Rites of Passage Program-Ghana
Sample Itinerary
(July 24 - August 8 2008)
Monday
July 24
Depart your International Airport to London Or Accra
Tuesday
July 25
 Change planes at Heathrow International Airport-London. Board plane from London to Accra, Ghana
Group arrives at Kotoka International Airport in Accra, Ghana in the late evening (8 p.m.);
go through customs
Group is greeted by RVO staff at the airport
Take shuttle to accommodations in Accra
Arrive at accommodations (roughly 10:30 p.m.)
Snack before bed will be available
Bed
Wednesday
July 26
8:00 a.m. Breakfast is served
9:00 a.m. Time allotted for calls home.
10:00 a.m.
- Introduction of RVO Guides, language teacher and other staff.
- RVO staff escorts group to Akuma Village ocean side for welcoming ceremony and meditation.
10:45 am
- The beach beneath Akuma Village is a secluded one; usually out of public view
-The welcoming ceremony consists of a ritual on the beach of the Atlantic Ocean giving thanks for the opportunity to have been able to reverse the middle passage. It is a time of ancestral reflection, meditation, affirmation and declaration of a desire for healing and acknowledgement of homecoming.
Group will go off individually to write about their expectations, for the experience and for themselves
Group will dialog and participate in a ritual establishing them as a unit.
1:00 p.m. Lunch at Akuma Village outdoor restaurant
2:00 p.m. Depart Akuma Village to accommodations
2:30 p.m. Pack and board the bus
3:15 p.m. Depart Accra for Kumasi
Reinforcement language lessons will be taught on the ride from Accra to Kumasi
Guide will identify towns on the way
7:15 p.m. Arrive in Kumasi; Meet host family (Millie and Eric Quarkoo)--Atonsu
8:00 p.m. Traditional Ghanaian dinner
9:00 p.m. Stories about the Asante people
9:45 p.m. Journal/Free time
10:30 p.m. Bed
Thursday
July 27
 7:30 a.m. Breakfast
8:30 a.m. Depart Atonsu (Kumasi) to Adum for Drumming and Dancing lessons at the Cultural Center
9:00 a.m. Drumming and Dancing lessons at the Cultural Center
11:30 a.m. Group Discussion: “What is the significance of traditional art forms in the preservation of a culture? What is the power of non-verbal communication in cultures of the Diaspora?”
12:30 a.m. Have lunch and browse the Cultural Center
1:30 p.m. Tour Kumasi. Language teacher will be conducting field lessons during shopping and touring. (And all throughout the trip) Use of Twi will be encouraged while making purchases and interacting with people.
Central market-the largest market in Ghana
Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology
Adum-the central place of commerce in Kumasi
7:00 Return to host family
7:30 Dinner
8:30 Family Time
9:30 Reflections
10:30 Bed
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Friday
July 28
7:30 a.m. Breakfast
8:30 a.m. Depart for African Hope Foundation of Ghana (AHFOG)
9:00 a.m. Arrive at AHFOG office
“Discussion: The Effect of the AIDS Epidemic in Africa and the World: Facts and Fiction”
AHFOG staff will prepare group for interactions with HIV/AIDS patients
10:30 a.m. Arrive at school for children orphaned by/infected with the disease.
11:00 a.m. Program:
Presentation by students
Group presents gifts
12:00 p.m. Lunch at the school
12:30 p.m. Depart school
1:00 p.m. Arrive at Batik making
Group will learn the art of making batik and tie and dye cloth.
AHFOG teaches women who are HIV/AIDS positive to create fabric and clothing so that they can make livings for themselves.
They will make Batik in large quantities for AHFOG to sell and raise money for their AIDS patients. (The group will be allowed to keep some fabric)
7:30 p.m. Dinner
8:30 p.m. Journaling/Reflections
9:30 p.m. Free Time
10:30 p.m. Bed
Saturday
July 29
8:00 a.m. Breakfast
9:00 a.m. Discussion “The Importance of Birth and Funeral Rituals in African Tradition”
10:00 a.m. Dress in mourning cloth
10:30 a.m. Depart for Asante funeral
In the Asante kingdom there are funeral ceremonies every Saturday. There is a formal dress and celebration of life that lasts all day.
4:00 p.m. Return to house
5:00 p.m. Depart for the village of Bonwire
6:00 p.m. Arrive in Bonwire at the home of the Queen Mother.
Bonwire is said to be the village where Kente was born. It is in the Asante kingdom.
