Ditz

The Values and Vocations grant offered through the Office of Religious and Spiritual life at Occidental College changed both of our lives forever. Through this generous grant we were able to travel 7,572 miles to Accra, Ghana during winter break 2007 and volunteer at a school for five weeks. We were prepared for culture shock, malaria, and humidity but we were not prepared for the lessons we learned from the educational and, consequently, judicial systems in Accra.

We arrived in Ghana expecting to teach English and other topics to underprivileged inner-city children. Instead, we confronted the complicated judicial system of a West African country at the Boys' Remand Home and Girls' Correctional School of Accra. Miss Vicki, the headmistress with whom we were set up through the I-to-I volunteer program, housed us and introduced us to many Ghanaian customs, foods, and social issues. On our first day of work, she explained to us that the children could be placed here for anything from loitering to murder. They come under her control, rather than being sent to prison, depending on the motivation of the crime. For example, if a boy stole out of greed, he would go to prison; if a boy stole to feed his family, he would go to the Boys' Remand Home. Miss Vicki does not describe the strategy for deciphering the motivation for the crime, and thus leaves it a mystery as to who exactly decides where the children go.

While teaching at these alternative juvenile detention centers, it became clear that the prisoners have only one thing in common: poverty. Not all of them are criminals, not all of them have families, not all of them are sorry to be there. But every single one is impoverished, hungry, and lacks sufficient clothing for even West Africa's humid, sticky, 100-degree weather. Each prisoner's story of how they came here is unique.

Catherine, native to Togo, lost her mother at a young age and was sent to live with an aunt in Nigeria. The aunt couldn't support her and gave her up to the police, who after a series of convoluted circumstances sent her to Ghana. She talks constantly of wanting to see her brothers and sisters, whom she believes are still living happily in Togo. It has been eight years since she's talked to them.

Baba, the youngest of the Boys' Remand Home at 11, pleads that someone contact his parents because they do not know where he is and will be worried. He claims that he was walking home one day when the police charged him of loitering. He finally went home with his parents in January 2007, after living in the Home for four months.

Jessica, 15, was abused at home and ran away to the correctional school. If her parents so choose, they can come pick her up at any time, with or without her consent. There are shelters for abused women and children in Accra, but Jessica remains within the judicial system for unknown reasons.

Michael Wines accurately describes the grim details of African detention facilities in "Juvenile Justice" from a February 2007 article of the New York Times. All 26 of the boys live in a small room with only two barred windows and one barred door. There are less than 20 beds. They pass their time sitting in the crammed box that they now call home. Meals and lessons are the only circumstances under which they are allowed out. Meals are short, twenty minutes at most. The five-hour lessons are the highlight of their days during which they learn math, history, geography, spelling, and are allowed to play soccer as well. However, these lessons, and consequently the excuse to be let out, are intermittent because they depend on the amount of volunteers that come to work in the Ghanaian remand home. If there are no volunteers, most of the boys remain confined to their cell for the majority of the day, for several days at a time.

The girls appear to have better living conditions with enough beds, reading materials, freshly painted walls, and even a radio they got for Christmas from a previous group of volunteers. Regardless, both the girls' and boys' facilities smell of human excrement. There are no toilets inside the cells, but rather one small bathroom outside each of them. Of course, needing to go to the bathroom is not cause to unlock the big barred door. The girls pass the majority of the day lying in their beds and staring at the ceiling. The living situation at these facilities seems unbearable, and this isn't even the real prison.

Walking away from this place is difficult. Although more volunteers will eventually come, the days or weeks that the children have to wait in their cells, allowed out only for their daily meal and the occasional bath, is upsetting and nauseating. Many of the children don't belong here. They stay alive by begging and stealing on the streets, but when they are caught they are forced into a place like this. The parallels between poverty and prison are undeniable.

It has now been more than a year since we have returned to the hustle and bustle of the City of Angels, yet we continue to reflect on our experiences in Ghana. This month-long opportunity taught us more about the world than any three-month class ever could. We went to Accra blind in our expectations and learned immense amounts about different forms of education and justice on the other side of the world. Volunteering was a chance of a lifetime and we encourage everyone to participate in these opportunities at some point in life. Whether it be at home or half way across the world, volunteering allows you to help others and open your mind and heart to new situations and people.


Here are some online sources to help get you started on your own volunteer experience:

www.i-to-i.com
This is what we used, it was great, but as we found out on arrival a little overpriced.

www.crossculturalsolutions.org
www.globalcrossroad.com
These are some of the more popular volunteer abroad websites.

www.peacecorps.gov
www.americorps.gov
For those seniors or others just looking for a change in school and/or life.

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