, in Cape Coast. Our time in Kumasi was quite intense for a lot of us. When your in the moment sometimes it becomes very hard to fully comprehend everything that is going on. Leaving the quiet and laid back Volta region and going into Kumasi, which is a busy city, turned out to be quite a shock for me and some others group members. I was trying to let the Dagbe seed grow and it was a little tough in such a new and different surrounding. After a day or two of adjusting to the city life, I started to really feel at home with my family and i was able to get some great conversations and experiences out of the stay. One day, two of my brothers told me that I have to see where my meals are coming from. So was started the day watching a chicken assassination and then watching fufu get pounded for hours. At the end of the day I ate the food and realized how little I know about where all the food I eat comes from in the US. It was a great experienced!

-Sean V