On May 20, 2021 , the Ghanaian fellows took a trip to the Goethe Institut Accra and Community Youth Cultural Centre (CYCC) to learn about their work and activities, but also to gain inspiration and new ideas for their own research.

One important goal of the Goethe-Institut Ghana is to promote international cultural cooperation by organising a broad variety of events to present German culture. The information centre of the Goethe-Institut Ghana serves as a resource for those interested in contemporary Germany, and for those interested in teaching and studying German as a foreign language.

Report

by Richard Ametefe

On May 20th 2021, we left from Cape Coast and reached Accra early in the morning to begin the day’s activities at the Goethe Institut and DAAD Office, Cantonments, Ghana.
The Director of the Goethe Institut, Heike Friessel, together with Lena Leumer (Director of DAAD Centre, Accra) received us warmly. We introduced ourselves after which Dr. Otchere (Steering Committee member, SDG – Graduate School, UCC) briefed the hosts on the SDG-Graduate School programme and the reason for our visit.

The Director then briefed us on the interests, activities, and operations of the Goethe Institut. These included the teaching of the German language; support for schools and institutions; addressing environmental issues; cultural exchange; equal rights; creativity (culture, arts, etc); performing arts. She narrated that the Covid-19 pandemic had affected their public programmes, especially the teaching of the German language. To surmount that challenge, she stated they had moved the exercise online so that interested persons could still partake. This situation, she said, lends itself to the opportunity to introduce more online programmes such as literature and international exchange programmes.

We were given the opportunity to ask questions and to interact with our hosts. Questions asked spanned from fees for learning German at the institute; to the observation of the democratic process and politics in Ghana; to building partnerships with institutions other than the University of Ghana, Legon; the period available for scholarship holders to learn the German language; among others. The interaction was fruitful as we received very positive responses from our hosts. For instance, on the question concerning the partnership with other academic institutions that equally shared in their interests, Heike responded that the research topics of scholarship holders could be made available to them so they consider how to organise programmes in their areas of specialisation.

After the Q&A session, we were taken on a tour around the facility. Among many interesting things, we saw that the Institut had installed solar panels to facilitate activities at some part of the centre to reduce the reliance on power provided by the Electricity Company of Ghana. After a successful tour, we left for the Goethe Institut Culture Centre which had relocated to the Ghana Museum of Arts and Technology for the month of May for an Exhibition and community engagement.

Upon arrival, the Attendant welcomed and took us around to see the facilities in operation. The centre was fitted with computer games grouped into categories: Democracy (which is based on politics in Iran), Gender and Feminism, War (to preach about war/hazards associated with them), Game on self. We took turns to enjoy some of the games and to take pictures. From the Goethe Culture Center we headed for the Community Youth Cultural Centre. The CYCC is the demonstration wing of the National Commission on Culture, Ghana.

Dr. Akosua Abdallah, Director of the CYCC received and briefed us on what the centre does. CYCC was established in 1991 to cater for the skills needs and talents of kids who were not interested in formal schooling. The Centre trains people who take up diverse activities and trades such as baking, dressmaking or catering, ceramics among other crafts. Also, the physically challenged within the catchment area are trained in various crafts. A problem the centre face is the lack of instructors. The Centre, therefore, relies on National Service Personnel to run the training programmes.

In our midst was Mrs. Janet Edna Nyame, the Executive Director of the National Commission on Culture. Dr. Sabina Appiah Boateng briefed all gathered there on the purpose of our visit. Then, Mr. Jackson Davis, a Consultant of the CYCC and veteran actor, kicked start the performance program at the CYCC. A performance was organized by the Center in collaboration with the Graduate School. The performance was puppetry on the Covid-19 pandemic and the protocols instituted to control the spread.

We also participated in the performance and rearranged a children’s play song to suit the performance by changing the words to capture the Covid-19 protocols.
After the performance, Mrs. Nyame, expressed her appreciation for the visit. We were then led by Martin, the Programme Coordinator taken to tour the Centre. We had the chance to witness how some of their products were made, for example, the puppet.  The next day we started our journey home. It was all fun and hope to do this again and again after a stressful semester.

