Cape Coast Castle

This post is about a week overdue, it seems like time passes faster here than at home, last week feels like years ago already. I apologize in advance if it isn't the most cohesive post, I've had a fever for a few days but promise to do my best, hopefully I can give this experience the justice it deserves.

Last Saturday we went out to Cape Coast to visit Cape Coast Castle, the prison where enslaved Africans were held before being put on ships to the Americas. Having been just one week before at the slave market in Charleston, it hit me pretty hard. Standing and looking out the windows of the men's dungeon at the vast ocean, l could only imagine how terrifying it must have been to not know where you were going, only out to the sea. Knowing where they ended up and what their lives were like once they got there, I wonder if would be best not to know.

The men and women were separated and many times never saw each other again, even while in the prison. Our tour led us through the womens and the mens dungeons, basically just big caves with no lights. There was a pit where women were placed in if they disobeyed, a hole big enough for one person to stand up in and it was covered and the women were left in until they died, being raped many times during their last days. When it was time to be boarded onto the ships, they were walked through a large door, which was called the "Door of no Return". From this door they walked down a path to the ships awaiting and never saw Africa again.

We brought our translator Joyce with us, she had never been before. When we walked through the doors, she wept and it was hard not to follow suit. The atmosphere was very somber, but everyone we met there was very friendly and happy to have white people interested in the history and many people expressed to us that it was good for us all to be there together. When we walked out to the beach next to the castle, there was a drum band starting up and girls doing traditional African dancing. Pretty soon a large crowd had gathered and the mood was very upbeat and fun. The sun was just setting and I turned to look at the castle with the sunlight reflecting on its outer walls, the drums in the background, and even though everything that happened there was horrific and almost unfathomable, there was a strong sense of hope for better times to come and it made me realize again why I had come to Africa in the first place.

A powerful experience and one that I will never forget, each day that I am here I love it more and more. The hope that people here have despite their conditions and history is humbling. Everywhere we have gone, there is music and dancing, in the streets of the villages, on the beach next to Cape Coast Castle; everyone is so happy and enjoying the simple things in life. This is what I hope to bring back with me.