Dag 49: Accra na Cape Coast

(English Translation Below)

Dag 49: Accra na Cape Coast
 
Ons ry nogsteeds onder polisiebegeleiding ná ons skoolbesoek gister. En ons hotelkostes in Cape Coast word gedek. Ongelooflik hoe vinnig mens gewoond raak aan spesiale behandeling!
 
Rondom middagete kom ons by die hotel aan, pak af en word deur die polisie geneem na die Elmina kasteel buite Cape Coast. 'n Gruwelike gebou.
 
Kyk na die foto. Dis geneem van waar die Portugese, en later die Hollandse, goewerneur sou staan en afkyk na die vroue-kerker. 'n Klip-hel waar die vroue aangehou is voordat hulle as slawe verkoop is. Die goewerneur sou een uitkies om hom na sy kwartiere te vergesel. Sou sy weier, was sy sonder kos en water tot sy sterf. Sy sou met die houttrappies vanuit die kerker opklim na hier waar hy staan en wag. In sy kwartiere, ruim en met 'n uitsig oor die hartseer see, sou hy haar verkrag en later weer weggooi die kerker in.
 
Kyk weer na die foto. Die verdieping bokant die vroue-kerker, met die langwerpige luike en driehoekies geverf, was die Hollandse kerk. Psalm 132 inge-ets aan die binnekant van daardie vertrek, bokant die deur wat na die verste kant oor die kasteel-grag uitkyk. Hier sou die goewerneur en sy offisiere en sendelinge Sondae bymekaarkom om te aanbid, want om Afrika te kersten was 'n heilige roeping. Hulle sou die pyn van die vroue in die kerker onder hulle deur die houtvloer kon hoor terwyl hulle stilraak vir gebed. Die reuk van stukkende lywe kon ruik.
 
Sommige slawe is deur die Europeers self gevange geneem. Die meeste is deur Afrika-konings aan die Europeers verkoop in ruil vir wapens. 'n Bose bondgenootskap deur die base.
 
Ons ry terug hotel toe. Regs van ons die see. Palmbome. 'n Lang vakansiestrand. Eet- en drinkplekkies van hout wat die verte in kyk. Links van ons die grashutte en skarrelende hoenders. Vroue wat gebukkend staan en wasgoed was, vee, vuurmaak vir koskook. Babas op die rug. Kinders aan die pante. Die mans waarskynlik uit op die skuite.
 
 
Day 49: Accra to Cape Coast
 
We are still traveling under police escort after our school visit yesterday. And our hotel costs in Cape Coast are covered. It's amazing how quickly one gets used to special treatment!
Around noon, we arrive at the hotel, unpack, and are taken by the police to Elmina Castle outside Cape Coast. A horrifying structure.
Look at the photo. It was taken from where the Portuguese, and later the Dutch, governor would stand and look down at the women's dungeon. A stone hell where the women were kept before being sold as slaves. The governor would pick one to accompany him to his quarters. If she refused, she would be left without food and water until she died. She would climb the wooden stairs from the dungeon to where he stood waiting. In his quarters, spacious and with a view of the sorrowful sea, he would rape her and then send her back to the dungeon.
 
Look at the photo again. The floor above the women's dungeon, with the elongated hatches and painted triangles, was the Dutch church. Psalm 132 etched on the inside of that room, above the door overlooking the far side of the castle moat. Here, the governor and his officers and missionaries would gather on Sundays to worship because converting Africa was a holy calling. They would hear the pain of the women in the dungeon beneath them while they knelt for prayer on the wooden floor. The smell of broken bodies.
 
Some slaves were captured by the Europeans themselves. Most were sold to the Europeans by African kings in exchange for weapons. The diabolical brotherhood of the bosses.
 
We drive back to the hotel. To our right, the sea. Palm trees. A long vacation beach. Wooden eating and drinking places looking into the distance. To our left, the thatched huts and clucking chickens. Women bending down to do laundry, sweep, make fires for cooking. Babies on their backs. Children by their sides. The men probably out fishing for the day's meal.

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