Fehintola Bright
Major: Health Administration and Public Policy & Africana Studies
Introduction
Hey y’all! My name is Fehintola.
Expected graduation year: 2022
Destination city & country: Accra, Ghana
Program provider: ISEP Direct
Major/minor: Health Administration and Public Policy & Africana Studies
Demographics: Nigerian-American, Black, African Diasporan
Future career aspirations: I hope to obtain a position with an organization that focuses on analyzing and implementing policy measures related to health development and reformation in Africa and the United States, focusing on the African diaspora, Black identifying communities, and minority populations.
Top 3 goals for your time abroad: To (1) apply my concept “African people create African solutions for African problems”, (2) learn and practice Twi, and (3) make lifelong friendships, relationships, and connections.
1/9-1/15
Image 1 – During the first week of being in Ghana I got my hair done at a hair salon. It took longer than expected (10am to 10pm) but in the end the hairstyle turned out really good. This was one of the first couple of encounters of the culture shock when i got to Ghana.
Image 2 – During the first week of being in Ghana, we also went grocery shopping at Accra Mall
Image 3 – with my study abroad program, I went with my classmates to visit the Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Museum site. We were also able to see the “freedom and justice” and black star statue. The other image I added was an image of Kwame Nkrumah that says “Africa must unite.” K.N was an advocate for African countries uniting and becoming one. He met with a lot of big leaders and politicians to discuss that dream of his.
Image 1 – The first image is a picture of chicken and kelewele (fried plantain). this is a staple Ghanaian snack. I had it at the night market behind my school.
Image 2 – The second image was of me going to Labadi Beach. I went with some friends from school. I had a good time at the beach but it was more busy than I expected it to be. We were able to get a table and eat food and play uno, relax, and have a good time. I most likely wont go back there again with the expectation of relaxing but more so having fun with friends.
1/16-1/22
It is now week three of my time in Ghana study abroad. There have been so many different culture shocks. I am still getting used to my being here. However, I am still finding it quite enjoyable. The first two weeks were more difficult than this third week. The first day of arriving to Ghana, I actually almost passed out in my room. I think it was due to a combination of a lack of sleep, jetlag, dehydration, and extreme weather changes. One thing that I immediately had to get used to was the weather change. The way that our rooms are set up is that we don’t have AC but fans. I was somewhat caught off guard because I was used to the privilege of having AC. Another privilege I had to let go of was having my own private bathroom. Here in Ghana, I live in a hostel. The hostel is mixed gender but there are majority males here. And we have to walk to the communal bathrooms. At first I didn’t really like doing that but I have gotten used to it. The days also seem to go by so much faster over here for some reason. Especially when majority of the time is spent in traffic or timing. For example, I took what we call the “trotro” one or two times to drive somewhere. The trotro is like a big taxi/bus for multiple people. However, it goes very slow. It makes multiple stops throughout the journey that causes it to prolong even more. It is also highly congested, so there is no such thing as social distancing. The upside is that it is super cheap. One time we spent 2 hours on the trotro due to the multiple stops and already congested traffic.
During the second week of my being here, we were supposed to start classes. The process to register for classes was a whole new experience within itself. For example, we had to register in two different ways: (1) at the registrar’s office and (2) at each department in which we had courses. We ran into a couple of issues during the process. At my departments we had to write our names and contact information down on paper and wait to be contacted again. The reason why this was was because the timetables were not released yet. The reason why the timetables were not released yet are because the lecturers are on strike. The lecturers have been on strike since last semester. The reason why they are on strike has something to do with the amount of pay they’re receiving, or lack thereof. We are yet to start classes, however, as for international students, our program advisors are working directly with the Dean in order to make sure that we start classes in some way, shape, or form.
1/23-1/29
Image 1 – when I was on the beach, I saw this rock on the shore of the ocean. there were holes and the closer we got we saw sea urchins in each of the holes.
Image 2 – this is a picture of me in Elmina Beach Resort. I climbed the top of a rock barrier that was blocking the waves from getting on land. I was up there with some friends from my study abroad program
The below image is of me when i went to Volta Region this past weekend and visited the Wli Waterfalls in Kohoe. the hike was about 40 minutes to get to the waterfall. it was raining and then after that the sun came out and the pictures and view was amazing
These pictures are of me and my study abroad hostel members on a trip with our tour guide to the Volta Region. We are taking our picture at the entrance of Mount Afajato.
image 1 – The first picture is of me on top of a rock at Mogo Hill. The view was incredible
image 2 – This is a picture of me one excruciating hour later at the top of Mount Afajato. I almost gave up so many times but once I was up there i knew it was worth it every step of the way. There are no words to describe how beautiful the view is.
This is a picture of my meal (egusi and iyan) from Mama Put, which is a Nigerian Restaurant in Ghana. Me and my friend were craving some food from back home, so we decided to go out and eat some Nigerian food. This was our first time eating Nigerian food since being in Ghana. We were so home sick and this is what we needed to make us feel at home again. Iyan is pounded yam and egusi is a soup made up of spinach, ground beans, assorted meats, and other things. We really enjoyed our meal. We are so happy to know that if were ever craving Nigerian food, that have a place to go and satisfy ourselves.
3/7/22-3/11/22
Image 1 – This is a picture of me at a recording studio recording a song I created back in the states. This was actually my first time in a recording studio ever! And I did it in a completely different country. I was so excited and happy. Even though I didn’t spend as much time in the studio as I wanted to, I still had a wonderful time. It felt so good to sing and actually record for the first time ever. I will most likely be going back again to record more music.
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mage 2 – This is a picture of me at Afrikiko on our kizomba night. I was dancing with my dance partner. We did basic two step dances. At first we weren’t really in sync with one another because we had never danced together before. But after a while of practice and communicating, we started to get a groove going on.
