Hello Accra!

Written January 27, 2011

Hello Accra!

I am Anna Shaw, a sophomore at NYU and a student at NYU in Accra for the Spring 2011 semester. I am in Gallatin studying Environmental and Social Ethics and Policy, and hope to pursue a minor in Social Work and a partnership in Environmental Studies. I grew up in Lebanon, New Jersey and have been living in New York City for the past two years.

Since I came to NYU, I have known that I wanted to study abroad in Accra. I feel so fortunate to attend a university with such an amazing campus abroad. Ghana presents me with wonderful opportunities to learn about African culture and society, as well as to gain a further understanding of my chosen fields of study. The environmental issues of the country are very different from those in America, yet are influenced by the environmental catastrophes that we have created. In addition, the volunteer work that I will have the opportunity to complete here will aid me in understanding systems of social policy and human rights in Africa. Hopefully, with these new perspectives, I will be able to return to the United States and influence public policy in a way that favors not only Africa, but also developing nations with similar challenges.

Our orientation week was intense—43 “Obrunis” (foreigners) walking in a large group around this city, attracting all sorts of stares and solicitations. We were taken to the Nkrumah Memorial, the final resting place of Ghana’s first president. He is described as a great African, but a questionable Ghanaian—many Ghanaians don’t like his memory very much. Regardless, his regime was overthrown when the American CIA aided in a coup; America disliked Nkrumah’s ideas about African independence from foreign mining and exploitation of resources on the continent. Nkrumah saw Accra as the capitol city of the future United States of Africa. The man was certainly an innovative thinker; unfortunately, he died relatively young, being afflicted by prostate cancer.

This photo was taken at the memorial. This statue is a recreation of the original (below), which was destroyed during the coup d'etat in 1966. As recently as this year, the head of the statue was returned to the memorial, and will be mounted beside its original home.

I arrived in Accra over two weeks ago, and have since fallen in love with the rich culture and beautiful scenery of Ghana. What excites me more is that I have four more months, and a plethora of new experiences to have! I am still not fully used to the idea that I am in Africa; even less to the fact that I will be here for four more months. It seems unreal; a concept totally foreign to me—but then, isn’t that what study abroad is all about?