I feel that it is hard to be inspired in life without someone to talk to. When I begin to communicate with someone about an idea, my mind starts to jump, feel exhilarated and full of life. Today I went out to lunch with a girl from ProWorld. We talked about the difference between here and America and how here you are always outdoors and shopping outdoors. Everything here consists of locally made and grown goods. The lifestyle here is just so different. We were talking about reverse culture shock and how hard it is going to be to go back into a Walmart after this, how huge and insane things are going to look back home. You adjust very fast to things you are faced with, and to go to another life after this one is going to be just as weird as arriving here in the first place. We also talked about a lot of issues in developing countries and how back at home we make so many decisions with our purchases, not realizing how much we are supporting a lot of issues in the world just by buying these objects. We also talked about rape and how a lot of cultures put the shame on the woman for being raped. It was really cool to share all of these thoughts with someone and discuss the world in depth.
Later in the night some of my friends were telling me about the fact that clitoral mutilation was just recently outlawed here in Ghana. I didn’t realize how often it occurred. I knew of it and knew it happened in some places, but apparently in the northern more tribal regions, this type of ritual is still practiced even today. I also learned that there are different types and that sometimes they will sew up a woman’s vaginal opening to keep her a virgin, then on her wedding night the man will have to rip through it. I further learned that this is not necessarily oppressive or wrong because it is so deeply ingrained into the culture that it is carried on and enforced by the elderly women of the village, seen as a rite of passage into the adult world. Many women don’t mind that it happens. However, there are still other places where it is forced upon them, and even when it is not, there are a lot of health issues that go along with it. I just feel so blown away by all of these things. These are issues that I know about, but going to a place where it could be happening and also having the conflict of cultural relativism staring you in the face makes it so that it is hard to form a solid opinion or really know how to feel about either side.
This morning we did drumming and dancing lessons as a part of our experience. It was so cool. We learned how to drum certain drum beats and then learned to dance a specific dance. I was extremely sweaty and exhausted, but it was such a fun experience. The stuff they do here is fun. I love that ProWorld integrates weekend culture classes into the volunteer experience.
Then I helped Kate with a project she has been working on. For their volunteer work they have been working at a clinic, and developing a research project as well. They are doing a survey of teachers, students, and sex workers about sex education and prevalence of teen pregnancy. So they had a very big quiz competition between 4 different schools, and while this was going on we would take a few of the children out and ask them these questions. The thing is that the answers were very astonishing. Many kids had never heard of a condom. Many 12 and 13 year olds were sexually active. And some reported abortion methods included crushing up a coke bottle, mixing it with juice, and then drinking it. This really blew my mind. 12 year old children are actually experiencing this. The world is such a hard place to live in. The fear of pregnancy followed by eating glass (pure desperation) to get rid of the baby, all at such a young age, and if you were pregnant that one time, you will probably get pregnant again soon. I just can’t comprehend the things that people have to deal with in life (all over the world and in the U.S.). We all act like life is perfect but a lot of the stuff that we experience and go through with your friends, it all seems like we’re too young to be facing these problems. In high school I had a lot of tough stuff that my friends were facing and it was just so heartbreaking to know how soon our innocence is taken from us and how soon we need to grow up and deal with problems that our parents don’t even know are going on. This just shows me how strong humans really are. We have all faced really trying circumstances, and gone through things that will scar us forever, but we are still okay and still function as human beings and get each other through things. We still smile and laugh and enjoy life. And that’s one of the most beautiful things about being a human. It must be really hard to go through some of the things that people have gone through in some African countries, but still they smile and sing and dance. Even the slaves who were stripped of all humanity, still found it in them to sing and go to church and rejoice in the life that they do have. Nothing is so bad that we can’t find a way to still enjoy the life we are living now. There are other things to celebrate and look forward to. And there is so much right now that we have to enjoy.
But the other side of this is the suffering that has and still does occur in the world; the fact that it is so prevalent in every society. No society or culture is free of injustice. And I sometimes feel that there is nothing that can change that.
Last night I went out to a bar/outdoor beach resort with Kate and some other people. It was really fun at first just socializing, and then it became really similar to life in the US. Everyone drunk, me not drunk, sitting on the side watching the drunk people be crazy. It’s hard to mix the two. Then a guy from Ghana came up and started talking to me about living life outside of your comfort zone, and doing things without letting your negative brain energy get in the way. It was a really good talk. I agree with him but also don’t really know how to conquer that part of myself. I just don’t get drunk and dance. I love doing everything else in the world though, everyone knows how easily entertained I am with life and happiness. It doesn’t feel like something is wrong with me, it feels like I am just in the wrong place at that time. It is funny how life is life, no matter where you are located on the planet.
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