Personal experiences and impressions:

“I have always wanted to know what the Goethe Institute stood for and its interests. I was particularly intrigued to know that, among other things, there is a space for discussion on environmental issues within an interdisciplinary context. For me as researcher interested in navigating the practice of set design as an environmentally-friendly field, this came in as a great news. The trip to the CYCC was an exhilarating and educative one. I got the chance to experience puppetry live for the first time and to partake in it also. This broadened my creative thinking in the field of set designing especially, and performance in general. Their artworks, handicrafts were something to behold! I am really appreciative of the warm reception and openness of all our hosts.“ (Mawukplorm Harriet Abla Adjahoe)

“I personally enjoyed this trip. The environment at Goethe Institute was serene and the people there were receptive, most especially Heike. I was impressed about her leadership skills as maybe another person would have allowed someone else to show us around so he/she could continue with work.
On the part of the CYCC, it was all fun for me. The warm reception, artworks, the puppetry collaboration and everything this centre is doing to help the youth and Ghana. Their staff was extremely nice. It was a great moment with them as well. Visiting this centre taught me that, I have to seize every opportunity that comes my way and make the best out of it as others may not have such opportunities.“ (Gloria Adu-Ofori)

“The trip was a great experience for me in several ways but the most phenomenal was the opportunity to meet as a team and collaborate for a specific purpose although our projects relate address different issues. I found our meeting with the Goethe Institut quite phenomenal because we got a chance to once introduce ourselves using our areas of specialization. The experience at the cultural centre was exceptional. The welcome and the chance we were given made me feel that our trip was not a mere visit but an opportunity to add knowledge to what seemed to be a national campaign on COVID-19. In all, I believe that our trip was not in vain, it was an opportunity to always reflect on my research in different fields looking at the performance on puppetry.“ (Naa Korkor Leyoo Watson Nortey)

“The field visit was a great experience. Very interactive and insightful. This has given me a fair idea about how some cultural institutions operate within the broader spectrum of human development of our society. I still reflect on the conversation we had with the Country Director of Goethe Institut. Especially on the Institut’s interest in artists’ development, democracy, inequality, environmental issues and good governance. Very thankful to SDG Graduate School, the Steering Committee and our fantastic Coordinator for this opportunity. Thank you.“ (Richardson Commey Fio)

“The trip was fun and very educative. I was so elated to have finally gone to the Goethe Institut to learn about their cultural exchange programmes and how they collaborate with other institutions. I looked forward to the trip to the Goethe Institut due to my interest in learning the German Language and I had the opportunity to learn how to go about it. The games at the Goethe Institut Cultural Centre were also educative.
The visit to the Community Youth Culture Centre was also very educative. An aspect of the Ghanaian culture, Puppetry, was again unveiled. It has long been shelved and I was so happy to learn it was still alive and the youth were being trained on the art and how to use these skills to educate the younger generation and create fun at the same time.“ (Richard Ametefe)

„For me as a Coordinator, I felt fulfilled seeing the excitement and beautiful sparkles on the faces of the students. I found the puppetry performance very interesting and an excellent approach for theatrical performance in this COVID era where human contacts are reduced. I love the part where the students joined and also taught the performers at the Community Youth Cultural Centre a beautiful song that could be added to the puppetry performance in their efforts to perform this in schools. The bonding among the students was great. There was so much laughter, harmless teasing, jokes shared on the bus and the excursion grounds. Let’s do this again, for all learning and no playing makes SDG students dull and stressed.“ (Dr. Sabina Appiah-Boateng)

“I thought the choice and number of the places visited was good, in the sense that the day was not too loaded so we spent adequate time at each of the places. The people were also very cooperative. The content of what we did at the visit sites were relevant for our cultural sustainability project and it opened potential for future collaborations. I think this is really good. I enjoyed every part of this trip and I feel our students have had their thoughts triggered and opened for any possibility in their research journey. I am looking forward to more trips which make a beautiful mix of education and fun and friendship.“ (Dr. Eric Debrah Otchere)