Let's Dance!

Azonto! It's the new dance all over Ghana and according to this BBC report, is becoming popular all over the world! 


Azonto developed from a dance called "Apaa" that was done to represent the occupations of the people doing the dance. From this origin, it developed into a popular dance with high school kids and has become more popular due to it's use in music videos by Ghanaian artists such as E.L. and Sarkodie. So, that's the brief history on Azonto!


Here are some music videos for you to check out. Most of these songs have been playing everywhere in Ghana that I've been and I'm definitely planning on incorporating them into my music library! The last video is also a how-to for those interested in learning how to do the dance!


ENJOY!

Sarkodie ft. E.L- "U Go Kill Me"

E.L.- "Obuu Mo (Azonto Version)

I love this video of these high school kids dancing!

Keche- "Sorkode"

This music video teaches the steps to the dance! See how fast you can pick it up! :-D

Fuse ft. Tiffany- "Azonto"

~J

Food!

Food, food, food! Now everyone knows I like to eat so this has been one of the enjoyable parts of the internship experience in Ghana so far! Ghanaian food is very similar to Nigerian food so adjusting hasn't really been an issue for me and luckily I've experienced no upset stomach issues *knock on wood*. They do eat a lot more plantains here than I'm used to, however I LOVE plantains so that has only been a positive! Rice is a component of many dishes and I've also been eating a lot more fish than normal since I got here. Some common Ghanaian foods are banku, red red, kenkey, fufu, and jollof rice.


Banku is fermented corn and cassava dough mixed together to form a ball and is served with some type of stew such as groundnut or pepper fish with sauce.

Banku with fried fish and stew
via Google Image Search

Red red is comprised of a bean stew and fried plantains. It's become one of my new favorite dishes and I'll definitely be recreating it once I'm back in Ann Arbor!

Red Red
via Google Image Search

Kenkey is made with fermented maize (corn) and is boiled and steamed in banana leaves or husks and is served with a sauce that has either fish or meat.

Kenkey
via Google Image Search

Fufu is a staple dish all throughout Western Africa! It's very common even in Nigeria, although honestly I'm not a big fan of it. It can be made with cassava, yams, or plantains. The starch is boiled and then pounded into a smooth consistency and then molded into a ball. It's usually served with groundnut soup, tomato stew, or egussi and spinach stew.

Fufu with groundnut soup
via Google Image Search

Rice is of course a staple food- it's served many different ways! There's jollof rice which is basically seasoned tomato rice, fried rice, and rice with stew! I had lunch over the weekend at Papaye and really enjoyed their fried rice! The roasted garlic chicken they serve is delicious with just the right kick of pepper!

Papaye roasted chicken and fried rice

There are also many fast food places all around Accra and in the Accra mall. Barcelo's is always very busy when I've been to the mall so I decided to try it out this weekend and their fried rice was FIRE!! I'll definitely be going back for that again. LOL

Barcelos Lunch

And for those who are not yet adjusted to eating Ghanaian food or are homesick, thanks to the increasingly globalized world we live in today, there's always KFC!

I had actually planned on losing a couple pounds this summer but with all of this delicious food, it seems as if I may end up gaining some weight before I leave! Oh well, it's all part of the experience right?


~J

Cape Coast Slave Castle

Prior to my arrival in Apam, I got the opportunity to go to Cape Coast for a tour of the slave castle, which has a very interesting history. The castle was initially built by Swedes in 1650 for use in trading timber and gold. The castle was then taken over by the British in 1660 and remained under their control until 1662. During this period, large underground dungeons were built that held the slaves before they were loaded onto ships that took them to the Caribbean and the Americas. In 1663, the Dutch captured it and the English again took over in 1664 and retained control until 1673. The tour guide stated that the castle held about 1300 men and women who were held in separate dungeons and those who resisted were separated from the group and placed into the 'condemned cell' that was very small. In this cell, the slaves were denied food, water, and light along with oxygen until they eventually suffocated. Other slaves were then required to pack up their bodies and dump them into the ocean, which also served as warning to the others to not act up.

