Grieving, Ghana style

This is already an unforgettable year for me and it just seems like the craziness won’t stop anytime soon.

I teach a college class where students travel to Ghana over spring break. Students from a variety of majors take the class and generous funding is provided for the trip. It is one of the most meaningful teaching experiences I have ever had. I have been taking students abroad for many years but these past couple years have been different. The current political climate and its impact on youth has made the experience intense and radically necessary. 

Last year marked 400 years since African slaves were brought to the U.S. Ghana declared it “The Year of Return” and encouraged the entire Black diaspora to come “home.” Epic parties were held with celebrities and flights were filled with Black folks from around the world. They came to learn about their history and connect with their ancestral power. My students studied this last year and visited the slave castles where thousands of humans were held captive, tortured, and forced into ships. The visit was painful for all the students, but especially for the Black students. Some found it healing, others found it unbearable. And us non-Blacks watched and witnessed, and later gathered to listen, discuss and search deeply for a way forward. 

March is Heritage Month in Ghana. There are celebrations for Independence Day and culture, art and heritage events throughout the month.

Along with deep learning, there is always deep enjoyment in these types of trips. Hanging out with Ghanaians is always a good time. The sun, the constant music, the playful banter, and the food forces you to realize you are not in the U.S… and for a moment in a more peaceful place. 

Two days before departure, this year’s trip was cancelled due to coronavirus. At the time it seemed unfair and I mourned the loss for my students. It seemed like the virus was no where close to Ghana. My colleague and I decided to go to Ghana anyway. The tickets were bought and so many people in Ghana had already made arrangements for our class. There were also 10 students from the university in Ghana waiting for us to come. 

KNUST/Penn Global Seminar students from last year and this year led by coordinator, Don Amrago. Wearing kente from Kente Master, a company started by alum Peter Paul Akanko

We arrived with no problems. We met the Ghanaian students and explained why the U.S. students couldn’t come. We took trips to the village non-profits and explained why the class was canceled. We met with leadership at the university and discussed creating summer internships in lieu of our course. By the end of the week everything changed because Ghana got its first cases of COVID-19. After only 4 cases, the President of Ghana declared an emergency and closed schools for the month and canceled worship gatherings and funerals.

1. KNUST Primary School, an elementary school on the university campus where my friend Grace teaches.
2. Rights and Responsibilities Initiative Ghana, a female- led NGO that improves the live of girls and their families through reproductive health and education and
3. Yonso Project, a bamboo bike company and brand new school founded by hometown hero and entrepreneur, Kwabena Danso

Every store in Ghana had a person with hand sanitizer spray at the entry. You had to wash your hands in front of them before you entered the store. Upon entry and departure everyone had their temperature checked at the airport. When I met a Queen Mother in a rural village, I had to wash my hands with soap and water in front of her and bow instead of handshake 6 feet away. Every few minutes the radio and TV had alerts with the rules on how to combat the virus. I was so impressed with this poor country that is largely dominated by the informal economy. I hope that the high temperatures spare the Global South the same kind of spread we are seeing in the Global North, but only time will tell.  

My last two days of the trip were spent visiting friends and their families. These are friends I met 20 years ago when I was a study abroad student. They are the type of friendships that last no matter the distance or time.

My friend Kwansa and his sister, Grace, surprised me with this gift. Fifty keychains of my mom. Here is why this was the best gift I have ever received:

Forever in Our Hearts, Barbara Ann Ganey Shown

• Family in Ghana is defined as more than just parents and kids. Family is uncles, aunts, cousins, grandparents and friends that become family. This was my mom’s definition of family too. I look forward to mailing these key-chains out to her beloved “family” members. 

• It is also a bottle opener! Now this makes a lot of sense in Ghana because they still use reusable glass bottles. It is also just so fitting for Barb. She was the best person in the whole world to have a beer with. It is an ode to her Irish roots and the parties my parents threw for friends and family over the years. It encourages a toast in her honor…Cheers! Slainte!

• Ghanaians celebrate the death of loved ones with lots of pomp and circumstance. They have huge parties and often mark the anniversaries of the death with equally huge parties. They make posters of the deceased and hang them in the neighborhood, they wear matching outfits, and they carry on in such a way that everyone in the community joins to mourn and celebrate together. My friends in Ghana were shocked to hear that U.S. bereavement policies are nonexistent or for only 2 days. They were shocked to hear that we had a funeral a month after she died. Ghanaians wait up to a year or longer. This gift is so special because I felt like the average Ghanaian understood my loss more than most Americans. They were openly sorry and have encouraged me to have an anniversary funeral (aka party) for her ten years from now. Who’s down for that???