Rosie Martin (CEO) here.
I took
Philip Ayamba the Director of our Ghanaian partner the Community Self Reliance
Centre to two Bristol
primary schools this morning to talk and answer questions about his country.
There were lots of great questions about pets, water sources, football and
food. Philip’s favourite question was “What did the slave trade do for Ghana?”
from a 10 year old girl.
Philip’s
answer: “It deprived us of so many things, mostly talented able bodied men and
women. It killed the moral of people, especially the old people, it sent many
of them to their graves. There was total neglect of the areas where they took
the people as slaves. Formal education therefore arrived very very late in the
country. It also contributed to colonisation: when the slave trade was banned
the country was colonised for other economic benefits. However, Europe and America
are trying to compensate for this by sending resources, it’s not enough, but it
is something. They are doing this in many ways – trade, aid, education,
cultural exchanges, and technology transfer.”
Philip’s
other favourite question was about the colours of the flag and what they stand
for. Red for the sacrifices of our founding fathers; yellow for the mineral
wealth of the country; green for the natural and agricultural resources; and
the black star of Africa when you consider such things as the fight for
independence, African emancipation, prowess in football, democracy,
friendliness and political stability.”
Thanks
Philip!
