Looking back at the time in Ghana

We have seen a lot, learned a lot, and made many new and pleasant acquaintances.

It has been an incredible journey that has opened our eyes to many things, making us all feel an immense gratitude for all the opportunities and benefits we are so fortunate to have, being born in Scandinavia.

Because that's exactly what it is: luck.

We have done nothing to deserve being born in such a prosperous and safe country as Norway. And after having seen and experienced much injustice and poor living conditions, it felt surreal to come back home to Norway.

But it's important to remember that the country of Ghana and the continent of Africa are not just "poor and underdeveloped". There is so much more than that!

Ghana has so many beautiful beaches, red soil, green and lush landscapes, a beautiful culture with great food, community, dance, and friendly people.

In this post, I will take you through a retrospective of my stay in Ghana and talk about some of the highlights.

The everyday study life in Cape Coast was incredibly rewarding, both academically and socially. Being driven straight from lectures to the beach twice a week is a luxury you don't get back home in Norway. You can lie in the sun and read your syllabus, or just relax to the sound of the waves.

Additionally, it is a great advantage to be able to live in an environment where we can see and experience things in practice that we learn about in lectures and seminars. This makes what we study much more interesting and gives us a deeper understanding of the subject matter.

Another thing I am very grateful for is all the good friends I have made among my classmates!

By traveling with Kulturstudier, you meet people who share the same interests as you, and you make friends for life. Whether it's the passion for travel or the interest in development studies that's the common denominator, you can find friends to travel with, discuss politics or development with, and just generally hang out with.

What has also been very valuable about the stay in Ghana is learning about the conditions under which the majority of the world's population lives.

The way we live in the Nordic countries is not the 'usual' way of life in the world. Most people in the world live more like what we have witnessed during our stay in Ghana.

Experiencing this has given us a better understanding that has reduced the 'us and them' mentality. We have become more familiar with both the culture and the people, which makes us relate more to the population and see that we have many similarities that lessen the distance between us. It's an incredibly important lesson that we carry with us!

The fieldwork was an important and very educational part of the stay in Ghana.

We were divided into nine groups with different main themes and went to various villages where we stayed for three weeks. For some, this was a somewhat challenging experience, but I believe that most of us are very happy that we got to experience it anyway!

Some of the challenges we faced during fieldwork included water scarcity, noise pollution, questions or expectations that we should give money, and various issues with the food.

But we stood together in it, as a group and class, and the experience of getting closer to the people in the village and hearing their stories made it all worthwhile. We also grew a lot personally during these weeks. All in all, we learned a lot from these weeks and became closer as a group and made nice acquaintances with those who lived in the village.

In conclusion, I would like to take this opportunity to commend the talented people working for Kulturstudier in Ghana.

First, our bus driver Steele, who drove us safely and comfortably to our destinations every day of the seven weeks we were in Cape Coast. He was always cheerful, and an important part of the team in Ghana that made our daily life as good and easy as possible!

Then our seminar leaders, Hannah and Jørgen. They were with us every day, answered questions, held seminars, and organized everything. They became part of the group, spreading a lot of joy and positive energy.

The ones who did perhaps the greatest job to ensure we had a good time during our stay in Ghana were manager Michael and assistant manager Orlando.

They took care of all the practicalities, both big and small. Michael went to great lengths to ensure we had the best possible experience during the fieldwork and did much more for us than one could expect! Both Michael and Orlando were also genuinely interested in getting to know us and spread a lot of good cheer and laughter.

Lastly, I would like to direct a big thank you to the four Ghanaian students joining Kulturstudier’s development studies program. It has been so nice to get to know you and you have taught us a lot about your country and culture which we are very grateful for.

And a thousand thanks to all of you who have followed us through social media and on the student blog during our stay in Ghana!