Arriving in Ghana

University of Ghana dormatory at night

We arrived in Ghana late last night jet-lagged, tired and thirsty. As the students checked in they admitted this morning that they were a little shocked and unprepared for the sparse accommodations. The campus was quiet and dark as many of the regular students are still out for the holidays. The student dorms at the Unversity of Ghana are not exactly what they are used to at the University of Delaware. The rooms are very small with nothing more than two small beds with flat mattress, no sheets, pillows, air conditioning and no hot showers or even toilet paper. Fortunately, things looked much brighter in the daylight today and the students appeared to be in good spirits.

Students get on bus from Ghana airport

When we realized there was no place to get a snack, soda, or even bottled water (its not safe to drink the tap water) our university driver accomodated by taking us to the nearist convenience store ... but it was closed! We tried another store but it was also closed. There were not other options. The students shared what water and toilet paper they had between them.

Faculty dorms where I am staying

Luckily we were all so tired that we just passed out from exhaustion no longer noticing the lack of conveniences we are accustomed to.

This morning we ate breakfast together at a small university faculty cafeteria. We had fried eggs, toast, beans and sausages (really.. Canned hot dogs) and it tasted great! We were able to take a tour of the campus with one of the grad students, named Moses.

The campus is large and spread out with a student population of 29,000, one thousand being international students. University here is publicly subsidized and students can get their loans waived with one year of national service. Moses Gbeku, an assistant in the International Program office of the university, informed us that there are very few students with disabilities. The only ones he could thinks of were students with deafness or blindess. The campus does not look like it could accomodate physical disabilities very well.

The main registraton building of the Campus

We also had time for a small orientation durning which Dr. Michael Gamel-McCormick, dean at the University of Delaware, briefed us on the history of Ghana and prepared the students for what to expect and what questions they might want to ask when they have the opportunity to interview individuals with disabilities or people knowledgeable about the situation in Ghana. We briefly discussed how poverty might impact services in Ghana. Ghana's per capita yearly income is $ 2,600 compared to the average $ 43,000 for residents of Delaware. One travel guide reports that a majority live on about $ 2 per day.

Michael briefing the students on Ghana

Now we are off to find lunch and class discussion of our readings on Ghana and how the history, culture and economic situation impacts how people with disabilities are served.