AFP Sets Sail 2014: Going, Going, Ghana…Straight to the Heart.

One of my favorite things about Africa is its undeniable Heart. The heart of the people, the culture, the land, the food all beat together in a spiritual unison that is difficult to describe. Several years ago I had the pleasure of travelling to Rwanda with my dear friend Carl Wilkens. Carl is a true Hero—the only American that stayed in Rwanda during the 1994 Genocide—a choice that saved hundreds of Rwandan orphan’s lives. Thankfully, Carl and I have traveled back to Rwanda with students multiple times since and he has remained a significant member of the Anne Frank Project family. This initial trip was my introduction to Africa and I had many questions—in his wisdom Carl answered my curiosities, “I can list thousands of adjectives about what you are about to experience, but simply put, be prepared to have your heart filled and broken every day.” That was true then, has proven true on each return trip to Rwanda and certainly proved true again when we visited Ghana.

Heart Filled…

We had the opportunity to spend 2 days/1 night in the village of Torgorme, a short drive from the port city of Accra, situated along the lower Volta river. As we pulled into the village we were, in typical African form, greeted by throngs of smiling (beaming!) children. Children are the true heart of Africa. Each child was waving, posing, jumping, dancing, aching for us to get out and be with them. As soon as we stepped foot on the red-earthed ground our hands were immediately grabbed by the small, calloused, busy hands of our new friends—they were clamoring to be the ones to host us…so proud, so happy, so excited. They walked (carried?) us over to meet the paramount chief and elders of the village, we paid our respects, sat down in pre-assigned seats and watched the magic. We were being primed for a traditional naming ceremony—each of us was to receive our African name—this ceremony included dancing, drumming, singing and culminated in each of us being officially named in front of the whole village and receiving a bracelet and handmade bowl. Pottery and weaving are two of the specialties of Torgorme. The honor of being named amidst the pride of the whole village and the giggling of the children filled our Hearts…

Village children crowding for the best view

Eye that melt the heart:)

Torgorme Village Paramount Chief and Elders

Village Teacher--when she moved, so did the children.

My African name: Yao Elorm (Heart Connected to God)

Maria's African name: Afi Dzifa (One Whose Heart is Pacified)

Nate's African name: Yao Kporla (Leader)
They announced "Next Obama!"

Lots of post ceremony dancing!

After the ceremony we were introduced to our village family who would show us to our home for the night. By American standards the village was a picture of intense poverty and despair. By African (and world) standards, this was simply another poor rural village where too many people lived in too few homes, supported by too few schools with too few utilities (sparse electricity and no plumbing), but….and I mean BUT, this felt like one of the HAPPIEST places I have been. The children were healthy, the smiles genuine and the sense of Community and Family…abundant. Could this village use funding? Absolutely. Could they use more schools, teachers, services…Absolutley. Were they lacking love? Absolutely not! The sense of love, togetherness and community was something I’d like to wrap up and deliver to our American “villages.” We have much to learn from the world’s poor. We have much to emulate in their immediate sense of “us” and invisible sense of “me.” Those days spent touring, playing and experiencing Torgorme were amongst the most special of our trip. Our hearts were overflowing…

Our host and village leader Daniel (and Israel squeezing in)

Faces, smiles, stories

Nate was EXTREMELY popular

Kids are kids...

Heart Broken…

UNESCO has designated sites all over the globe as official World Heritage sites—those places, structures, monuments and environments having “outstanding universal value,” (criteria: http://whc.unesco.org/en/criteria/). Of the 981 chosen sites worldwide, we have been privileged to see several on our travels. The most significant UNESCO site for me were the Slave Castles of Ghana. As I write these words the stark, cold emptiness of that experience chills my heart. These magnificent structures were originally built along the ocean as trade ports by Europeans (Elmina Castle, Portuguese, 1482; Cape Coast Castle, Swede, 1653), but were transformed into slave holding dungeons to support the Atlantic slave trade. Ghanaians were taken from their villages, herded like cattle to these holding cells, confined, abused, raped and then loaded through the “doors of no return” onto the slave ships for the treacherous journey to the Americas to be sold as slaves. Most slaves did not survive the Atlantic crossing (they were ‘stored’ on the ship horrifically) and were discarded into the ocean as they perished. (silence) The shame, emptiness and heart breaking I experienced as I walked through these dungeons reminded me of the exact feelings I have when walking through other Genocide sites. The smells, chills, horror…the same screams coming out of the same walls. It’s all the same. Genocide is genocide. We, the United States don’t like to use the “G” word when it comes to our history, but the truth is the truth. Our role in the African Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade is a crime against humanity. We are not the only guilty party; we were part of a world agreement that deemed it necessary and appropriate to dispose of human life and dignity in the name of commerce. I felt my personal and national heart break…

No windows, no air, no light

Children playing futbol outside the slave castle...the dichotomy.

Heart Re-Filled…

Searching for healing (yes, there’s a theme here) I turned to theater. Several months prior to our SAS voyage I connected with West African drummer Fred Tay. We immediately hit it off as we shared similar reasons for performance: To tell the giant stories of our societies, cultures and people—to tap into that “higher power” that is beyond literal explanation, to joyfully explain the unexplainable. Fred and his drumming/dancing ensemble, African Arts, were the perfect lab experience for my Acting I students. By this time of the semester their acting work tends to be dominated by the realistic approach to performance—this is the thrust of most western acting classes. What I love about immersing them into the drumming and dancing of West Africa is that it is so different than what they are currently understanding as “acting.” It really is all the same—the tools of the contemporary actor (psychology, body, voice, mind) are now complimented and informed by the symbolism of drumming and dancing. The universal, raw, organic and immediate acting lessons my students learned that day are irreplaceable. So much so, that I now intend on inserting African drumming and dancing in all of my acting classes. In the end, amidst the gorgeous backdrop of the Ghanaian ocean, my students physically injected humanity into their acting work…into their lives. What started as fun drumming evolved into a spiritual experience of community, personal discovery and emotional reflection…what more could an acting professor ask for? Our hearts were beating with the drums until they were filled again…