HAH! I FINALLY GOT A PICTURE OF THIS. I ZOOMED & CROPPED CAUSE I'M SNEAKY.
This morning I woke up and walked down to the beach, which was littered with rubbish. My mom had specifically asked me to stand in the ocean so that she could stand in the ocean in Connecticut and we'd both be in the ocean at the same time, so I acquiesced. However, sadly, I think it's too dirty to swim here. A man who was jogging came over to me and introduced himself as John. I told him I was a student from New York City. He welcomed me to Ghana, told me his favorite soccer (football, here) team, and told me to walk toward the right side of the beach (toward the metropolitan center of town) to see good sights. After that, he invited me to take his photograph (which was terribly overexposed due to being backlit). I know I'm being redundant, but people are extremely friendly here.
Today our morning trip was to the University of Ghana, a public institution located on a beautiful campus. The clay is a resplendent red color, the buildings look modern, flowers are planted in rows, and the library boasts statues out front. We attended a lecture by Dr. Godson Ahortor, a professor of Theology and Philosophy at the University of Ghana. Dr. Ahortor spoke about the intersection between religion and disability. The following are excerpts from my notes which I wrote down today during the first lecture.
Our class photographed with Dr. Godson Ahortor at the University of Ghana.
To begin with, there are three major religions: Christianity, Islam, and African Traditional Religion (ATR). The ATR group was gone into detail by Dr. Ahortor. He said that the African initiated churches that were started by natives strongly believe humans fight evil forces on a daily basis. They feel Christ has power over evil, which in their world, is a reality. Looking at the WHO definition of health, we can see that the spiritual component is missing, but the ATR prioritize it in their dogma.
The bases of spiritual healing from ATR include the belief in duality of life (physical/spiritual), life-centered philosophy, spiritual causes of ill health, holistic healing, and reincarnation beliefs. Dr. Ahortor gave an example about a boy (son) who dreams that he "gives birth to his father."
Evil is defined as what threatens life. Evil deeds are admitted in death (if I understood this correctly) despite a person's intention to take them to the grave, and therefore the family/spiritual leaders will consequently cremate the remains. This is seen as a punishment because a pious person would rest in death with their family. Evil is taken so seriously by the ATR that they will go as far to exhume a body and then cremate it if they become aware of evil acts. Some examples of evil acts are cold-blooded murder, abortions, ill treatment of animals, and ill treatment of other disabled people. Timing and rituals are important, such as picking herbs. Another evil act is not giving birth or impregnating a woman due to infertility. Because you do not contribute to the growth of society, this is seen as morally wrong. The remedy is to "drink a pot of rain water left outside." (It seemed unclear how Dr. Ahortor felt about this system of beliefs. I was unable to tell if he condemned it or elsewise until the very end of our lecture. At this point, he said he was a Christian, and that his parents/grandparents still followed traditional ways, despite evidence of the efficacy of his eyesight improvement after western medical care.)
Some cures for illness according to ATR are confession, expiation, exorcism, purification rituals, reconciliation (i.e., an estranged family), etc. Disability is seen as a divine punishment, and there is no term for the disabled in the ATR language (they are simply deemed "sick"). Spiritual causation is attributed, both congenital and developed, to development of illness. The attitudes toward disability were to keep the person out of sight and segregated. The disabled person was also subjected to cruelty at the hand of their peers (insults, taunting, physical abuse, objects for sacrifice, etc.). They are even regarded as a source of pollution.
With regards to Christianity and disability, Dr. Ahortor quoted Leviticus 21:16-23 from the bible and a passage from John. Some men do not qualify to "offer the bread of God" and "...[the defect] shall not come near to offer offerings... to the Lord, lest he profanes my sanctuaries, for I the lord sanctify them." Champion care schools have helped to change these perspectives.
Islam regards disability as not a blessing or curse, but a challenge. Disability is found in both the Quran and Ragelith. Imam Yucel said that "there is no disability of the body, but rather of the heart." Disability is also viewed in the context of qadar/kismet or fate; a concept expressed as the belief in preordination.
In conclusion, religious influence on healthcare is still very strong. There is much reliance on spiritual theories of diseases, ill health, and disability. Healing in western African societies is very much of a religious activity than a scientific process. Social dimensions of health are linked up with religion and morals of the community.
I visited the University Bookstore and took some photographs around the library. After that, our bus dropped us off at the Accra Mall for about 45 minutes. While there, I went into a couple of boutique shops and purchased some souvenirs to bring home. I also window shopped at the Woodin (fabric) store and a couple of other shops. After this, the bus dropped a small group of students at Osu where we had burgers and fries at Frankie's.
Practicing phrases from the Ghanaian language, Twi.
The second class of the day was titled The Meaning of Art in African Culture. It was given by one of Abigail's friends. He said that he had started work at the Autism Center in Ghana in 2009. The founder's son had autism which was why she was inspired to create a place for enrichment for children. Only people who can afford care, often times, are the ones to get it, unfortunately. Some of the activities that were done at the center included painting with hands and feet, dancing therapy, and paper mache projects. Children are often isolated at home, so the point was to get them to enjoy the art-making process. Children were given an opportunity to create and sell some of their artwork as well.
Traditional African art was completed with the intention of telling stories rather than making decorations. In 600 AD - 1000 AD in Northern Africa, the common pattern was to use earth tones spontaneously. One interesting aspect of African art is that it is a gender balanced context. Men and women both make artwork, and there is not a sense of class structure involved either. One thing I thought was interesting to learn was that Dutch/Indonesian Fabric is thought to be authentically African, but this is only because African artists adapted and strengthened the fabrics and incorporated it into their art.
Some African artists of note are Yinka Shonibare, who works primarily with installations and Romald Hazoume, who finds symbolic meaning in the materials he uses in his installations. Hazoume recently had an exhibit in the Brooklyn Museum in NYC. He primarily uses plastics and metal. Artists look at transformations of materials, i.e. charcoal/garbage. They also look at the context of their exhibitions. Our guest lecturer pontificates that a gallery space with white walls excludes people by its nature, so he prefers to show art at a public space. Some spaces he has shown art include the outside of a house, and draped cloth on bridges and covering architecture. He also invites people to come and see his work. I asked about Art Therapists in Ghana and NYU holds an independent study program in this country. I learned that there are approximately 2/3 Art Therapists working at the Autism Center.
1 comments:
Incredibly insightful....I feel almost like I am experiencing this with you, except it's cold 23 degrees. Did your Mom really go into the ocean? Yikes! I love hearing about the fabric. I am a bit J. :) Be safe, Love you!!
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