The castle from the back side

Inside of the male slave dungeons; the lights were added during the restoration so when the castle was in operation, the dungeons remained dark, except for one tiny window in each chamber

Entrance to the male slave dungeons

The Cape Coast slave castle has been called 'The Point of No Return' and the doors that lead out of the castle towards the water have been labelled as such to reflect that millions of slaves that passed through those doors and were loaded onto ships never returned home to their families and homeland. Many died while on the ships from sickness and hunger and those who did survive, suffered greatly in slavery as we know.

The door of no return

I find it difficult to express in words exactly how I felt during the tour but I can say that it was a very emotional experience, particularly to stand in dungeons that had once held the slaves and walk the very steps that many slaves had walked before, never to return again. It was a humbling experience and I'm appreciative of the opportunity to have learned more about slavery and its history.


~J

Akwaaba!!

Akwaaba! That means "you are welcome" in Twi and I have certainly been welcomed to Ghana by many wonderful people since my arrival. I landed in Accra and stayed at the International Student Hostel on the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital campus. Last week, I moved to Apam, which is where I'll stay for the remainder of my trip, except for the occasional weekend trip to Accra of course! Apam is a smaller town on the coast with a population of approximately 26,000 people. Since I'll be doing research at the Apam Catholic Hospital, I'm staying in one of the guest houses on the hospital compound.

The house I'm living in for the summer

Our house has air conditioning and two large water tanks in addition to the regular water supply so I've been far more comfortable than anticipated! I've gotten to know many of the people working at the hospital and am making great headway on the research project. I've finished observations and field notes and plan to begin interviews next week! The observations have been quite helpful because it's really allowed the staff and patients to get accustomed to my presence while allowing me to get my bearings also. I've also observed many births, which has been very exciting, nerve-wracking, and honestly a little scary! 

The front of the Apam Catholic Hospital

So thus far, I'm having a very wonderful experience in Ghana! I'll be updating shortly with more about traveling around Accra and my trip to Cape Coast slave castle and Kakum National Park! 


Mehunu wo akyire!


~J

Takeoff!

Hey everyone! Today is the day! I'll be flying out of Des Moines later this afternoon, find myself in Ghana by Wednesday, and will be there until the end of July. I'll then be traveling to Nigeria to visit some family before I return to the U.S. on August 22nd! 


A little background on my summer plans and how they came about- as most of you know, I'm an MPH (Masters in Public Health) student at the University of Michigan in the Health Behavior Health Education department and all students in my department are required to complete a summer internship between our first and second year. I've always had an interest in international public health and therefore wanted to complete an international internship. I applied to MHIRT (Minority Health and Health Disparities International Research Training) program in the fall semester and was awarded the opportunity to complete research in Ghana this summer. MHIRT was founded by NIH (National Institutes of Health) for minority students to learn research methodology in relation to health inequities for future application in domestic or international contexts. There will be several other UM students, both graduate and undergraduate in Ghana working on various projects this summer as part of the MHIRT program.


Now on to the research! I've been working with an amazing mentor at UM to develop our research topic that will be looking at the relationship between patients and midwives in labor and delivery settings in rural and urban Ghana. In the rural context, I will be working in the village of Apam, a fishing community approximately 40 miles outside of Accra and for the urban component, directly in Accra. Much of the published literature regarding women's delivery choices in Ghana has touched upon the issue of maltreatment of patients in the discussions, however no empirical research has been done to really study it. Specifically, I'll be working with my Ghanaian collaborators to interview women who have already given birth and midwives to find out about the childbirth experience in Ghana including any maltreatment issues they've encountered. This is just an initial assessment to really understand the attitudes and cultural context of patient and midwife interactions using interviews and field notes before developing a full fledged study. 

I'm very excited to conduct field interviews and speak with both groups to hear their perspectives! Who knows- I may stumble upon a really interesting sub-topic and find myself drawn in a completely different direction! I've always had an interest in maternal and child health so this is an amazing opportunity that I'm very grateful to have. I'll be sure to keep you all updated on my progress and load plenty of pictures. The blog will be focused more on my experiences and adventures than the research but will throw in some posts about that occasionally. Please comment and ask questions as the summer continues!


As they say in Twi, "mehunu wo akyire!"-see you later!


~J