So I came back to GAIA! The food is so amazing i needed to try it again. And I just love the plant/green scenery. Not too many people come here so I can just relax and do work and really enjoy the space. This time around I got french fries with a beef and chicken quesadilla.
3/14/22-3/18/22
I went to the northern region and mole and visited the monkey sanctuary. The monkey sanctuary was specifically in ‘boabeng.’ The ride there was about 4-5 hours from my school. We spent about an hour in the monkey sanctuary and got to feed the monkeys bananas and peanuts. This was my first time ever interacting with monkeys up close like this and it was a little weird. I was so scared, even though they were so small. Two of them jumped on me to grab the food!
Image 1 – This is a picture of me at the same monkey sanctuary but deeper in the forest. We met more monkeys along the way. At this tree 
there were so many monkeys that came up to run to us it was crazy. Deeper in the forest as well, we visited the cemetary where the deceased monkeys rested.
Image 2 -at another location in the northern region, we visited the mole national park. There we were able to see the male elephants. During this time of the year its actually really hard to see them. We were very lucky because we arrived the same time they arrived at the spot and we were able to see them walk and also get into the water hole.
Image 1 – This picture is showing a word from my traditional african drumming class. The word is called ‘kpatsa’ which is a traditional Ghanian dance/music/drumming form. Kpatsa is 
a traditional Ghanaian dance of the Ga-Dangme people of Greater Accra Region which is associated with the African dwarfs called Abodo in Dangme1. It is believed to imitate the limping gaits of the African dwarf and its uneven leg by the indegenes. It is believed that, the African dwarf has one leg longer and the other shorter. As it walks in the forest of dry leaves, the longer leg tends to produce the ‘kpa’ sound while the shorter leg ‘tsa’. This is because the distance between the shorter leg and the ground is wider than that of the
longer leg.
Image 2 – this image is from a town we visited in the northern region.
3/21/22-3/25/22
This past weekend I went to go and watch the “Ghana versus Nigeria” world cup qualifiers game in Kumasi! The game was a wonderful experience. Even though neither team scored, it was still fun. My heart went out for both teams. I am Nigerian-American, so I support Nigeria by default, and since I’m in Ghana, I decided to rep the Ghana jersey on Friday. But I will be wearing my Nigeria jersey on Tuesday.
Still in Kumasi, on Saturday me and my friend went to go and visit the Adinkra Village. It was about 3-5 hours from where we were staying in Kumasi. We bought some traditional Adinrka clothes, and also go to stamp it with the traditional ink. The ink is made from a special tree in which the bark is soaked in hot water for about an hour. Then it is let to sit overnight and thicken in consistency and color. Then it is ready to use. It is a natural dye that has been used for thousands of years.
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n Kumasi, me and my friend also visited the Adanwomase Village. This village is known for making kente from scratch and also having a cocoa bean farm. Not only were we able to see the traditional kente being made, but we were also able to make it ourselves, from start to finish. I ended up buying so many kente for myself and a friend back home. I didn’t even know that the sewing of the kente is traditionally done by men!
3/28/22-4/1/22
I was able to do a photoshoot here in Ghana for the song I worked on a couple of weeks ago! I did the photoshoot on campus with a photographer friend I knew from before. We took the photos at his at home studio. I had a blast!
I was able to attend a couple of sip and paint classes with some friends here in Ghana! I have never been to a sip and paint before. Even back home. So it was a wonderful first experience.
These are some pictures from the ADA art gallery i went to with some friends. We saw some artwork of a nigerian artist. He painted black cowboys in the color pink to contradict the stereotypical idea that men should wear blue or that pink isn’t masculine.
4/4/22-4/8/22
This is from my Ghanian traditional drumming class. This was after our final examinations. On that day, me and a couple classmates came in early to practice before the final exam. All semester we have been learning two traditional Ghanian dance/song/drumming forms. The first one is called Kpatsa. Kpatsa is done among the Dangme people in the Greater Accra Region. The second one is called Kpanlogo. Kpanlogo is done among the Ga’s in the Accra Region (Jamestown, Tema).
4/11/22-4/15/22
There are people with all these degrees & certificates but are failing in the school of love. People spend so many years + money (even get into debt) in school to obtain so many degrees/certificates. And there is nothing wrong with that. But don’t be fooled, you invest your three T’s (time, talents, treasures[money]) into what matters to you. Have you noticed there has been a statistical trend? More and more (black) people are getting higher education and college degrees. But at the same time, more and more (black) people are not entering long-term committed SUCCESSFUL relationships/marriages. On the other hand, divorce rates have been increasing amongst the black community. One thing I have been more intentional about working on is gaining emotional intelligence. One way to build stronger friendships + relationships, improve communication skills, be empathic and understanding, and so much more is by being emotionally intelligent. I am currently reading this book, but I am loving it so far!
I went on a date with my friend to sandbox beach club! It is a seaside restaurant in Osu, Ghana. The food was okay. I really loved the experience though and the time to make memories with people i love.
4/18/22-4/22/22
These are some pictures from the paragliding parade in Kwahu that I went to with my tour guide group. These are not pictures of me but rather of some other people. However, I still got to paraglide myself!
So these are the pictures of me paragliding! For my personal experience, im not gonna lie, i was so scared at first. I was scared taking off because my instructor told me that i have to run and keep running until they said stop. However, after taking off and being in the sky, it was amazing. We also flew near a mountain and it was so amazing being in the sky.
These were a couple of military/police officers that were standing guard at the Kwahu festival. Even though it is a time to have fun and enjoy, issues due thave the risk of arising. I asked to take some pictures with them with a friend. I was so scared at first but they were open and welcome for pictures!
