UG International Programmes

By Rachel Abrams Now, why did you decide to come to Ghana? That is a question that I have frequently received, from when I first started thinking about studying in Ghana to acceptance, arrival and still during my time here. I get asked that by friends and family back home, fellow international students, and Ghanaians I’ve met. I have various answers. To some I say I am studying International Development, others get something like ‘well I just wanted to come to Africa and I picked Ghana.’ The real reason isn’t interesting though. I picked Ghana because of all the Africa programs my university offered, Ghana was the one that worked with visa deadline, program start date, and classes towards my major. I couldn’t have made a better decision though. Ghana is not too developed (I will get to more of that later), so I feel like I have had a pretty good “Africa” experience. But Ghana isn’t a low-income country… according to the World Bank it is a lower-middle income country. The roads ar...

Ghana, You make me happy, You make me strong, You push me through the heat, Through the sticky moments To the waterfalls, To the front of the class, To the table, To sit and eat with strangers, Who are my family. Who are raising me here. Ghana, I am learning from you, I am growing because of you, You are a part of my creation, Of me. The me that I am today May not appear different May not always act different May not even seem changed But it’s inside, And it’s still changing. The everyday challenges, Some are not challenging anymore, What happens to challenge us changes, And thus we change with the challenges we face. Trying to put into one word All that has happened, Eight weeks, Isn’t simple, It’s life. ( Re-posted from  http://www.ghanainspireclaire.blogspot.com/ )

By Claire Barry Today is the 6 th of March, Ghana’s Independence Day. On this day fifty-five years ago, Ghana celebrated the end of colonial rule under Britain. At this time Dr. Kwame Nkrumah became the first prime minister, and later first president, of Ghana. In Independence Square this morning, 900 officers from security agencies and 1200 teachers and pupils from the Greater Accra area, paraded in front of (what I was told by a Ghanaian friend) over 2 million people. In my mind I pictured a parade like we have back in the U.S. where people stand on the sidewalks and the parade moves down the road. I was imagining lots of traffic and not being able to navigate the crowd because of how large it would be. For this reason, I decided not to take my camera, which I regret now because my imagination was a little off. There were stands full of people surrounding Independence Square which appeared more like a giant arena of sorts. In the arena area the parade took p...

H ello friends and colleagues. I arrived back in the U.S. last week and have been slowly catching up on my sleep and my correspondence. Last night I attempted a dish I first tasted in Abuja a couple of weeks ago: "oatmeal."  Not your every day breakfast cereal, though. It was interesting to see William Penn's face greeting me on boxes of Quaker Oats in the grocery shops in Abuja, but even more interesting to know that Nigerians have appropriated the oats to make a contemporary version of a starchy accompaniment to soup, similar to fufu . I was first treated to this dish in the home of Godwin and Felicia Chukwu. When I asked for the name, I was told, simply "oatmeal." "No other Nigerian name?" I asked and was assured there is not. Unfortunately, I had no time for Felicia to demonstrate its preparation to me, but she did show me the heavy duty grinder she uses to grind the oats to flour, and she explained the basic proces...

By Matthew Hebert   This past week in Ghana has felt like a wild lucid dream and it now seems like ages since I was out with friends back home in Winnipeg. Flying here was one hell of a trip and after 4 different airports, 3 continents, 27 hours of travelling time, absolutely no sleep, a couple of malaria pills, 6 beers, and 4 plastic plane meals, I was finally in Accra. Immediately upon stepping off the plane and onto the tarmac I was hit with a sensational wave of heat and humidity. This wave filled me with a great sense of joy as 27 hours earlier I was dealing with the current low of Winnipeg which was a staggering -41 degrees Celsius with wind chill. I had been dabbling in hot yoga for the month before my departure and the temperature in a moksha hot yoga practice room pretty well sums up the temperature here. The amount of perspiration my body has been engaging in is outrageous and the first time I participated in sport I had sweat pouring rapidly from every...

I’ve managed to convince the government of Ghana and the University of Ghana-Legon to permit me to travel and study here for the next four months. Hopefully it will be a positive learning experience (it will be a learning experience regardless of whether it is acquired through bad or good instances), and I’ll return with many stories, customs, and souvenirs to share. But first, lets get a few things correct about Ghana. Giraffes, lions, and gazelles do not share the streets with humans, cars, and bikes. Lions aren’t native to Ghana, so there won’t be any wake up calls from roars. People don’t speak using clicking noises; that happens among the Khoisan in south Africa. Africa is not one country filled with separate states. There are 54 individual countries with varying languages, ethnic groups, and historical legacies. Ghana alone has six distinct sub-groups, further expanding into sub-sub groups of even more specified characteristics. So, for the Sara Palins out ...

