I’ve been back two months now, and am finally sitting down to write about my trip to Togo and Ghana’s Volta Region. Going to Togo proved to be a somewhat challenging experience but it also offered many rewards and learning opportunities.
Trouble began almost instantaneously when my phone was stolen in the “no man’s land” between the countries – we had officially left Ghana, but had not yet entered Togo. The phone was picked from an outside pocket in my backpack, so in some ways you could say I had it coming. But I didn’t want to be the untrusting tourist carrying a big backpack on my front… Thus, the phone being stolen! Looking on the bright side however – at lest the phone was picked and it wasn’t forcibly taken from me. At the end of it all it was actually wasn’t the best phone anyway – the battery never lasted for more than a day – but it was the personal violation of having something of mine taken that upset me the most.
Once in Lome –the capital of Togo – my friend Alyssa and I found a nice hotel and began exploring the city in search of a bank machine. Herein lies travel advice number one: always go with the currency the country actually uses! Who would have thought there wouldn’t be one ATM in Lome that would accept our debit cards? And, the banks don’t want cedis (Ghanaian currency) because it’s not as strong as the CFA (French West Africa Franc). So, we ended up changing money in the market, on the street, from a guy who could have totally taken advantage of us, but actually gave us a fair rate. Good… so now actually have money!
Back at the hotel, Alyssa and I began what would be one of many fascinating and eye-opening conversations. Just to provide context – Alyssa is a bi-racial woman, but from what I understand identifies much more with her Black identity. And I, obviously am a White woman where while I’ve spent a somewhat significant amount of time in Africa, have never really had many friends from a different race. So, our two very different worldviews, perspectives, and observations about everything really opened my eyes and mind to a world that I never knew existed.
In Social Work we’ve heard about theories relating to “learned helplessness”, “internalized oppression”, and “outsider vs. insider” – but hearing one Black person’s experience of the world and putting that into context regarding the observations I’d had up to that point was really important for me to hear.
In the end, through all our conversations the same notion that kept coming to my mind was one of “the post-colonial psyche”. It’s now something that I am truly intrigued about. I find myself wondering: What is the personal and collective legacy of colonialism? How does this impact the national psyche? What does this do for the development of children – or in other words, what implicit and explicit messages do children receive about their worth, not only as an individual but as a Black person?
When I was in Uganda, many of the Black Social Workers there told me that they are sick and tired of post-colonial theory – that if offered nothing to them anymore and it was time to move on. And I wonder, is this entirely true? And then finally, how does a weak or damaged psyche hinder development and what can be done about it? With all the recent attention on Science and Technology as the key to development, are we not missing something if we don’t focus on people’s psychosocial well-being at the same time? Maybe just the Social Worker in me…
So, needless to say, while I wasn’t expecting it, Togo ended up being a critical piece to the evolution of my research interests and my inquiry.
Well, Alyssa and I only stayed in Lome – a surprisingly quiet and laid back city – for one night and then traveled northwest to Kpalime. The distance and direction is similar to that between Calgary and Banff. Going this way captured our attention because it is known as a great hiking destination and since I was missing the hiking season at home, I wanted to check it out.
The first hike we did was Mr. Kluto – and we did a botanical tour of the area. While the hike wasn’t particularly challenging – we stopped every few feet to learn about a new plant – it was a great lesson in learning how to listen and being in the moment. On the hike we learned what plants coke, glue, paint, velour, and chocolate come from – and of course practiced our French! It was really amazing because it’s so easy to walk by all the plants and think… well, nothing, really… there’s just a lot of green plants! But in fact, I was reminded of how at home so many of us take for granted all of our pre-packaged good. We are so far removed from where everything comes from and it was good to be reminded.
The second hike was Mt. Agou – which was much more rigorous and challenging. First we had to find the trail head and second, we had to find a guide. So, as the Lonely Planet suggested, we just got on taxi-motos (motorcycle taxis) and went to the hospital 20 kilometers away that was named in the guidebook. When we got there, we asked around to see if anyone would show us the way up and the first two young lads we asked agreed – so we were in luck!
