By Ewoenam Kpodo, GNA
Hedzranawo (VR), March 16, GNA – Some pupils of Vim Nation Academy, a private school at Aflao in the Ketu South Municipality have described lives of the people sold into slavery as being nothing short of “sheer suffering.”
The pupils spoke to Ghana News Agency (GNA) when they visited the Hedzranawo Slavery Museum on an excursion, as part of the school’s effort to celebrate Ghana’s heritage month and to let the students appreciate academic lessons on the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade.
The pupils toured all seven sessions of the museum featuring aspects of slavery in the area, with exhibition materials in the showcases inside the museum galleries such as ancient bottles, ceramic plates, glass and beads and the dungeon, things involved in the salve trade.
They said they were happy because the excursion provided them the practical aspect of what they had been taught on the history of slavery, but any other thing they learned and experienced at the museum made them sad and gave them an insight into what their forefathers went through.
Godwin Semanyo, a primary three pupil said, “I went down the dungeon which I understand is a centuries-old building for keeping slaves waiting to be sent across the sea. It’s a tiny place and I felt a lot of heat while I was down there.
“They told us that a group of about 35-40 adults were kept there for days but we, little ones and a fewer number stayed down there for barely a minute and the heat was unbearable. That is suffering,” he said.
Angela Tengey, a primary four pupil, said she was privileged to have gone on the tour, because she had learnt a lot about her heritage including the knowledge that cowry shells were once used as medium of exchange (money).
Mr Michael Kwame Lanyo, the Proprietor and Head Teacher of Vim Nation Academy, said the museum was the best choice based on its proximity to the school and its importance in complementing lessons on the history of slavery, especially in a month of Ghana’s independence.
Miss Diana Enam Dogbe, a teacher in the school, described the tour as exciting, saying while some of the pupils were scared, others cried, and a few adventurous ones neither cried nor showed any sign of fear.
Hedzranawo Slavery Museum, a rehabilitated brick building which served as an ancient European Slave Post, was commissioned in January this year and opened daily to local and international tourists, except on Mondays.
It is one of the three-town tourism projects (the two others, Hedzranawo-Adzido Slave Market Memorial Centre and Adafienu Palace Slavery Museum currently at different stages of completion) which started in 2019 under the Coastal Volta Enslaved Route Project (CVERP) with sponsorship from Gerda Henkel Foundation.
The projects apart from helping to put the three communities of Hedzranawo, Adzido and Adafienu on the slave map to boost tourism potentials in the municipality, aim to identify, research and add value to all enslaved heritage sites on Ghana’s eastern coastline (from Aflao to Anloga areas) known as the infamous Slave Coast.
GNA