The first place we visited today was the Fishmongers Improvement Association. We listened to Victoria, the founder talk about how the program started and what it was all about. She was really and truly inspiring. She's been pouring her own money into the education and improvement of women since the 1980s, in an effort to improve the status and power of women in society. She taught the women about proper clothing (they had previously walked around bare chested), birth control (the average woman in the area had 8-11 children), openeing a school to educate the community's children, pursuing careers, and so many other things to aid in their empowerment and ability to provide for their families. She worked in the community for about two years before anyone would listen to her or trust her. That's incredible. She is such a strong woman to have endured being ignored for so long while spending her own savings in attempts to better people who wanted nothing to do with her. The area we were in was the first time I had really seen true and utter poverty here in Africa. I mean, I've seen some people who obviously don't have much and probably live hard working lives, but we hadn't encountered anything like this before. If you think of the stereotypical, exploitative, National Geographic type imagery of Africa with hungry, dirty children and ramshackle buildings - that's what we saw today. It was pretty unreal and intense. What was even more appalling, was knowing the amount of work Victoria has put into this community for YEARS, and that this is BETTER than it once was. I can't imagine.
Our second visit was much more lighthearted - the Global Mamas corporate office. It was fantastic! I think all of us were just so inspired and we're now just dying to come back for an internship. Basically, the company was started by two peace corps workers as a fair trade organization for local craftswomen. They provide steady employment, fair wages, and a number of other benefits to the women they employ, "mamas". They teach them to open bank accounts, keep books, and improve quality among other things. The women are batikers, dyers, and seamstresses and the products are sold in a boutique in Accra and exported to various retailers across the world. (I was wearing my Global Mamas dress today, and she really loved that.) I'm just so in love with what here doing and I feel like a career in something similar would be the perfect way for me to combine my fashion merchandising and sociology studies. I would love to come back and do a two month internship, and who knows! Maybe one day I could open a similar or spin off company elsewhere!
Our last visit today was to the slave castles here in Elmina (which we can actually see from our hotel) and that was just a really interesting experience. They were built by the Portuguese, apparently simply to store gold and other resources and eventually were used to store and sell human slaves. Standing in the dungeons and cells, walking through the halls, still being able to smell what happened there years ago ... It was all really sobering. Our tour guide did a really excellent job of presenting the information to us in such a way that we could really visualize and feel all that had taken place right where we were standing. Everyone said it was a really emotional experience for the,, and I'm not sure I really felt that too much. I think I tried to just distance myself emotionally and take it as information, but it's probably good to take in the emotional side as well. I think I just need more time to process all of that before I can even write much more about it.
Liked the original audio file more, but I changed it so that hopefully it will play now! (The original video is on my Facebook, check it out if we're friends!)
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