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The “Door of no Return” Reliving the experience of the Transatlantic Slave Trade Submissions by participating students of UNIC Accraorganized tour of the Cape Coast Castle to mark International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade, March 30, 2012 Henry Bannerman Class: Form School: Dzorwulu Junior High [email protected] The transatlantic of slave trade The transatlantic slave trade had been a part of life in Africa. It had become very dangerous by the 17 th century… this lasted for 400 years… Cape coast castle was built in 1665 by the British. But originally, it was a fort that was built by the Swedish… Ghana was the headquarters for the British slave trade… …slaves were separated from their families and children Peace which was needed for development was replaced with fear The slave trade brought about general insecurity. The male slave dungeon…men were kept there in a dungeon with … no light They get light from the sun through the window They go to toilet in the room and urinate there in the dungeon. The women were also kept in one room They also had the same window as the male; but the women had a container that they urinated in and sometimes went to toilet in the same container; when it was full one person would go and empty it and washed it with her hand The beautiful women were raped by their masters. It is important to remember it so that it would not happen again Mohammed Toloba, 12 years Class: Form 1 School: Dzorwulu Junior High [email protected] Something that happen in the past A long time ago, there were slaves…the slave trade lasted for about 400years. They were colonized by the British, the Dutch, the Danes and the Portuguse Finally the British where the sole rulers of slaves in Gold Coast The slaves were kept in a dungeon by the British The Portuguese brought some items to the Gold Coast; They include brass bowl, forks, dishes etc. They built the Elmina Castle in the year 1482 What wickedness?

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Page 1: The transatlantic of slave trade Something that happen in the past

The  “Door  of  no  Return”-­‐  Reliving  the  experience  of  the  Transatlantic  Slave  Trade  

Submissions  by  participating  students  of  UNIC  Accra-­‐organized  tour  of  the  Cape  Coast  Castle  to  mark  International  Day  of  Remembrance  of  the  Victims  of  Slavery  and  the  Transatlantic  Slave  Trade,  March  30,  2012     Henry Bannerman Class: Form School: Dzorwulu Junior High [email protected]   The transatlantic of slave trade The transatlantic slave trade had been a part of life in Africa. It had become very dangerous by the 17th century… this lasted for 400 years… Cape coast castle was built in 1665 by the British. But originally, it was a fort that was built by the Swedish… Ghana was the headquarters for the British slave trade… …slaves were separated from their families and children Peace which was needed for development was replaced with fear The slave trade brought about general insecurity. The male slave dungeon…men were kept there in a dungeon with … no light They get light from the sun through the window They go to toilet in the room and urinate there in the dungeon. The women were also kept in one room They also had the same window as the male; but the women had a container that they urinated in and sometimes went to toilet in the same container; when it was full one person would go and empty it and washed it with her hand The beautiful women were raped by their masters. It is important to remember it so that it would not happen again Mohammed Toloba, 12 years Class: Form 1 School: Dzorwulu Junior High [email protected] Something that happen in the past A long time ago, there were slaves…the slave trade lasted for about 400years. They were colonized by the British, the Dutch, the Danes and the Portuguse Finally the British where the sole rulers of slaves in Gold Coast The slaves were kept in a dungeon by the British The Portuguese brought some items to the Gold Coast; They include brass bowl, forks, dishes etc. They built the Elmina Castle in the year 1482 What  wickedness?    

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Abigail Koranteng, 13 years Class: Form 2 School: Dzorwulu Junior High What wickedness Men wanted to save their lives but they couldn’t and were kept in a small dark cell without a window They were handed to death Sometimes the Europeans raped some and if they refused, they were kept in in a dark small room without windows and food Slave trade brought insecurity. Happiness in peoples’ lives was lost. This continued for 400 years before they abolished the slave trade. It was abolished because the Europeans needed a new land to grow raw materials for processing in European factories. From that day on human beings were not sold nor bought again. What wickedness indeed   Name: Abigail Dewodo, 14 years Class: Form 2 School: Dzorwulu Junior High [email protected]

The cry of the Africa child, Never Again

Oh! Mother Africa, Mother Africa. If a trade could make a man not to have his right If a trade could make a man not to have his privacy If a trade could strip a woman of her dignity If a trade could force a human to live without an identity

Then transatlantic slave trade, African child says "never again" If a trade could make a woman to be raped If a trade could make one a slave in his own land If a trade could make one to be sold as an article If a trade could force one to live without a choice

