Scholar's Final Report

Ambassadorial Scholar Final Report
Brandon C. Gast
28/04/2009
My year-long experience in Ghana, West Africa as a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar has been absolutely phenomenal. I am deeply humbled to have been awarded such an amazing opportunity. Certainly weekly and almost daily I would think to myself "How do I go back to District 5100 and explain this adventure to all the Rotarians who sent me here?" This scholarship period has impressed upon me a deep-seated appreciation for Rotary and their many efforts to make this world a better place. I'm sure the words "life-changing" are used by many Rotary scholars to describe their experiences abroad. Well, at the risk of sounding cliché, I would have to agree with all of these past scholars and describe this year as truly life-changing. The sights I've seen, the relationships I've built, the lessons I've learned, these are the 'African souvenirs' that I will cherish for a long, long-time to come.
When I turned my back on familiar Portland soil and stepped onto my flight headed to Ghana, I had many ideas of what this year would mean to me, what I would learn, what I would take away from the experience. On so many levels these perceptions proved to be so far off the mark I wonder at how I could have been so naive and presumptuous. For example, prior to leaving for Africa last August - for a duration of several years in fact - I had thought that I would have a career doing economic development in Africa or working in a closely related field. Maybe I would be a Peace Corps volunteer for a few years, probably go back to school for my masters in International Development, and then likely work for an international NGO or perhaps even the UN. This year in Ghana, though, has caused me to seriously reformulate my professional ambitions.
It would take far too long for me to describe where my head is at now or to talk of the many conversations and experiences I've had that have brought me to this place. But one notable discussion I had with an older Ghanaian gentleman bears repeating. I asked this man what Ghana needs from the US, or more specifically, what I should be doing with my life in a professional sense to help Africa. He didn't respond by saying that Ghana needs more on-the-ground personnel working for non-profit organizations or that I should try to gain employment with UNICEF or the UNHCR. Rather his response was that Africa needed better-informed leaders in the US who would utilize their positions of authority to make smart policy decisions in regard to Africa. It's not just about throwing money at the problems he said; it's about understanding the cultural, social, and political dynamics found in each African country and responding wisely and holistically. It's these kind of interactions that have radically shifted my perspective of Africa and, in a larger context, the world.
The wisdom that this Ghanaian friend imparted is very similar to the kind of revelations I've had through my classes at the University of Ghana. To be honest I've been rather disappointed by the academics at the university but nonetheless there have definitely been some nuggets of value that I've gleaned from the classes. One example of this is the lessons I've learned from a Political Science class called “US Foreign Policy and Africa.” In this class we critically analyzed various US initiatives and legislation geared toward Africa: the Africa Growth and Opportunities Act (AGOA), the Africa Crisis Response Initiative (ACRI), the African Contingency Operations Training and Assistance program (ACOTA), and the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC). One of the most shocking aspects of these acts and initiatives is the lack of input from Africans or, in some cases, even qualified African experts. My professor and our readings frequently pointed to the fact that Africa is treated as a 'back-burner' issue when it comes to US foreign policy. Such oversight and negligence within the US government reinforces my conviction that I can affect more change at home than abroad.
Another unexpected outcome of this experience has been the soul-searching I've done as relates to my outlook on race relations. I suppose the fact that racial issues striking me as an unexpected outcome is just another indication of the depth of my naivety and hubris prior to leaving for Africa. Of course race is going to be a huge issue on this trip - I'm a white man living in black Africa for a year! But the soul-searching extends much further than just how I, as a white American, interact in black Africa. Ghana has actually brought me to a place of much introspection about race relations back in the United States as well. There are a number of black American students here on study abroad trips and I've benefited from and been challenged by the conversations I've had with these friends. One example of this is when a friend pointed out that so many American young people are eager to run off to Africa and help poor and destitute black children. Good for them she tells me, but where is this same eagerness when hundreds of thousands of children are living in just as poor and destitute conditions in our own country? Where is the outrage and moral indignation when people are forced to live by African standards in the richest country of the world? And all this soul-searching has made me realize that I am actually much more qualified to address the disparities in my own country rather than to try to help in Africa where I will always be the outsider.
So I've come to appreciate that there are many Africans who are much better qualified than myself to address the day-to-day realities found here in Africa. I've recognized that there are many supportive roles that I can step into voluntarily or in my professional life that are necessary and sometimes essential for the work being done in Africa. And that's one of the beautiful things about Rotary. Rotary addresses grave and complex world problems by using both locally-devised and locally-driven solutions but all of the projects are supported by an international membership. It is the members of Accra Airport (my host club) and the 19 other clubs in Ghana who best understand the issues facing Ghanaians. Thanks to the interconnectedness of Rotary though, the Clackamas club (my sponsoring club) has the ability to get behind the Accra Airport club and support important projects in Ghana. This kind of horizontal diffusion of humanitarian work means that Rotary's efforts are largely sustainable and benefit a greater number of individuals.
One example of the supportive role I see myself playing came to me thanks to the relationship I built with a young man named Philip Achinake. Philip is working toward attending business school here in Accra and then he wants to fulfill a life-long dream of going to university in the US or the UK. But the odds are stacked against Philip and his modest ambitions. His father is perennially unemployed due to health issues and his mother sells yams at a local market. Philip spent a period of his youth crushing rocks at a local rock quarry to help his family make ends meet. Despite the difficult circumstances, Philip was accepted to a local business college and I had the opportunity to help him register and pay his initial school fees. I whole-heartedly believe that education is the key for Philip (and other young Africans like Philip) to have a bright and successful future. This conviction has stirred up a desire in me to one day create a foundation that would provide scholarships to young Africans to study at local African institutions as well as pursue higher education abroad. The vision for a foundation may not come to fruition for some time but, in the meantime, I can still help support Philip to follow his dreams.
As I said at the top of this report I have a profound respect and appreciation for Rotary now after this scholarship experience. Even before I left home for Africa I was experiencing the benefits of my connections with Rotary. Soon after I found out that I won the scholarship, it seemed as if a floodgate had been opened and opportunities began pouring in. It gave me such a huge boost of confidence to know that there was a group of people who wanted to back my personal and professional ambitions. Contrary to conventional sense, I am actually quite thrilled to be given an opportunity to speak publicly at Rotary clubs. I'm excited to return home and share with the Rotarians of 5100 all of the amazing experiences I've had. These presentations are a great chance for me to network and I can think of very few places where I have an opportunity to cross paths with so many interesting and like-minded individuals. I have every intention of staying connected with the organization and I can't wait to see what other doors are opened to me thanks to Rotary.