This past week leading up to my trip has been a rough one. It was kind of like the week leading up to skydiving a few years ago, when I kept trying to picture standing at the edge of a plane and then next second jumping out of it. I just couldn’t formulate this image in my mind, since it was something so foreign and chilling, and thinking about it created a knot in my stomach. Imagining landing in Ghana – and then staying there for a whole semester – has been a similar challenge. I don’t think I’m alone in not being able to imagine Ghana. “Will you live in a mud hut?”, “Do you ride a goat to school?” and “Do they have celery there?” are just a few of the questions that I have been asked when people hear about my abroad choice. Compared to Europe or other abroad options, Africa is relatively unlike America, which is why, of course, I wanted to go to Ghana. Yet this definitely heightened my nerves leading up to the trip, because I honestly couldn’t visualize where I’...

By Claire Barry The flight attendant checking my bags summed up exactly how I feel right now - as she looked at my boarding pass to tell me I would collect my bags when I arrive in Accra, she stopped mid-sentence, turned her head to the side and opened her eyes really wide. Once she regained composure I asked her what had happened and if she was perhaps making that face because of my flights, to which she replied yes. Indeed, I am first taking a seven hour flight to London, then have a four hour layover, and finally another seven hour flight to Accra. But then I'll be there! And since this first flight is overnight I figure I'll be able to sleep some and then continue napping on the second flight. The nerves and anxiety of traveling to another country for four and a half months finally hit me as I was descending the escalator to my gate. I thought, wait, what am I doing? Is this really want I want to do? But I know the answers to those questions ...

Sorry I haven't posted yet - that means I have been fully immersing myself in Ghanaian life and now have lots and lots of updates to share.. right? Right! It has been quite the long and adventurous week (I can't believe it has only been a week!) Ghana, in a few words, is hot, cheap, gorgeous and chaotic. First off, let me give you the timeline of the last couple of days. After a full day of terminals and on-flight food, which was surprisingly delicious, I finally landed at the Kotoka Airport Wednesday night, where we were picked up by our program and brought to the Ange Hil Hotel, the site of our orientation for the next 3 days. After hours upon hours of lectures, which were boring but obviously necessary, and hanging out by the pool, we finally emerged from the hotel bubble to embark on our West Africa adventure. From the hotel I was driven by my host dad in the oldest stick shift car I've ever seen. Once we arrived at the house, which is beautiful, I rushe...

By Alexandra Kralick Here are 20 interesting facts that I have learned about Ghana as a foreigner, besides the obvious Ghanaian people, Ghanaian food, Ghanaian clothes, Ghanaian geography, etc. This honestly is a country without addresses. It’s not a joke. Directions are given with landmarks. My stop is either Living Room because of a billboard/sign on the side of the road or Blue gate because of, you guessed it, a blue gate. I take the trotro or shared taxi to opungalo junction (a major intersection between two roads without names) or Legon Police Station. When people give directions, so far they have been either pointing me in a direction, pointing at a specific building, or walking me directly there. No north two blocks or turn right on Main St. People say ssss to get your attention, like if you dropped your bag or you are an obruni (white person/foreigner) and they want to talk to you.    People have pet monkeys, I saw one tied to a tree on campus. ...

By Shelane Jorgenson 1. Canada can learn a lot from Ghanaian hospitality.  2. Public transportation (tro-tros) can be cheap, efficient AND and an adventure. 3. Like a baby, new foods need to be introduced at intervals. So far, I've mastered Jollof rice and chicken, 3/4 mastered red red, 1/2 mastered keykey and still staying clear of fufu. fufu Jollof rice and chicken Kenkey and fish Red red 4. Soccer can be a pretty exciting sport. I have never seen such passionate fans.  5. Cold showers are a blessing. -Shelane is a graduate occasional student at UG from University of Alberta, Canada.

Its back to school!!! The start of a new  yearand a new semester . By now, most UG students are done with course registration, are already settled in their halls/hostels (for those who are resident on campus). The timetables for most courses are out too so students have a fair idea of how the semester is going to be like already. So what has been happening so far…. UG hosts Visiting Students for the 2 nd semester of the 2011/2012 academic year. At Orientation In traditional IPO fashion, airport pick up was provided for the new batch of visiting students coming to the University of Ghana. This was followed by a two day orientation where information on course registration, security and safety issues on campus, Ghanaian culture as well as information on other relevant issues were provided to the students. Students mingling during the Welcome Durbar The students were also treated to a wonderful display of Ghanaian culture at the Welcome Durbar. The staff...