Hello...Day 5 in Ghana.

Today we had the opportunity to visit the Elimina Slave Trade Castle. Visiting this castle gave us another view of a slave castle in which our brothers and sisters had to endure. The guide spoke stated that there were 43 of these slave castles located in Ghana and how majority of the Africans which were sent to America came through one of the Ghana Castles. The fact that most African Americans came from this area reiterates the point that this is a place in which African Americans need to visit to reconnect to their heritage.

As with the other slave castle's, many of our people were abused and died before they could make it to America. This castle was started by the Portuguese who also brought in the first Catholic Church to Africa. This church, like the one in the Cape Costal Castle, was positioned right in the middle of where the slaves were being traded, abused and raped. It is still hard for me to wrap my brain around how one can worship God and also abuse their fellow man. The ultimate ironic part of this story is that within the Church is a sign hanging that states, "The Lord is in this place", with Psalms 132 beneath these words….wow!

The other part of our day we visited the Kakum National Park. In this park are the high bridges that you can cross so you can see the park fully. We had a wonderful time viewing this natural habitat and experiencing the walk across these high bridges. The guide let us know about how these plants and trees are used for things such as medicine, sponges, food...etc. The guide stressed how important it is for us to take care of the earth and its plants, because they take care of us.

Lastly, the pic that is showing on the blog is Dr. Dickens doing what he does...helping a young man with his homework. The bond between us and the family that we stayed with grew so naturally. We really feel like we have another family in Ghana and we hope to continue to grow our relationships.

We have one more day left in Ghana and I have blogged about all of the exciting and wonderful things which we have done so far. Also, how much we have enjoyed our stay in Ghana...all of this information is true. But of course there have also been challenges since we have been here. When I submit my blog recap of our entire trip, I will talk about the challenges that we also experienced here in Ghana and the advantages in America compared to Ghana and how the students from Ghana can benefit by connecting with American students.

Peace, love and soul.