Photo Contest - Fall 2004

Third Prize

"Bittersweet Elmina"
Lisa Van Aernum
Ghana, Intersession 2004

Essay:

In this photo I attempted to catch the hustle and bustle of a busy fishing village. This photograph was taken through a window looking out from the Cape Coast Castle in Cape Coast, Ghana Africa. This bay is where many Africans boarded slave ships for the despairing journey to the Americas and the Caribbean for a life of enslavement. During this educational tour or the Cape Cast Castle, us American students felt a multitude of emotions from anger to sadness, and hopelessness. We felt these emotions because we were learning another side of history from a non-western point of view. Our tour guide was so passionate. You could see the souls of so many descendents in his large eyes. A very surreal moment was when we were packed into a dark, clammy dungeon room. The room was almost full with only 25 students inside, and uncomfortably hot. Our guide continued to speak to us as we were all standing there dripping with sweat. We were informed that this is where up to 300 men were shoved into while they waited for orders to walk to the ships through "the door of no return." This quote was located on a plaque on the side of Cape Coast Castle: "In everlasting memory of the anguish of our ancestors. May those who died rest in peace. May those who return find their roots. May humanity never again perpetuate such injustice against humanity. We, the living, vow to uphold this." This segment of our trip to the country of Ghana educated us about their past history, and left us with memories that we shall remember the rest our lives.

Return to the Fall 2004 Study Abroad Photo Contest