Then transatlantic slave trade, African child says "never again If a trade could lock up a man away from family and friends If a trade could make a man to be beaten and chained with metals If a trade could make a man an object to balance a ship If a trade could make a man starve and die out of hunger

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Then transatlantic slave trade, African child says "never again If a trade could make men to be packed like sardines in a can with urine as oil If a trade could make a man to be treated like a wild animal If a trade could make a man to pass through misery in a dungeon If a trade could make a man to preach the gospel of Christ and act differently Then transatlantic slave trade, African child says "never again”  

“Poignant, giving a big picture viewpoint (and gender balanced!)” Mojisola Okuribido-Seriki, Regional Advisor for Culture, UNESCO Accra

  Name: Issaka Moro, 14 years Class: Form 2 School: Dzorwulu Junior High [email protected] The sayings of a slave

Once in the 15th century were the people of Gold Coast “Ghana” who lived peacefully…. At the time, all the ethnic groups had their chiefs and they were ruled by their chiefs. Some Portuguese who were led by Prince Henry (Prince Henry the navigator), wanted the sea route to the far East. On their way they came across a sea bank and they decided to settle there. When they settled there, they discovered alluvial gold. Gold Coast was named by the Europeans. But the Portuguese arrived in Gold Coast in 1471 where they built a fort at the mouth of River Brenya. This fort named Sao Jorge Damina, was later named Elmina castle. Later, the British, under the leadership of John Lock, were the second group of Europeans to arrive in the Gold Coast in 1554. They settled at Shama and traded in ivory and pepper. In 1598, the Dutch also reached the Gold Coast and built their trade forts alongside the Portuguese forts. Later, they seized the Portuguese forts at Elmina and Axim in 1637 and 1642 respectively and drove them away. The Europeans needed some people to work on their farms for them and their local people didn’t have that strength to do the work. So they came to Ghana and sent 10 men to their country and they saw that the black men can do that better. So they later came for 15 men and they were very interested in that. That’s when the slave trade started. Later, they started buying people from our local people as slaves. They bought many people and packed them in the castles and they treated them badly, even animals were not treated like that. We were packed in some dungeons. The male dungeon contained five rooms. Each dungeon had

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three small windows and the room was very dark. Each dungeon contained 200 slaves. We were given food once a day, we did everything in the dungeon and even some went blind because the rooms were very dark. But the strong men who wanted to fight for their rights were packed in the 5th dungeon. We were kept in the dungeons for three months. In the female dungeons, there were only two rooms in it. Each of the female dungeon contained 150 slaves and in the dungeon, there are only three small windows and many people died in the dungeon. Some of the whites slept with the women and they became pregnant. And when they were pregnant, they were moved to a different room outside the castle to give birth there. When they gave birth, they were either freed or brought back to the castle. Some of the women disallowed the whites to sleep with them and they were punished severely. On top of the dungeon, they built a chapel called society propagation of the gospel and they were preaching saying love your neighbor as you love yourself whilst they were treating us badly. When it was time for us to move into the ship, they selected the strong ones and left the weak ones. We passed through an underground room straight to the door of no return and they chained our necks, wrist, and legs and we sat in a boat that was taking us to the ship. We reached the ship and they packed us into the ship. They packed us like sardine and five people on a roll. We were placed on each other from head to toe and toe to head. We were suffering and we did everything on ourselves so most of us died before we reached where we were going.   Name: Gifty Akakpo, 14 years Class: Form 2 School: Dzorwulu Junior High c/o: [email protected] Once upon a time, there was a man called Yaw and a woman called Abena in the land called Gold Coast. They both had everything they needed through exchange of goods. They had the freedom to everything. Many years later, people from other countries came to the Gold Coast to trade with these two people. Due to love, these two people accepted the foreigners and treated them with hospitality. There was peace in that land until the foreigners discovered how rich these two people were and decided to use their goodness against them. The foreigners attacked all the youth. The foreigners kept these people in dungeons. Cleaned their names and called them slaves. They used these slaves to balance their ship in replacement of bricks. The slaves were made to work very hard on plantations. The female slaves were raped. The slaves were sold and bought like goods. The slaves died. And people who got to know about these fought for the freedom of the slaves’ family. And the future generation of the slaves pledged never to let it happen again.  