The group will reside in the compound of the Queen Mother of Bonwire, one of many sub-officials in the Ashanti kingdom
Get settled and prepared for dinner
In this village very little English is spoken. The group will test their ability to communicate with the Twi that they’ve learned. Staff members will assist with mandatory communication.
7:00 p.m. Dinner with Queen Mother’s family
8:00 p.m. History of Bonwire and Kente. Storytelling.
9:30 p.m. Bed (Group members will be encouraged to go to bed early because of the early start the next morning and the manual labor that will be included.)
Sunday
July 30
6:30 a.m. Fetch Water
-the group will go and get water from the local well for their bathing and cooking for the day. The well is about ½ mile away from the house. They will be instructed in how to successfully carry water on their heads from the well to the house. The amount of water will serve the entire house, not just each individual.
8:00 a.m. Breakfast
8:30 a.m. Depart for local church service
-Group will have the opportunity to observe a Christian worship service delivered entirely in Twi. They will be able to see cultural adaptations to what may be for some, a familiar practice.
12:30 Lunch
1:30 Discussion: “The Effects of Colonialism on African Spirituality and Religion”
2:30 Kente weaving & Palm wine tapping
Half of the group will be trained on the loom to weave the traditional Kente cloth.
Half of the group will be lead to wood to take part in tapping palm wine, a traditional beverage from palm trees.
The two groups will switch places so that they both have equal experiences
6:30 Return to house. Assist in food preparation
Group will experience pounding and turning fufu
The will observe the method of preparing traditional foods on an open fire
7:30 Dinner
8:30 Elder dialog
Group will have the opportunity to ask questions of the elders of Bonwire (with the help of a translator).
9:30 Bed
Monday
July 31
This will give group members an idea of a typical day.
6:30 a.m. Fetch water
8:00 a.m. Breakfast
9:00 a.m. Depart for traditional farming
9:30 a.m. Arrival at farm; farming begins.
The group will have the opportunity to participate in traditional farming. In addition to learning farming methods for survival.
They will also have the experience of preparing, cooking and partaking of the food that they pick while in the farm.
After farming, group will chop and gather fire wood for the house and the elders in village.
2:30 p.m. Return to village from farm
deliver wood
3:00 p.m. Return to the house. Free time.
Group will want time to rest after their day
Snack will be provided
5: 30 p.m. Essay assignment and journal writing
6:30 p.m. Dinner
7:30 p.m. Discussion: “Living From the Land”
Group members will engage in a discussion with local youth about what it is to live in an agricultural community. How are responsibilities shared? How does it affect one’s lifestyle? What are the economic implications?
9:30 p.m. Bed
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Tuesday
August 1
7:00 a.m. Breakfast
- Group should be packed and prepared to leave at the end of the day
8:00 a.m. Depart for local Elementary School
8:30 a.m. School observation
9:30 a.m. Presentation of Gifts (school supplies, funding, etc.)
10:00 a.m. Group and students play soccer together (football)
11:00 a.m. Group departs for home
11:30 a.m. Lunch at the house
12:30 p.m. Depart Bonwire to Butterfly Sanctuary
1:00 p.m. Tour Butterfly Sanctuary and Forest Preserve
This tour includes identification of plants used currently for medicinal purposes and practical uses. Some unique species of trees, some over 200 years-old are found here.
3:00 p.m. Depart for Ahwiaa Carving Center
4:00 p.m. Arrive Ahwiaa Carving Center
Observe the art of woodcarving. Masks and famous Ashanti stools are carved here.
5:30 p.m. Depart for Damongo
Language reinforcement
7:30 p.m. Arrive hotel
8:00 p.m. Dinner
9:00 p.m. Essay assignment
10:00 p.m. Bed
Wednesday
August 2
7:30 a.m. Breakfast
8:30 a.m. Depart for Mole National Park/Elephant Dome
Mole is a wildlife observatory. Here you can watch creatures in their natural habitat from observation centers
9:00 a.m. Arrive Mole National Park/Elephant Dome
12:00 p.m. Lunch
1:00 p.m. Depart for village stay outside Damongo
2:00 p.m. Arrive in Village
**** This traditional village will be a place where no English is spoken. There will be no running water, phones, electricity or any of the comforts of modern society. Group will sleep in structures that the families live in. Because the group will be completely adapting to the system of living and time during these days, an hour to hour schedule is not available.
