Response to an anti-Ghana article

I am a Peace Corps Volunteer, and one of our goals is to educate Americans about our local culture. I want to address an issue my mother raised with me a few days ago. It seems an article was published in my hometown newspaper about how two men came to Ghana and rescued some children from slavery in Lake Volta, Ghana.

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2011/02/18/2074161/rescued-from-slavery.html

While I do not dispute their facts, it is impossible to say that this is representative of all of Ghana. I have a student who was living in a fishing village, similar to those boys rescued, but at the age of 10 or so realized education was important. What did he do? He stopped fishing and left the lake. I have never heard of slavery in Ghana outside of this article. Ghanaian and Ghanaian culture have been fantastic to learn about, and while children are required to help around the house, farm, and fish, it is a neccessity in some areas: if the mother is doing chores all day, raising small kids, and the father is out at the farm making money, who will fetch the water? Who will go to the market to buy food? And, most importantly, when the family is spending all its money on food, clothes and shelter, who will pay for school books, pens, and pencils? If there is a choice between food and paper, children here will go and work to make money to purchase a notebook.

As for voodoo here in Ghana, most people I meet are Christian. In fact, I have never met or been involved in a conversation about how traditional beliefs trump monotheism. Muslims in the North (not on Lake Volta) and Christians in the South alike may believe in a small amount, but as a Ghanaian told me, its best not to discount any religion or traditional belief because: it just may be true. Better to play it safe.

The article describes a Ghana that I have never seen, heard, or even knew existed. It is easy for us Westerners to come in and decry "Aha! Kids are doing work! Child Slavery!" and be done with it. To gain a deeper understanding and obtain true meaning, you have to dig below the surface to distinguish simple poverty from slavery. I was extremely distraught to see this article was 'Liked' by many people, and comments were Ameri-centric with disparaging remarks about Africa, Ghana, and the character of people here. If I find a certain part of the US that is involved in sex trafficking, do I decry all Americans, North Americans, and Westerners as enslaving innocent young people for sex? Absolutely not, as there is an overwhelming majority that have decent, moral values and uninvolved in the trade. Ghanaians are similar: a simple, kind people that have a reverance for God (regardless of religion) and enjoy foreigners. I've been extremely happy and welcomed in my time so far here, and look forward to the future in my village. I think the lesson to take away from this article is that there are always two sides to a story, a people, a country, and a continent.Please do some research before making snap judgements about a culture based on a single source.

But let me move onto another topic: March 6th is Independence day for Ghana, and to practice for the parade all the students are doing marching drills for an hour each morning. An hour during school time, which coincidentally, is the entirety of my time teaching mathematics. I scrambled like eggs to get my classes taught and students learned, but for two and a half weeks there is marching. Why not do this marching outside of school? Perhaps I'm not experienced enough in Ghanaian culture to understand the answer, but as a teacher I've been conscripted to join the celebration.
I've been decoding some student names, and having a grand time with it. "God knows I will love him", "God loves", "He loves", "He touches me". He, of course, is God.
Alright, I'm going back to the bush tomorrow, but I do NOT want to see a cobra like last week! Also, as I was typing this my Rasta-man Mensah just came over and gave me two pineapples and three bunches of bananas. Great hospitality.
Also, I wrote a brief expose about the rest of the funeral that happened last month, and it should be just below this post.