Thank you all for reading my first blog! Over 120 of you took the time to read and engage with my first two weeks as a QEScholar, and for that I am most grateful! Several of you asked that I keep the humorous tone and loved the “foodie” portion of the last blog-well noted!
Elizabeth smiling at Efua Sutherland Archive Exhibition
Since you last heard from me, I became surprisingly homesick as I navigated culture shock, the QES project, and conducted some of the final field interviews for my PhD project. I have had many wonderful WhatsApp calls and messaging with my husband, my mother & father, siblings, and abusua (Asante Matrilineage), inlaws and friends. I am so grateful for my amazing support network <3! I could not have done it without them!
Putting in lengthy hours on weekends and evenings to plough through dissertation writing
The QES University of Ghana (U of G) team has been working tirelessly on disseminating research to the public surrounding Inclusive Education (IE) in Ghana, so this blog will be dedicated to their work, along with some fun activities and tasty food that I sampled along this journey!
Some durbar attendees
At the end of July, the QES University of Ghana team hosted a research dissemination ‘durbar’ (the term ‘durbar’ refers to a traditional Ghanaian event where chiefs met with their townspeople) in Dodowa village on the outskirts of Accra. The event was titled, “Inclusive Education for People with Disability: Assessing existing policies and exploring its implementation in the Shai-Osudoku District,” and over 60 people attended this captivating, interactive series of webinars, workshops, and personal stories from students with disability. It was an incredibly inspiring and empowering day! I acted as the photographer and archivist!
U of G QES Team outside durbar event hall with Dr. Daniela & Elizabeth (Missing Ayine Akolgo!)
The U of G team used a Community-Based Research (CBR) model to frame this research project. Community-based research (CBR) is a research methodology that includes research participants during the entire research process. It is a collaborative effort, as opposed to traditional forms of research where a researcher goes into a community, extracts information and leaves without any tangible change or empowerment to said community (often bordering on exploitation). See Eve Tucks’ (2009) “Suspending Damage: A Letter to Communities”( https://bit.ly/3AlQfao) to learn more about the need for Community-Based Research (CBR).
U of G Project Lead Dr. Peter O. Ndaa Presenting
Weeks before I landed in Ghana, the U of G team interviewed 24 community stakeholders (i.e. parents, social workers, advocates, etc.) about their opinions regarding the state of Inclusive Education (IE) in the Shai-Osuduku District in Dodowa. The team then invited the participants and additional community stakeholders to learn about research findings that I had the privilege of coding and organizing.
Durbar attendees
Overall, each presentation focused on the different challenges surrounding IE implementation. Some interesting findings include the cultural and religious stigma attached to disability in Ghana. Some parents tend to hide their children at home due to this stigma which prevents another obstacle for said children to receive an education in the first place.
Dr. Frank Hayford Presenting
Dr. Rebecca Steele Dadzie Presenting
Dr. Priscilla Y.A. Attafuah Presenting
Despite the challenges surrounding Inclusive Education (i.e. lack of trained special educators equally distributed throughout schools, lack of infrastructure accommodations, etc.), hope narratives deeply impacted the event’s atmosphere! The personal testimonies of students who live with cerebral palsy and vision impairment were deeply inspiring. We heard from Nii Anyetei (our MC), Gabriel, and Nina.
Dynamic MC Nii Anyetei shares his resilient journey living with cerebral palsy and becoming an activist across West Africa. Ayine shared how rather than use the word “disability”, we can say that a person may not have “this-ability”, but they do have other abilities.
Gabriel shares his resilient journey living with cerebral palsy and rallying the crowd by stating “We will show them. We will prove to them what people with disabilities are capable of!”
University of Ghana graduate Nina shares her resilient journey about losing her vision as a young child and navigating the school system with unsupportive teachers who did not provide accommodations for her
“This-ability” event poster
Occupational Therapist (OT) Daniela's Mothers Group performed a play illustrating the challenges that they face surrounding stigma about their children within their local community (Dodowa), and the courage and resilience that it takes to advocate for their children with disabilities to have better accommodations within their classrooms and school buildings in general
Inclusive Schools event poster
OT Daniela and some mothers at bread-making workshop
OT Daniela is the leader behind the Mothers Group. Many durbar attendees publicly thanked her for working tirelessly to empower the lives of children with disabilities and their mothers within their community. OT Daniela recently hosted a bread-making workshop for mothers with children with disabilities to help them earn additional income to support their children and families.
Stakeholders having passionate discussion about Inclusive Education (IE) during workshop activity
Overall, the durbar event was a resounding success, and we are now in the process of writing abstracts and preparing papers for publication!
U of G team regrouping
Food Tasting, Cultural Engagements, and a Brief Power Outage
Let's keep it real. Despite the ‘foodie’ features in the blogs, my regular breakfasts are oatmeal with fruit or trail mix. What can I say, it is the breakfast of champions-haha!
Daily oatmeal breakfast
One of the first steps to cultural engagement in Ghana is to visit a church on a Sunday. Ghanaians do not play with faith! In addition to Sunday services, attending several weekday church services and activities is the norm for many Ghanaians
Outside Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park. During the tour I learned that “Osagyefo”, the name given to Nkrumah means, ‘Redeemer or saviour of the people”
I visited Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park dedicated to the first President of Ghana to learn more about the culture and history of Ghana.
Nkrumah Memorial
Walking towards Monument holding Nkrumah's Grave
First time trying ‘tatale’ (basically a plantain pancake with some spices and nuts!). Enjoyed several Ghanaian delicacies vegan-style from Tatale Vegan Restaurant gifted to me by my Matrilineal Uncle David and Aunty Cynthia-thank you!
First time trying ‘red-red’ beans and spinach with red sauce, plantain and quinoa (substitute). It was so filling that it had to be split into two meals! Uncle David and Aunty Cynthia spoiled me!
Vegan burger, fries & salad at Sankofa Restaurant in iconic Movenpick Hotel for a lovely networking dinner arranged by my husband Elvis and Dr. Emmanuel. Thank you both!
Vida e Caffe Tomato and pesto panini with a vanilla oat milk latte-was well worth the wait!
Dumsor Strikes Again! View from my Window
Thirty minutes after a Zoom meeting with my PhD Co-Supervisors (Dr. Ayca & Dr. Jennifer) one day, the power went out! Ghanaians call power outages “Dumsor”! It is amazing that I survived almost a month without experiencing any power outage in Accra. This one was short, a little under an hour, but I was prepared! I suppose thus far, dumsor may possibly be one of the most 'authentic' forms of cultural engagement apart from the food-Ghanaians, I am just joking:)! I ended up spending the power outage reading the journals of prolific writer Alice Walker (Gathering Blossoms Under Fire: The Journals of Alice Walker edited by Valerie Boyd), and I could not stop laughing. It was brave of Alice to share the intimate details of her life as a budding writer while exposing her mistakes. As I archive my own journey chronicling this QES experience, it is interesting to reflect on the various paths that life will lead you on, and most importantly, the courage that it takes to step outside of your comfort zone to travel to different places, meet new people, and expand your horizons. In the next blog, I will share more about the U of Ghana team, more cultural engagement activities, my work writing up a detailed data analysis for scholarly papers, and completing my PhD dissertation fieldwork. Enjoy the last few weeks of summer:)!
#QES
