Leah Chapin

Door of No Return

August 10, 2007

After spending several days back in my hometown of Nalerigu, it was time to leave…again.  But not before I ate some catepillars and got attacked by a monkey (ask me to show you the scar!).

Probably the pinnacle of my sadness was in the airport in Tamale.  In fact (oh, this is so embarrasing)…I completely broke down when I was in line to pay for my ticket.  It seems that it is a part of the culture in northern Ghana to laugh at tears, but if anyone was laughing at the crying salminga, I didn’t notice.  I paid for my ticket, then collected myself in the afore-mentioned bathroom.  Funny, this time the bathroom seemed pretty clean and presentable.  I must have caught it on a bad day on my way in.

Tiffany and I drew up a contract over a bet that was made on the busride to the airport.  She bet that in 4 years I would be married and have at least one child.  So, if she loses, she will have to pay for our return trip to Nalerigu, and if I lose, then I will pay.  Either way, we will get to come back!

We had a couple of nights in Accra before we headed out, so Tiffany and I tried to lay aside our sorrow over the looming departure and enjoy some of the sites.  Fusheni took us to Cape Coast where we toured Cape Coast Castle and walked along the Rainforest canopy walk at Kakum National Park.  We ate lunch at this strange little place that offers lunch in an outdoor setting next to a pond that is populated by croccidiles.  There were also a whole bunch of those finches that build their nests hanging from branches, like you see on National Geographic.  It seemed pretty unreal.  Cape Coast Castle was beautiful, and it was very enlightening to tour the inner workings of a slave castle.  There are several changes they have made to the castle to signify/celebrate the end of slavery.  One example is this door labeled the “Door of No Return”.  We were assured by the guide that we would indeed return, even after passing through.  This was the door that slaves passed through to board the boats that were headed to various parts of the world on the slave trade routes, never to be seen again.  On the other side, a new sign was hung, saying “Door of Return”.  It is hard to imagine the level of fear that these people must have experienced being forced to live in such awful conditions, then if they survived it all, to be expected to loyally serve the person who bought them.

The treetop walk at Kakum was beautiful.  I can’t wait until I have my pictures developed; I will have to post some here.  There were a series of planks suspended hundreds of feet in the air, going from tree to tree.  There was a net surrounding the plank, so even if you lost your balance you would be okay…I think.  I tried to start a game of who could walk the most steps without holding on, but it didn’t catch on.

Tiffany and I had planned in advance to spend Monday big-timing it at La Palm before we flew out.  So, we spent the day lounging around in the wonderful equitorial sun, swimming in paradise.

But eventually it was time to return to the guest house, time to do our final packing, and time to check in for our 2am flight.

The airport in Accra is one of the most disorganized grouping of long lines that I have seen, and that means something.  If Fusheni hadn’t come to the airport with us to help us and say goodbye, I am afraid that we all would have had some less than treasurable last few moments in Ghana.  But as it was, we were able to end our trip in an appropriately ceremonial way.  Tiffany and I had come up with a somewhat silly, but deeply felt way to say goodbye to Ghana.

Just before stepping on the stairs that led up to our plane, we each kissed the palm of our own hand, bent down to touch the tarmac, and then kissed our palm again.  The officer at the bottom of the stairs watched us curiously, and I guess it must sound pretty goofy and or strange to you, but it was our way of saying goodbye to Ghana and promising to return if possible.

These two months spent in Ghana have been life-changing; and saying it like that is so cliche and inadequate.  It is so big that I find myself incapable of encompassing the magnitude of the affect this trip has had on my life in meer words.  I think it would need music, it would need pictures, tastes, and volumes more to even begin to convey how much I have learned about myself, God, and people who have given their lives to His service.  It was convicting, and it was inspiring.  It was heart-breaking, and it was soul-searching.  It tore me down to who I really am, and it built my vision up of who I will be.  Nothing in my life has been so indescribable.

My sadness in leaving Ghana in that last minute was overwhelming.  I couldn’t help but think when walking through that plane door of the Door of No Return.  But I immediately comfort myelf with the sign on the other side, and the hope that some day I will come back through the Door of Return.