Akwaaba from Ghana!

Hello Mrs. Simpson's class!

The MV Explorer is sailing away from our second last port, Ghana! Ghana is on the west coast of Africa, with a population of approximately 24 million people.

The first day I was in Ghana I got to work with an organization called Pencils of Promise. Pencils of Promise helps build schools in rural communities that can't afford to. Without these buildings, students go to school under trees outside. We got to see a completed school that Pencils of Promise built, as well as help with one still under construction. It made me think about how thankful I am for having grown up in a country where I can go to school in a building, with chairs, desks, school supplies and everything else that you need to learn.



The next day, my friends and I traveled to a city called Cape Coast. In Cape Coast there is a very famous castle. There was a horrible time in human history when people enslaved others just because the colour of their skin was different. Europeans captured Africans and treated them very badly, taking them to the Americas, although many of them died before they even arrived. The Cape Coast Castle is a place many of the slaves were held before being put on ships.



Although it looks beautiful, we also saw the dungeons where many Africans died. Even though history like this might be sad or not fun to learn, it is still important to remember so that we can stop something like this from ever happening again.

Also in Ghana I got to meet up with an old friend of mine from Bancroft! Rebecca Malloy was my babysitter when I was little but now she is working in Ghana. We hadn't seen each other in 10 years so it was cool to find her again on a beautiful beach in Ghana. We talked about what we miss about Bancroft and Canada, but also how awesome Ghana is.



That's all for now! I have a couple special pictures for you that I'll post in a few days. Meanwhile, I have a lot of homework to get done!