OMA&D Student Blog

Ghana Wrap-Up

by Ryan Trinidad

This film was created to be a final project for a summer exploration seminar course. Although amongst the creation of this short collection of photos and video clips I realized it was much more than that. The time spent in Ghana was short, but the connections I made with those who traveled with me became like nothing else I’ve ever seen. We arrived in Ghana as acquaintances and fellow students, but we grew together as a unique group of 25 people who experienced something that could never be duplicated. Almost a dozen student groups and organizations were represented by various members, calling us a group of young leaders would almost be an understatement. We left home to find our roots that were lost through oppression and time. We not only discovered this, but also rediscovered our identities within ourselves. Like the end of the film states, “We walked where they did… And created our own footsteps…” This line couldn’t of defined our trip any better.

Scenes from Tahiti

Photos submitted by Dr. Gabriel Gallardo

The group participating in the 2011 OMA&D-affiliated study abroad program to Tahiti, led by OMA&D Associate Vice President Dr. Gabriel Gallardo and Counseling Services Interim Director Val Espania, recently returned to Seattle. Here are a few photos from their trip…

A sunset in Moorea

Canoes in Tehaupoo

Coconut palm tree leaves

Fish caught in the lagoon

Matavai Bay

Moorea Island resort

Mt. Rotui-Moorea

On a bus after a day with local youth

Tahitian dance troup

UW students discussing reading material

Bridgetown Market in Barbados

by Krista C. DeFils (written on July 30)

Today was the first day of the Bridgetown Market at Spring Gardens so almost all of us headed down to attend the festivities! It was a beautiful day and the market went on for about a mile (if I had to give a rough estimate). There were booths or jewelry, other arts and crafts, paintings, plants, flowers, toys, Barbados-themed paraphernalia, and food and drink stands of course.

We walked down to the beach part of the market and it was gorgeous since it was right around sunset. There were horses there and I paid $5 Bajan ($2.50 U.S.) to ride one!

After the market we headed back to UWI to rest up for “Ten to Ten” which is a concert with a wide array of musical performances from all of the year’s most famous Soca artists. Did I mention it’s called “Ten to Ten” because it goes from 10 p.m. to 10 a.m.? Our friend Trent, who goes to UWI, showed up and he brought me backstage where I was able to watch the bulk of the show from there and even meet some of the artists! By the time the concert ended the sun had risen, it was another great night in Barbados!

Here are some videos from the festivities:

Cape Coast in Ghana

by Sierra Stewart

This was the visit I had been anticipating for most of the trip – Cape Coast, which is where there are several slave castles. These were places where African people were chained in dark dungeons, beaten, made to urinate, suffer and defecate as they were watched by merciless white men. I can’t fully describe the bone chilling feeling that I felt as I walked through the museum seeing the chains and ropes that my ancestors were bound by. A huge theme that has run through this trip is gratitude. I can’t help but feel grateful to my ancestors who endured so much, physically, spiritually and mentally, so that I have the freedom and opportunities today. It gives you such a different perspective. Personally I have learned about slavery all of my life especially in America. However, rarely do we talk about what happened to black people before America. That’s where it all started in Africa and not America. I could go on and on about history and how its taught in academia but I won’t.  I’m at a loss for words but one thing I can say about this particular experience is powerful.

Female slave dungeons where women lived for months and ate, urinated, menstruated, and defecated. When a women became pregnant it was almost a saving grace because they were then removed from the dungeon.

A few other scenes from Ghana:

We visited the House of Parliament. They were at recess, but we were able to take some rare photos.

A statue of the first President of Ghana, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah. He was a great man.

Dr. Kwame Nkrumah's first American car.

A beautiful statue at the University of Ghana.

A soccer game with school girls. Thanks for the opportunity Cheerful Hearts Foundation!

Big Day in Ghana

by Ryan Trinidad (written on August 11)

Today is a big day. We have a very special night with our director’s cousin. She has set up a small get together at her home. It’s one of those type of nights where you can’t just wear hoop shorts and a white tee. As you can see from the photos below, the ladies were looking great!

But before we head to our engagements, we stop through a local art gallery in Jamestown…

The art gallery is amazing. As an artist myself, it’s always good to see other artist’s work, especially in another country. The style, the inspiration, everything is different but amazing nonetheless. The art gallery said we couldn’t take photos of the art. But I didn’t fly thousands of miles to Ghana to not take pictures! So you guys can check out the photos I took of the art and see them for yourselves.

Later in the evening we head to the get together. This lady’s home is amazing. The party is on the roof and it was very fancy. It definitely gave me inspiration to do big things in life so I could have a home like this. The roof had a gym, a stone waterfall, white gravel on the floor. It was crazy to say the least. Food was served and that was awesome. It was just a good night that included a good surrounding, good people, good food, good everything!

Ryan and Julianna Tesfu

Student Teaching in Ghana

by Ryan Trinidad (written on August 10)

So today we head to Kasoa early to have our first day of teaching. I’m a little nervous and almost thought about switching to the group who goes into the community. But, then I thought to myself, I don’t want to let down the kids. So all the student teachers go to our respective classrooms and waste no time. I introduce myself to the kids, and they are a little shy at first. I was initially supposed to teach English to them, you know pronouns, adjectives, etc. But, I thought that was boring and tell them that my lesson is about creative arts. All their faces light up, and I feel way more comfortable at this point. I tell them to do a self portrait of their faces. The students love it and tell me it’s good to have a change in their schedule. Since creative arts is the subject that is taught the least at their school. Next thing you know it, it is time to switch classes.

I move on to the next classroom and decide to join KB’s class. We merge our classes and decide to extend this creative arts thing since the students are loving it. KB and I think to ourselves and decide dancing is creative art right? And if you now KB and I , you know that we dance with every opportunity that we have. We start off by teaching the kids the two-step, something simple. They catch on and get it down quickly. We then teach them how to dougie and they love it. These kids had so much rhythm and caught on super fast. One thing I learned is that rhythm was invented in Africa. You can see it with just the amount of effort that the kids put into it when they dance. Simply put, they don’t put any effort into it because it’s so natural to them, it’s beautiful! Next thing you know, they want to learn more dances, but unfortunately class time is over. This was by far one of the best experiences I’ve had here in Ghana. Kids are the best people on this Earth, period.

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