Emancipation Day in Ghana

The people in Ghana celebrated Emancipation Day yesterday. In the morning, the group traveled to a place where slaves were taken after walking for several weeks with little or no food or water and no chance to bathe. The slaves, still bound in chains, were led to a river where they were able to bathe prior to being sent to the dungeons in a "slave castle." There are several memorials dedicated to remembering all of those who were enslaved, especically those who persished.

Yesterday afteroon we traveled to a nearby slave castle where many people from Ghana and surrounding areas paid tribute to their ancestors who were slaves. The program began with numerous chiefs, many of whom sat in chairs carried by their subjects, parading the length of the viewing area. Those chiefs who were walking were escorted by a person shielding him with an umbrella. Numerous "queen mothers" also accompanied the chiefs. After numerous songs and prayers, the chiefs performed a cleansing ritual remembering those in Ghana who particpated in the slave trade.

This morning Br. Paul Mensah, Superior of the District of West Africa, addressed the group about the Congregation of Holy Cross in general and the district in particular.

This afternoon and tomorrow morning, we will be helping the local community with several projects: helping to prepare meals and fabricating cement posts that will eventually be used to mark property that the Brothers have acquired to build a school.