We were up especially early in order to arrive in Jamestown
when the fishing boats came in with their catch. We arrived in the small town
at about 6:15 a.m. Our class of twenty was restricted to three photographers
through the slums because people here are particularly sensitive about having
their photo taken. This was because a photographer’s images from here appeared
in National Geographic with captions such as, “Look at these children who are
so poor their family cannot afford clothes for them.” I was one of the three
photographers, but because of the cramped housing and a desire to maintain some
people’s privacy (we were basically “walking through their living rooms”) I
didn’t take many of the actual slum. I did get a few shots off from the bus as
we were about to leave.
The town is a fishing village which means the men go out on
the boats each day and the women maintain the home and raise the children. Boys start working at 6
to 10 years of age. Boats can be out for five or six days at a time. And while
most fishermen are men, three (in the town) are women. The fishermen work
together and the entire community works to pull the boats in from the shore,
sort the fish and crabs, repair the nets, build new boats, etc. The workers
work all day, doing backbreaking, laborious jobs, for very little pay. As we were walking through
the town someone noticed the sides of the houses were made from boards that
used to be part of boats. The boats were, in Ghanaian style, commonly named
with religious undertones.
This is a snail.
Note the slums at the top of the cliff.
I felt bad for this little guy (and all of the homeless animals) but rationalized that he probably gets to eat a lot of fish whilst living in Jamestown.
Torn nets are repaired by hand.
Awkward name for a restaurant.
Garbage burning in the slums.
Boy in school uniform and girl with sister(?)
Sugarcane.
Our next stop was to walk through a Muslim neighborhood and
Mosque. This part of the day was uncomfortably humid and the stench of some
unknown source assaulted my nostrils through the entire town. The town was also
a very poor neighborhood. Women were told to dress very conservatively, with
scarves over their hair and/or wrapped around their shoulders, no yoga pants,
no sneakers, no tank tops. I didn’t have a scarf for my head, but I dressed in
long sleeves and long pants and closed-toe shoes. It was sweltering. A milky
fluid trickled through the open sewers as students proceeded single-file
through the town. We met some leaders of the community which were very
hospitable to us. At the mosque, we took off our shoes and went inside. We
learned that men and women pray separately, but we were able to look at both
the men’s quarters and the women’s quarters. Muslims pray several times a day
and there is a name for each of these prayers.
At the top of the mosque was a classroom setup with wooden
desks and a whiteboard. We were lectured by a man who was very involved with
the church on Islamic faith. In Islam you are supposed to help 8 kinds of
people, particularly the poor who have no money for tomorrow. However, the
needy are also to be helped (and it doesn’t have to be a poor person who is
needy). The lecturer unabashedly assured us that the reasons for illicit acts
are because women dress temptingly (particularly in trousers?). He said if a
woman is attacked or sexually assaulted it is her fault and that a man cannot
control himself around her. I found this insulting to both sexes, on the basis
that women are not at fault on the basis of how they are dressed and men are
capable of ascending the most primitive lizard part of the brain that drives
them to reproduce.
This was a segway into marriage customs. Marriage, or Mikah Zawaaj, is a contract between man
and woman that is legitimized before God. Homosexuality is punished by death.
There is also no forced marriage and it is forbidden to make sisters your wives
or to engage in an act of incest. A dowry is paid which signifies the man can
take care of his wife.
In the Quran’s 6,666 verses, we hear that “everyone is equal
in the house of God whether you are blind, crippled, etc.” You are able to pray
regardless of the body’s abilities (or disabilities). Children attend public school
five days a week and study religion two days a week.
When our class got into a discussion about the mosque visits
later, Anita said that both views are “right” to the person who believes them.
While this is true, I can’t help but feel that the Islamic views on sexuality
are archaic. I find it pathetic that two people who love each other have to
hide this fact if they are of the same gender, or that they be put to death.
And it was hypocritical to say that you accept everyone but then can murder others.
I wasn’t the only student who was uncomfortable with the experience. But seeing
it was informative because of our lecture which followed that afternoon. It put
the great struggle that Human Rights Advocacy NGO into context with the
magnitude of the convictions that the super-religious hold.
We received a lecture that afternoon on Human Rights of
Persons with Disability in Ghana. The Human Rights Advocacy NGO develops HR policies
and does research of human rights. LGBT, gender, access to heal, HIV/AIDs
programming, etc. are all big issues. Their objective is to understand cultural
implications for persons with disabilities. In Ghana, of all the disableds,
visual impairment makes up 40%, physical disabilities 25%, emotional/behavioral
disabilities 18%, and mental health 15%. The rate increases in rural areas and
decreases in the 0-5 age group. It is highest for those 65+. During discussion,
a classmate remarked that one reason disability is so low in children of that
age group is because parents will take matters into their own hands and
kill/discard/abandon the baby.
Children can be labeled “spirit children” … because a mother
dies in childbirth, a child is born deformed/disabled, during a time of
difficulty (i.e., severe poverty), or even if the child is a twin or triplet.
Believed to bring bad luck into the community, those labeled a spirit may be
killed as a result.
The 2010 census says that 3% of people are disabled, but
this is a low statistic. The census is hard enough to take in the USA where we
have street names and numbered houses. When you have shacks adjacent to each
other on unmarked roads, how can you really be sure you have counted everyone?
Or that people have not lied or hidden away people they are ashamed of? Or are
out working all day? In the film Emmanuel’s Gift the number was estimated to be
about 10%, and in our guest speaker’s Power Point he estimated even higher than
that (20%). I’d say the safest bet is to say the true number is somewhere
between 10% and 20%.
An example of discrimination against the disabled can be
seen in Dr Seidu. He was a blind person appointed to Minister of State.
However, he was removed from the political position because of outrage and
stigma against him.
In politics, all rights (freedoms) are located under article
21 of Ghana’s Constitution. Every disabled person has these but very few are
aware of them. The Persons with Disabilities Act 715 was passed in 2006. The
act states that disableds have the right to family life and social activities,
differential treatment in respect of residence, living conditions in
specialized establishments, freedom from exploitation and discrimination
against persons with disabilities, party to judicial proceedings, access to
public places and services, and penalties for contravention. However, Ghanaians
are generally unaware of their rights. The NGO is working on help educate
persons with disabilities that they have those rights, including the right to
vote.
I asked our speaker if the NGO takes any preventative measures
to prevent the high number of disabled in Ghana, and he gave us a graphic
example. There was a man who had his fingers cut off while working with nails
in the street, and he may have had less damage had he been wearing protective
garments (gloves). NGO therefore recommends employers to protect their employees.
However, he said the organization does not promote any awareness campaigns for
vaccinations and proper nutrition for a fetus in utero.
Awareness is taught to children and they are instructed in
their rights (the Children’s Act of Ghana lists these). Also, they deal with
some cases of abuse. Abused women may not report it to the police because she
may be worried about her other children. Also, the policeman may say something
like “I beat my own wife more.” Or, the woman may not be able to afford a
lawyer. The NGO wants to provide a confidential place that is judgment free for
this type of situation. In an example related to health, test results of HIV
can be announced in public. The stigmatism and eviction of the woman in the
home is the result of such affairs. Giving these women more information, such as
the existence of pro bono lawyers, is another objective of the NGO.
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