Components of the experience will be:
- Storytelling and retention
- Food preparation (seeking, gathering, killing, preparing)
- Daily chores
- A night sleeping in the bush
- washing clothes by hand
- Dance as it relates to ritual
- drumming as a form of communication
- practice/master carrying things on heads
- Language use
- Gender split-exercises with local people relevant to development of each gender
- Traditional body paint
- Traditional dress
- Physical challenges of strength and endurance
- Tests of intelligence
- Observation of societal hierarchy
- Exposure to traditional spiritual practices
Thursday
August 3rd
village stay continues
-The time will end with a completion ceremony
Friday
August 4
7:30 a.m. Breakfast
8:30 p.m. Depart for Odum Prayer Mountain
-Group is encouraged to journal during the bus trip
12:00 p.m. Arrive Odum. Have Lunch
1:00 p.m. Start up Prayer Mountain
2:30 p.m. Arrive at the top of the mountain
Group will be challenged to meditate on the experiences that they’ve had thus far.
They will be asked to keep two hours of silence.
6:00 p.m. Descend
7:00 p.m. Board bus to Kumasi
8:00 p.m. Arrive at Quarkoo’s for final dinner and night stay.
10:00 p.m. Bed
Saturday
August 5
6:00 a.m. Small Breakfast available
6:30 a.m. Depart Kumasi for Cape Coast
8:00 a.m. Stop for breakfast
10:30 a.m. Arrive at dormitory of University of Cape Coast
11:00 a.m. Discussion
12:00 a.m. Lunch
12:45 p.m. Depart for Kakum Forest Canopy Walk
1:15 p.m. Arrive at Kakum Forest
Kakum Forest has one of the few remaining canopy walks in the world. The bridges overlook Kakum Forest and its wildlife. The walks, hanging over 100m in the air may test the bravery of the group, as they cross 7 bridges total.
4:00 p.m. Depart Kakum for tour and shopping in Cape Coast
- Cape Coast, formerly known as the Gold Coast, used to be the capital city of Ghana
7: 30 p.m. Dinner at a local restaurant
8:30 p.m. Return to Campus
9:00 p.m. Journal/Reflection/ Free time
10:30 p.m. Bed.
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Sunday
August 6
7:30 a.m. Breakfast at campus restaurant
8:30 a.m. Depart for Elmina Castle
9:00 a.m. Tour Elmina Castle and Slave Dungeons
12:00 p.m. Lunch and Discussion: “The Mid-Atlantic Slave Trade: The onset, the effects on West Africa and the enslaved.”
1:30 p.m. Go to Cape Coast Castle
2:00 p.m. Arrive at Cape Coast Castle
Tour Castle
Group will participate in a healing ritual, naming our ancestors known and unknown.
Cape Coast Castle has, like Elmina, a “door of no return,” but also a “door of return”. Group members will participate in a ritual of returning through the door, bringing with them their ancestors who have been displaced.
Group will collectives make pledges to Africa as their home, rededicating themselves to African people both on the continent and in the African Diaspora.
4:30 p.m. Depart Castle for campus
5:00 p.m. Dialog with Ghanaian university students: “The Responsibilities of Children in the African Diaspora”
7:00 p.m. Dinner with students
8:00 p.m. Depart Cape Coast for Accra
10:00 p.m. Arrive in Accra
10:30 p.m. Bed
Monday
August 7
7:30 a.m. Breakfast
8:30 a.m. Depart for Accra city Tour that will include:
W.E.B. Du Bois Center for Pan-African Affairs
Kwame Nkrumah Mausoleum and Museum
Independence Square
Central Accra Market for shopping
(Lunch can be eaten during the day)
Beach
Accra’s commercial shopping areas
5:30 p.m. Return from Accra Tour/prepare for culminating ceremony.
7:30 p.m. The culminating ceremony. Recognition given for achievements throughout Rites of Passage.
Feast and celebration.
10:30 p.m. Bed
Tuesday
August 8
7:30 a.m. Breakfast
8:30 a.m. Journaling and Reflection
9:30 a.m. Discussion: “What Did You Bring with You? What Will You Take With You?” How will this experience impact your interactions when you return home?
Say formal good-bye’s to RVO staff
12:00 p.m. Lunch
1:00 p.m. Last Shopping Trip
4:00 p.m. Prepare to go to airport for check-in
6:00 p.m. Have dinner in the food court of the airport.
9:00 p.m. Depart Accra for your Destination either via London or straight to your destination.
Group No: 15-30
This includes: Airport meeting, very nice / comfortable bus as source of transportation through out the 14 day, Luxury hotels, 3 times daily meal.
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