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Name: Godfrey Ayisi, 16 years Class: Form 2 School: Dzorwulu Junior High [email protected]

In the Name of Slave Trade (Drawing)  

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Name: Caroline Abigail Briandt, 13 years Class: Form 1 School: Dzorwulu Junior High School c/o: [email protected] Casted and thrown away The able bodied men have been cast away They have led our youthful man-power astray To cause misery and shame in our lives today We still remain in our pain Because we know what we will gain Its hard work and diligence Since it’s all about our intelligence We managed to persevere Even without a spear It’s not our fault we prospered Our enemies were just that easy to be conquered They were cunning and deceiving But we were the ones receiving All of those blessings coming along with nature We took them out of the picture Doing this we controlled our future They exploited our natural resources But we still counted our successes Due to the difficulties that came This led our masters to shame Over 500 men were locked in a dungeon Making them look like some kind of luncheon Women were raped and abused by the Europeans And were sold like animals They were sent across the oceans To work on the plantations Until our salvation came The slave trade was abolished Cry freedom! Cry freedom! Cry freedom!  

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Name: Grace Darko, 17 years Class: Form 3 School: Academy of Christ the King To be a victim of slavery After the whites arrived, Maame Esi and her community were very happy to see them…They brought things Bibles, mirror and others. It was always a happy scene when children waved at them. It is sunset at Okyerdo. Maame Esi is in her kitchen cooking what she got from the farm. Kojo, coming from playing draft at the village square, peeped through the kitchen window. “What do we have this evening?” He asked his wife. “Bayere (yam) and stew” she replied “oranges and pineapples are being brought from the farm, we will eat them after supper” she added. Apart from that, Maame Esi was looking very nervous and every now and then she looked over the fence. Kojo asked her what was going on and she said Amantsewaa, her second child has broken another pot when she went to fetch water and so angry, she sent her back to bring her pot. But she is not yet back. Kojo got furious and said it was a mistake. Maame Esi admitted that it was her fault that everybody, except Amantsewaa was back together for supper. Kojo searched for Amantsewaa on the banks of the river shouting her name but could not find her. The family stayed awake all night and about an hour to morning, Kojo heard a shout from Aboagyes compound nearby. Aboagyes’ son Apea was being dragged by some armed white men. Kojo went to his friend to enquire what was going on. Aboagye said, “Apea is useless, I gave him a land to work on and see I get nothing. But these people, I mean the whites, have given me a mirror. I can see my face very well”. Kojo replied harshly “how can you give a whole being for this piece of thing, would you take it with you to your grave? Will it take care of you while you are old? Will it be the next family heir? Aboagye don’t you have a heart? See how they are pushing him away! Return that useless thing for something better, your son”. Aboagye frowned upon Kojo’s statement and replied “listen my friend this is more important. I cannot stay here and feed someone who would not give me anything all his life, hay! You better exchange one of your children for something before they themselves capture one or you will gain nothing. Kojo stood there for a long time then said “Are you really saying that they are capturing people? For what? Oh! “Are you not in this village? These good people need hands, they cannot work and since we are good at hard work, they rather take us” Aboagye answered.

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Kojo gazed at him and said “No! Wait I cannot believe it Amantsewaa cannot go without my concern. Not at all!” He went back to his hut and found out she is still not back. He went to the palace but the chief was of no use, he said the people (the whites) had promised them good will. He went to where the Whites were and unfortunately he was captured and both hands and legs were chained. He was thrown into a dark room. Maame Esi waited and waited but the two most important people in her life were not seen for months and she came to understand that the Whites had enslaved most people to work. The village was now a sad place to be because people always hid and did not work anymore for fear of being captured. Meanwhile Kojo was suffering with others, sometimes he would not get food to eat. He knew no one in the room but as time went on they got to know each other. Kwamena narrated his story of how he was brought there. He greeted some White men and they asked him for directions; They asked him to lead them and he was captured. Kojo told his story also. Then they saw a young man whom Kojo met the first day being beaten and dragged to the room. They said he escaped the night before and he was sold back by his people in exchange for Bible and mirror. After sometime, he was sent out of the room and never brought back. This touched Kojo’s heart and he started shouting and insulting them. He was caned. This made the man who had never cried in his youthful years cry. Some other men were being led out of the room and others brought in. They were all strange to him, not even one is from his village so that he can ask them about his family and if Amantsewaa had returned or if she was with the Whites as he suspected. The following day it was Kwamena’s turn. The whites came for him. Kojo’s only hope is being sent away. “Ah Maame Esi if you had only forgiven Amantsewaa this would not have happened” he sorrowfully said. A few days later Kojo was taken outside and together with another group he was led by some men to another room. On their way he took time to study where he was and looking around he saw Amantsewaa with some other women. He started shouting her name trying to get close but the guards caned him the more. For some time he saw it was useless; he just wept. Amantsewaa also couldn’t hide her tears mentioning her father’s name and saying he shouldn’t leave her. They dragged Kojo out and that was the last time he saw any of his family members. In another cell they were moved into another room which didn’t look much like the dungeons; metal was placed in hot fire and back to their bodies to show the master they belong to him. Later they were led to a house on the sea. In the ship Kojo looked back for the last time and decided that it was over. They were packed together in the ship; they slept with a dead body and had little food to eat. For days one will sleep by a dead man before being removed and thrown at sea. So Maame Esi told her grandchildren about how their grandfather was never seen again. She said rumours have it that he died at sea before getting to the white man’s land or died on the land. And it was then passed on to us either by those who escaped such misery or by the whites themselves.