About five minutes into the hike we reached a junction – a type of ‘chose your own adventure’ moment. Most “Yovos” (Whites) choose the path to the left, which is the paved road leading up the mountain… or there is the other path to the right, a little less worn but looking much more interesting. So naturally we chose “the right” path, and that was such a good decision! We found ourselves hiking through villages perched on the side of the mountain, with extremely beautiful, warm people all tremendously curious as to just what we were doing. Turns out, many Yovos not only take the road but they go by car… never taking the opportunity to interact with local people.
So, after three hours up the mountain we were at the top of Mt. Agou looking out into the valley in Togo and Ghana’s Volta Lake in the distance. Our guides even seemed to be enjoying themselves, and as we found out, for one of them it was their first journey up the mountain too! I wonder if he’s been again since – and is managing to make some money from the work.
After the Kpalime area Alyssa and I headed back to Ghana to spend one night in Akosombo (the site of Akosombo Dam, which damed the Volta River and created the largest man-made lake in the world) before heading back to Accra. One more challenge lay ahead however! When we got to the border we were told that I could leave Togo no problem, but that Alyssa would have to stay because her visa had been completed – or rather uncompleted – incorrectly. The immigration officer in Lome “failed” to write the dates she entered Togo on – and since you’re only allowed seven days in the country they had no way of knowing if she had over stayed her visa or not. So ridiculous really since her entry stamp – our entry stamp – clearly stated we entered on the 19th and it was six days later. Regardless, the guy didn’t listen and said we’d have to go back to Lome to get the problem fixed. Or… we could just pay 10,000 CFAs (equivalent to $20 Cdn) and the whole problem would just disappear.
Now, while all of this is going on the poor people on our bus all had to get off because we were taking so long and it as time for the Muslim people to pray. It was also the heat of the day and too hot to sit on the bus.
So, Alyssa pays the man what is essentially his bribe and we finally get on our way. As we explained to everyone on the bus what happened they all just rolled their eyes and said “what can you expect”… In fact, there’s no doubt in my mind that the immigration officer in Lome didn’t intentionally fill out Alyssa’s visa incorrectly so that a bribe would have to be paid somewhere… like some sort of agreement between all the border guards. In fact, he spelled my last name wrong and I just prayed that nobody noticed!
And so that was our final experience of Togo… My next trip outside of Ghana would prove to be very different…
1 comment:
Hey B,
Great postings. Lots of interesting details about your many adventures. Congratulations on all that you've accomplished thus far.
I want to pick up on your comments about post-colonialism as I've given this a bit of thought since you previously wrote about it.
When one asks what legacy colonialism left behind, it's a bit of a funny question because the word ‘legacy’ implies a contribution – a sense of ‘giving back.’ However, much of what took place in Africa (generally speaking) was actually more like taking away (of resources, religion, and local governance systems).
I often think of the example from India, a country which had centuries-old processes for storing large quantities of rainwater but Indians are only now rediscovering this technique because the British built infrastructure on top of ancient rainwater storage sites. I do wonder however what indigenous techniques or ways of life may have disappeared during colonization and not recovered.
I wonder what famous figures are studied in Ghanaian history books. From my conversation with you, it sounds as though the British-designed education system does not recognize the rich history of Ghana or Africa and all those that sacrificed or screwed up to make things the way they are.
Religion is another important factor as it was often forced upon people and African borders were subsequently drawn along religious boundaries (ie this region belongs to the Baptists and this one to the Catholics, etc.) The religious expansions seem to continue to this day so in some ways, colonization is still taking place and is perhaps even more complex than it once was.
In this context, it is easier to see why there seems to be a kind of lack of a collective memory and therefore a deep identity crisis.
This is coupled with such extreme environmental issues that lead people to focus almost completely on the first rung (survival) of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs.
In this reality self determination and creativity are seen as luxuries and something reserved for rich people.
Of course, different countries were affected differently by colonialism. Some were treated better than others. For example, the Ugandans blame post-colonial dictators like Idi Amin much more for their troubles than they ever would the British (that could be why that Academic said that during the conference in Uganda) but a universal truth about colonialism is that it robs the masses of the chance for self determination and centralizes major decision making in the hands of the few.
Thinking of the different examples of colonialism (with my limited knowledge of the subject) it’s interesting to come back to the example we are most familiar with in Canada, which was also a colonized country. Much of the identity crisis that grips Africans seems eerily similar to the issues that seem to plague the indigenous peoples of Canada.
Best of luck with the rest of your time. Stay healthy and see you soon.
Leor
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