Brandon Arrives home June 27th and will be available for club programs and presentations.

April updates

I can't believe I have only 8 weeks left in Ghana, the year has gone by so fast. School is going well. I just finished my three month program at theAlliance Francaise. I didn't make substantial progress with my French skills but rather was able to maintain whatever I had learned back home at Portland State. I should be making another trip to Togo and Benin in the coming weeks so that should be good for some practice.

At the universityI have been working on 4 classes: "US Foreign Policy Toward Africa","Colonial History of Africa", "Ethnicity and Regionalism in Ghana", and a traditional drumming class. As I've indicated in previous emails the teaching style here leaves a bit to be desired but I of course have found plenty of others things to supplement the more formal education I'm receiving in the classroom.

Last weekend I traveled to Cape Coast and stayed at the volunteer housing for an organization called "Women in Progress". They sell products in theWest under the label "Global Mamas". I have a friend who is volunteering there and it was very interesting to learn about their operation. I also took the time to visit an old slave castle built by the Portuguese in 1482 called St. George's Castle. The coast of Ghana is chockfull with these old slave castles and forts and they stand as stark testimony to the sad history that was forced upon this continent. In addition to touring the castle I also traveled a short distance to a rainforest by the coast where Canadian volunteers and Ghanaians had built a canopy walk that allows you to literally walk through massive tropical trees and witness the forest from impressive heights. It was a great experience for sure.

