As most of you know, my motivation to go to Ghana came from my senior design project at Delaware, during which I worked with the (NGO) The GoGetDem Wheelchair Racing Club. They are using sports to improve the lives of disabled persons, especially youth in rural areas. By training and preparing them, they also want to increase their presence at The Paralympics and other events, to change the existing stigma on disabled persons in Ghana. Raphael, the founder of this club, is not only a great person, but also a phenomenal athlete. He has participated in 3 Paralympics, and many many other competitions! So this weekend was a very special weekend to me, because I planned on meeting Raphael and MacLean!! (MacLean is one of the athletes of the club who was won several gold medals at international competitions). With our design team at Delaware we had had several Skype conversations with each other, but meeting them in person and being part of their lives for the weekend was an even greater experience then I could have imagined. When I woke up on Saturday morning, getting ready to go, things didn’t start off too well. I had to visit the toilet about 6 times within the first hour, so I got a little nervous since I was about to be on a bus for 5 hours… Luckily talking about stomach issues here in Ghana is like talking about the weather, so after sharing my doubts I decided to take Imodium and hope for the best. I impressed the taxi driver with my progression of speaking Twi, didn’t get overcharged, and survived the entire bus ride without any issues. Good start! When I got to Raphael and MacLean’s place, they were waiting for me on the side of the road, and only just seeing them through the window I got so excited. After big hugs and big smiles, we walked to their house, which I am so impressed by. First of all, it is such a beautiful, nice, cozy, living space (as soon as a house has a colorful wall you know I love it). Their neighborhood consists of several compound houses, consisting of 1 or 2 rooms. What is so amazing, is that they totally modified their homes themselves to be super accessible to them with the wheelchairs! They made ramps, redid the ceilings, built their washrooms… They moved around their house more easily then I did without a wheelchair :-) At the moment, they were the only people from the racing club living there (with lots of other family and friends), but as soon as the Commonwealth games are coming up, in November, the whole team will be back to start training together. Saturday we really just spent most of the time talking about so many things, like we had known each other for years.
On Sunday I joined them to church, which was so fun since it was ‘national children’s day’, so the entire session was run by the children, so adorable and funny. They were performing acts, singing songs, dancing… If you picture this church, except for the many colorful decorations, it looked like a modern church like you know it. A beamer projected a PowerPoint with lyrics, a “DJ” in the back was taking care of the music, there was a food stand selling foods and drinks for if you got hungry. The atmosphere was so nice, everyone seemed to know each other, people were joking around and laughing all the time. I felt very special being on Raph’s and MacLean’s side, being part of their lives. Seeing and meeting their many friends made me so happy. As I was sitting there on the bench in the church, next to Raphael, I somehow felt overwhelmed by emotions; happiness, thankfulness, it's hard to describe. After the church session we went on a 2 hour walk, together with two of their cousins. They showed me the hockey stadium (couldn't skip that of course), and we mostly enjoyed the beach. It felt so good to relax and spend time together. Even now that I am writing this, I’m smiling thinking back about it. Meeting Raph and MacLean has really touched me in a way. Their incredibly positive mindset, how they use athletics to make a point to society, how they want to prove people wrong, help other young people that live with disabilities, the way they live their life, I think is amazing. They are huge role models to other persons with disability. Listening to them, explaining to me what the current perception is in Ghana on people with disabilities, and then seeing how they do everything to change this, is so inspiring. When I asked them to what extend the negative perception on persons with disability still exists in Ghana, they explained to me that it is still bad. It is changing, especially in the city, but mostly in rural areas it is still very much present. Especially due to the lack of education, people think that you are cursed if you get a child with a disability. Your family is therefore ashamed you, and children might even be locked into a room. I hurts me so much even just trying to imagine what that must feel like. Obviously I had heard and read about it, but it's different hearing it from them directly. One thing that went through my mind on the bus ride home, is that yes, it is important to realize that stories we hear in the "western world" about the challenges of disabled persons in Africa are definitely true, but it is also equally important to know and see people like Raphael and MacLean. There are obviously challenges in their lives that other people don't face, but their life is full of joy and happiness, and I felt so thankful to be part of that.
2 Comments
Liesbeth
9/20/2017 11:31:03 am
Wat een ervaring meid , mooi beschreven ook ☺
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Marjelle
9/23/2017 01:03:11 am
Dankjewel!!??
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