“A contextualized, close and personal story that can easily be related to” Mojisola Okuribido-Seriki, Regional Advisor for Culture, UNESCO Accra

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  Name: Francis Owusu, 19 years Class: Form 3 School: Academy of Christ the King The transatlantic slave trade Slavery, Slavery a bad experience One must never go through Putting myself in their shoes I see tears in their eyes I feel the pain in their heart I see the scars that remain My ancestor, your ancestor, our ancestors The fathers of our land were the slaves Sons of the land filled with honey and milk I call them the royals Around the 1518s it all began They came by sea To trade and to see They brought clothes, guns and gunpowder For our precious gold, ivory and kola nuts Later they went away with our fathers My ancestors, your ancestors, our ancestors Not as free people, not as my royals but as slaves to places like United States, South America and the West Indies They tilled their gardens and built their cities Captured as war captives, heavy debtors and criminals The cold castles of Cape-Coast Become a hell of home Dungeons become the room of multitude Men and women sold as stock in the market Whiles others die in dungeons They were branded with hot iron like The brand on my saucepan Packed in ships like canned sardines And sailed across the Atlantics The transatlantic slave trade was the name. The UN now educates us not to be Discriminative for black and white are the same For love is the universal language for peace

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And I pray slave trade never continues In any part of this world.  

“Well written with quite a bit of irony” Mojisola Okuribido-Seriki, Regional Advisor for Culture, UNESCO Accra

Grace Aba Darko, 17 years Class: Form 3 School: Academy of Christ the King Slavery the unforgotten misery It seemed that in my home I escaped To unknown grounds with new faces With halting glances from men half dead and chained There where the dim past and future mingle What to eat is being gotten with major races My years of living together; Now I am single I was a happy man till you came In your ships and promised us goodwill You were white that brought you fame But what was inside your heart and mind Did not churn out a sweet spirit of service and truth For you we worked but the love you don’t remind That is slavery This brought us misery We no more had wisdom for you had mastery Another day we were sent to a port in sea miles There is no family, what an exile? On! Suddenly, there was an eye that sees every act With love, commanded all to swim abreast with united dreams Till our eyes meet with memories of the past It’s a bye; Goodbye to slavery.    Name: Portia Williams, 18 years School: Academy of Christ the King Class: Form 3

The Gold Coast Gold Coast was my name I got my name from the gold that I had Until they came in

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They took all that belong to me Left me with nothing Living my children crying day in and out Lost my strength, wealth and able children These people are different in colour and mind They came in as saviours and promised us the world I left them in, gave them all that they needed Gave them land to build their castles Butter trade was going on well Gold for gun, gunpowder, old cloths For many years we traded happily Then this saviours turn to be our conquest They changes from trade for gold for humans They made us slaves in our own land Took my children made them slaves in their own country Without food and many die Why should this happen to me No, I have to fight and get my independent Thanks to the big six, Yaa Asantewaa and all the people who helped Am now a free woman and my name is Ghana I changed my name to tell my children they are free from slavery And everything is over, no one can make us slaves in our country Togetherness is the key to freedom, so my children be one Long live Ghana, long live Africans!                                                                                                                                                                                            

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