Two weekends ago my Rotary host counselor (Naana) had me over to her house for lunch with her and her husband. I had a lovely visit with them and we enjoyed a traditional meal of fufu, groundnut soup, and red-red. I have not been able to spend a lot of time at Rotary functions as Naana has an extremely busy schedule as the country director for the NGO "The HungerProject". She understands that my time is shortly coming to an end and has been making an effort to get me out to some Rotary events. She called me this past Monday afternoon to see if I could accompany her to a club meeting that evening. Unfortunately, I was still in Cape Coast and could not make it back until later. I have learned that living by African time means that plans are usually not put together until the day of and obviously this makes for some difficult coordination. Another "Ambassadorial activity" that I have kind of adopted is to take a young man named Philip Achineke "under my wing". You may recall that Philip accompanied me to Togo on the second trip that I made to that country. Well Philip is 20 years old and making efforts to step out and make it in the world. He comes from a difficult background; he grew up working the stone quarries with his parents whenever he was not in primary school or studying. His mom now sells yams in a local market and his dad is usually unemployed because of frail health. He is the oldest of several brothers and sisters and he will be the first to attend university in his family. Today I took Philip to a local college called the Institute for Professional Studies to help register him for a BSc inMarketing.

My time here in Ghana has led me to the conclusion that one of the best things I can do for the further development of African countries is to help support higher education for African youth. I don't know exactly what that will look like now but I feel pretty adamant that this is an important issue for African countries.

Next weekend I have plans to travel to Kumasi. Kumasi is the capital ofthe Ashanti region which was the last standout against British colonialism. The Asanti are very proud of their history of being one ofthe more powerful ethnic groups in the region and there are many monuments and museums around Kumasi that attest to this. In addition to visiting some of these sites I plan to attend a world cup qualifying match over the weekend in Kumasi. Should be an interesting trip.

I have my departure date confirmed for May 18th when I will be flying toLondon. I plan to spend some time in the UK and in Germany where I will visit some friends from last semester. My current roommate is from Stuttgart, Germany so I plan on staying with him and his family for a time while I am in Germany. I also have a confirmed spot at the International RYLA so I'll be back to the UK for that and then the International Conference of course. I had to cancel my extended European travel planswith my sister so I should be returning home from Europe directly afterthe conference. I should be home by June 27th I believe.

Second semester begins for scholar....

Second semester has been underway now for the last two weeks. I managed to wade through another frustrating time of academic registeration. I actually had to completely re-register for this semester, running all overcampus to fill out forms, sign paperwork, take pictures, etc. etc. It'squite the ordeal because the campus here is huge (the biggest campus I'veever seen in fact) and it's always hot and humid. At least I had the benefit of knowing the process and knowing my way around campus. Currently I'm signed up for 5 classes although I may end up juggling some classes around. I'm taking 3 political science classes, 1 history, and 1music class. They are as follows: "Regionalism and Ethnicity in Ghana","US Policy toward Africa", "Africa and the Global System", "Colonialismand the African Response: WWI to Independence", and "Traditional AfricanDrumming". I am really enjoying the drumming class right now even though my musical ability is severely lacking. It helps though that I'm taking the class with my roommate who is from Germany and is a Musicology major. I've also enrolled in 6 hours of French class at the Alliance Franciase. The Alliance is toward downtown Accra so I take a bus three times a week in the morning and go to class. I was really convinced of the need to keep up on my French after travelling through Burkina Faso and Mali over the Christmas Break. The classes have been top-notch and I've met a lot of Ghanaian students through it. In fact I'm the only "obruni" in the class.

I've been in contact with my host counselor since I've gotten back from my trip and she is helping me to arrange some more presentations. She should be contacting me soon to let me know what the schedule will look like for me for the next few months.There are obviously many new faces around here with the new batch of study abroad groups arriving. I've gotten to know many new friends thanks to the fact that I've kind of played the unnofficial tour guide around here. I've led a number of forays into the city to help all the newcomers do some shopping and get acquianted with their new home. On the 20th many of us students from the States went to the W.E.B DuBois center to watch the Presidential inaguaration. There were many Ghanaians there and it was pretty powerful to witness the Africans so filled with joy about something taking place in the US. It's a good reminder of how much influence we hold all over the world.

That is all I have to report for now

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Greetings from Burkina Faso!

Im currently in a town called Bobo Dioulassoin the west of Burkina. Im sure getting a workout with my french rightnow... that and learning how to type on a French-style keyboard. I am finished with my first semester at the Univ. of Ghana and I plan to travel throughout West Africa for the break, and its all within my host district. Ive done a number of presentations at Rotary clubs and I visited abore-well project sponsered by my host club at a hospital close to Acrra.
I am definitely still planning on visiting the International Conference as well as attending the RYLA event (if I can get all the paper worksubmitted).I spent Thanksgiving riding a bus frm northern Ghana back to Accra. Mydinner consisted of some biscuits, some fruit, a few kebabs... not much ofa traditional Thanksgiving dinner!

The reasons for my travels were tovisit a game park in the north. We saw plenty of antelope species,monkeys, baboons, warthogs.... unfortunately no elephants though. I havedefinitely had a great first semester and I cant wait to see what will come my way with the new year.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Fall Updates (Oct-Dec)

I'm making an effort to post some updates for the past couple of months I've missed. I wasn't originally planning on getting dressed up for Halloween, nor were most Obrunis that I spoke with, but some of our friends in another hostel were throwing a costume party so we figured we would join in. In Ghana, Halloween is largely just ignored which of course makes costume shopping a little difficult. My friend Kristin and I ended up going with a good standby when costumes are in short supply - togas. We tracked down a couple of white sheets and went as Greek king and queen. Our group of 8 or so dressed up Obrunis were met by incredulous looks from the Ghanaian as we made our way from our hostel to Legon hall on the other side of campus. The party basically amounted to a bunch of dressed up obrunis mingling with Ghanaian students who all thought we had lost our minds. It was an awesome opportunity to exchange some "culture" from back home.

On Saturday I played in a soccer match that pitted the international students against Liberian refugees who were bused in from a local refugee camp. The first half of the game was played primarily by the obruni international students from Europe and the States while the second half was mostly the Nigerian students against the Liberians. The obrunis took the first half, 1-0, while the Nigerians got stomped on, something like 2-5. I guess the Liberian refugee game is one that the International Student Association likes to put together every year, definitely a fun time.

I think I need to preface this next piece by saying that Sunday, November 2nd could quite go down as one of the coolest days of my African adventure. Just before my soccer match on Saturday I was approached by a Ghanaian named Cobby who asked me for a favor. I hesitantly spoke with him for a bit, thinking in the back of my mind that this must be a scam. Cobby told me how he needed a white man to play a part in a music video that he was shooting for a band that he managed. He talked me into it and on Sunday I met up with Cobby and traveled to a village outside of Accra to shoot the scene. I won't go into too much detail about the scene because I should have a copy of the video soon so that I can show everybody. I'm pretty sure that the whole thing is going to look pretty ridiculous and in fact a number of people at the shoot told me that most Ghanaians will get a good laugh when they see my part (I'm sure plenty of Americans will too). Anyways that's how I became a Ghanaian music video star. I'll definitely post the video on YouTube as soon as I get a copy.

Last Tuesday a huge group of us American students loaded up into buses and headed to a hotel in town for the elections. The exchange program from NYU had organized a big election event on the back lawn of the hotel with a projector and screen. Obama was announced the winner just as the sun broke the horizon and with everybody breaking out in dance to the popular Ghanaian highlife song called "The Barack Obama song".


On Tuesday Oct 21st I left for my second trip to Togo. My traveling companion was a young Ghanaian named Philip Achinake. I met Philip through an American retiree named Alan Matthews who has been living in Accra since 2001. Alan had been helping Philip and a number of other boys who had previously been used by an illegitimate Ghanaian NGO to scam money from Western donors. It's a very long and complicated story that I'd love to share with people when I get home but I'll move on with the update on Togo. The reason for my trip was to attend a celebration at La Conscience that was to be held on Wednesday. In attendance at this celebration was the Deputy Chief Ambassador for the US mission to Togo, the village chief of Ahépé, a couple of regional prefects, and many residents of the village of Ahépé. The purpose of the event was to present donated school supplies to children in preparation for the upcoming school year. Entertainment included a number of dances from the girls in the vocation program at La Conscience and drumming and dances from residents of Ahépé. Thursday morning I worked with Kodjo to film a promotional video for La Conscience, Kodjo narrating in French while I did so in English. Philip and I then headed back south to Lomé where we caught a lorry north to the town of Kpalimé on the western side of the country. Early Friday morning we visited the nearby Kpimé falls complete with monkeys jumping through the tree-tops. We then chartered a couple of motorcycle taxis to take us across the border back into Ghana. The hour-long ride through the forested hills separating Togo and Ghana was spectacular! Not to mention the border crossing was much more uneventful than previous crossings down in Lomé, namely, no death threats.

Life in Ghana continues to challenge

My head feels like it's spinning non-stop these days. There are so many issues I am grappling with; with everything that I learn it seems like more and more questions arise. Okay so one of the big issues I am working on is related to child-trafficking in West Africa. It is so prevalent and it seems that most Africans are satisfied to just sweep it under the rug and forget about it. I'm not going to go into too much detail about what I'm learning because I could be sitting here for hours writing you. But one of the ways I am getting involved is to visit an organization called La Conscience in Togo. I spent most of last week in Togo and traveled there with a young Ghanaian named Philip. It was my hope that Philip could be my eyes and ears to help me ascertain whether or not La Conscience is a legitimate organization or not. Now the child trafficking thing is definitely an issue that has left me with a lot to think about but looking at the legitimacy of African non-profits has become a topic that has left me reeling backwards. Richela, there is so much corruption, deceit, and abuse in this industry here in Africa!!! It's mind-boggling. I met an American retiree here in Accra a few weeks ago and he is currently trying to mount a case against a deceitful organization and this man has one heck of an uphill battle in front of him. I've reviewed some of the documents and it just makes me sick. Meeting this American is actually how I came to know Philip. Philip was one of many kids being used by this organization to deceitfully gain support from Western donors with most of this money ending up in the pockets of the director and his staff. Now another way I am finding out how prevalent this problem is is through many of my friends who are studying abroad here from the States and Europe. Several of my friends have already been duped to give money to some of these deceitful organizations and we keep finding more and more of the same. It is so difficult to tell who is being honest and who is just looking out for "numero uno".

As far as your questions go from your last email, yes, I am definitely seeing things from a new perspective. I am being challenged almost daily trying to come to grips with many difficult questions. As far as friends go, I have a lot of friends from various study abroad programs and universities from the States. I try to mix it up who I spend time with. I also spend time with students from Germany, Austria, Norway, Czech Republic, and other countries in Africa. It has definitely been an international experience.And of course, most everyone over here loves Obama. They actually have an African song about Obama that plays on the radio regularly.

As for classes, the only one that is really noteworthy is the one on politics in Ghana. I put together a time-line the other day to get my facts straight about the politics in this country and I was astonished to see it all laid out. From what I could put together, Ghana has had 10 different regimes (we are currently in the 4th Republic), 5 successful coups, 8 constitutions, and countless political parties and affiliations. They will be holding elections a month after ours and it is shaping up to be a very tight race. The three big contenders are Atta-Mills with the NDC, Akuofo-Addo with the NPP, and Ndoum with the CPP. The NPP has been in power for the last 8 years and Atta-Mills used to be the vice-president under the last military regime that was in power. As far as I can tell it should be a peaceful election here in Accra but there are concerns of violence in the North. I'll keep you posted on the situation.

October Greetings from Ghana

Things are great here in Ghana. I've been busy, busy with Rotary. I gave a presentation last night at a Rotoract club and another one Tues. night at a Rotary Club. The Rotoract club was great. I met alot of young people there and exchanged contact info with quite a few of them with plans to get together soon. Actually some of them gave me aride home last night and we spent the whole car ride talking and gettingto know each other, great people.

I met a women at the Rotary meeting on Tuesday who has an NGO that works to rehabilitate ex-inmates and she gave me info about her org. and talked to me about helping her out. Seems interesting.

The University is not so great as far as classes go. I really don't feel challenged by the course work and the lectures are very monotonous. I've been spending some of my extra free-time studying for the LSAT for law school. I also plan to spend some of this extra time working on Rotary projects and things like the inmate program. I've started working on Joyce's Lockart's book program trying to organize a shipment of 3 containers full of books to Accra. I mentioned the program to the Rotoract club last night in my presentation and the President indicated that the club would be interested in helping

Last weekend we made a quick day trip to a wildlife park. We saw and fed baboons and hiked into a bat cave to view all of the nesting fruit bats. It was a beautiful park! This weekend I'm traveling with some friends tothe western region to attend a soccer game, view some old colonial slavecastles, and hopefully see some crocodiles on a river tour. I'll postpictures next week when I get back. Speaking of which I have a new blogpost or two at destinationspot.blogspot.com and more pics. up on my flickrpage.Anyways it's getting hot in the internet cafe (my shirt is literally soaked through with sweat) and I have to get to class. I have my Politics and Governance in Ghana class in 30 mins. or so - by far my favorite class! And it's very enlightening given the fact that this year is an election year.