SLAVE ROOTS

Fort Prinzenstein • Keta • Volta Region

The Ghana Connection

Organising Committee

Freedom University Keta, in association with The 7R Future Leadership Institute is proud to offer the first on-site Slave Studies programme to be held in Africa, based at Keta, on our campus adjacent to the infamous slave prison and slave shipping port, Fort Prinzenstein, the epicenter of Gold Coast slavery.

Freedom University Keta is a Non-Profit Educational Institution Registered in Accordance with Ghana Law Registrar General’s Department Section 24 (Act 179) of the Companies Code, 1963.

The 7R Future Leadership Institute is an Educational Institution Registered in Belgium. Between 2007 and 2011 the Institute was temporarily called The Wall Street Journal Future Leadership Institute.

Dedication

This project is dedicated to the countless victims of man’s inhumanity to his fellow man, expressed most vividly in centuries of African slavery during which men, women and children were treated as little more than chattel.

Slavery did not cease with its abolition in the nineteenth century, rather, it has continued in myriad forms. Freedom Corps Ghana and its Pioneers represent a new and powerful arm in the battle against the poverty, ignorance, greed and intolerance that feed this evil practice.

Together, we will turn the tide, not overnight, but day by day, through helping victims regain their freedom and dignity, and improving conditions that encourage slavery.

Timings

FCG Inaugural Pioneer Program • June 28 – July 11, 2015

Faculty

Emmanuel Akyeampong is a professor of history and African and African American Studies at Harvard University.^[1] He is a faculty associate for the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, a previous board member of the W. E. B. Du Bois Institute, and has also previously held a prestigious Harvard College Professorship.^[2][3]

As a former (2002-06) Chair of the Committee on African Studies (now the Center of African Studies, under the leadership of founding director, Caroline Elkins), Akyeampong was instrumental, along with Henry Louis Gates and multiple other faculty members at Harvard University, in shaping the Department of African and African American Studies at Harvard. His research focuses on West African history, Islam in sub-Saharan Africa, disease and medicine, ecology, the African diaspora, political economy and trade.^[4][5] He is originally from Ghana.

The Ghana Connection

Fort Prinsensten (German: Prinzenstein; English: Prince’s Rock) was one of four major Danish structures in Ghana. Built in 1784 east of the Volta River in Keta, its purpose was defensive, designed to protect the area from competing colonial powers, and to serve as a bastion in the war against the Anlo Ewe. The town of Keta, the commercial capital of the thirty-six Anlo towns, was founded by Ewes who migrated from Togo.

As Danish influence waned and trade patterns altered, the fort became a dungeon for slaves awaiting transport to the Caribbean and the American Colonies. On 30 March 1850 all Danish Gold Coast Settlements were sold to Britain, and incorporated into the British Gold Coast.

The labor-intensive agriculture of the New World demanded a large workforce. Crops such as sugar cane, tobacco and cotton required an unlimited and inexpensive supply of strong backs to assure timely production for the European market.  Slaves from Africa – human beings treated as chattel – offered the solution.

The slave trade between Western Africa and the America’s reached its peak in the mid-18th century when it is estimated that over 80,000 Africans annually crossed the Atlantic to spend the rest of their lives in chains. Of those who survived the voyage, the final destination of approximately 40% was the Caribbean Islands.

Thirty-eight percent ended up in Brazil, 17% in Spanish America and 6% in the United States. By 1860, there were an estimated 3.5 million Black Africans in what is now the United States, almost all, enslaved. Today, Fort Prinsensten, damaged and reduced by the relentless battering of the sea, is the symbol of slavery, an emblematic heart-wrenching ruin of great and tragic importance. For millions of African-Americans and descendants of slaves throughout the world. It is The Ghana Connection.

Freedom Campus

Freedom University, Keta, Ghana, was founded June 18, 2013, by Fortune Norris Addor & Michael Flannery, registered as a Non-Profit Organisation. Situated on nearly 25 acres of prime seafront property awarded to Freedom University by Keta Municipal Assembly, Freedom Campus (the site of Freedom University) offers hope, job creation and a boost to the economy of the people of Keta and the Volta Region. Proximity, and a good road system connecting Keta and the capital city of Accra and its international airport (two hours), facilitate travel, communications and logistics.

Mission Statement Freedom Campus

The mission of Freedom Campus is focused on housing, health, nutrition, education and the creation of opportunity for Ghana, and all Africans. Because of its unique setting – Freedom Campus is literally adjacent to the former infamous slave shipping port of Fort Prinzenstein – we have a never-ending obligation to remind the world of what happens when human beings are stripped of their dignity and traded as chattel. The practice of slavery in many forms continues around the world today, as always, fueled by avarice, poverty and ignorance. While we have few weapons to combat greed, evil and inhumanity, Freedom Campus will be at the vanguard of the war against the factors that allow slavery to flourish.

One of the 18th century Danish Colonial buildings on Freedom Campus awaiting restoration.

It is with this responsibility in mind that that a two week Keta-based programme for the study of slavery and Anlo-Ewe history has been developed under the umbrella of the Freedom Corps Ghana (FCG). We welcome all who wish to learn more about the history of Black African slavery, and Ghana, the most hospitable and tolerant of all African countries.

Course:
Slavery and Anlo History Studies – 14 Day Programme®

FCG Inaugural Pioneer Program • June 28 – July 11, 2015

Programme Highlights

Ghana’s forts, including Fort Prinzenstein at Keta, Elmina Castle and Saint George, played a primary role in this infamous chapter. Freedom University’s GFC project is Africa’s first organised study programme located in the immediate vicinity of a dungeon and transit port for slaves.

The intensity of exposure to the Pioneers’ own ancestral pasts will be reinforced by guided tours to slave centres, markets and houses within Ghana, Togo and Benin. Distinguished university and other lecturers will offer a comprehensive overview of African slavery under colonial powers, and the legacy this created.

At the same time, all activities will be oriented to involve Freedom Corps Ghana Pioneers personally with the people, culture, local history and current circumstances of the towns and regions that they visit.

Music, folk art, dancing, food, celebrations and personal contact with the peoples of Ghana, Togo and Benin, are at the heart of the FCG Pioneer experience.

When Pioneers have formed their impressions, discussed in open forums and workshops, they will be asked to engage their minds and creativity to find sustainable solutions to the critical problems of health, nutrition, housing and creating a viable economic base.

Programme Details

Day 1: Arrival Accra – Keta

Arrival by air in Accra, Kotoka International Airport, where Freedom Corps Ghana Pioneers will be welcomed by Freedom University staff. Transfer by minibus or bus to Keta, approximately two hours.  Pioneers Arrival at Lorneh Lodge, Keta, a comfortable, modern, beachfront hotel complex, one of our ‘Freedom Hostels’, featuring a superb beach.

For early arrivals, lunch, snacks and beverages will be served. Afternoon free for becoming familiarized with the area and meeting other Pioneers.

1730 ◊ Early arrival Pioneers will be welcomed with soft drinks, snacks, beverages and their first evening in the ‘Land of Smiles’.

1830 ◊ Dinner, Weather permitting, barbecque, drums and dancing on the beach.

Evening Day 1: Enjoy and relax on your first evening in the ‘Land of Smiles’.

Day 2: Keta – Atakor – Keta

0700 ◊ Buffet Breakfast

0900 ◊ Freedom Hall (Adjacent to Fort Prinzenstein): Welcoming, including outline of planned activities of Freedom Corps Ghana Pioneers. Badges and T Shirts will be distributed together with an itinerary, information sheets and background documents.

1030 ◊ Brief tour of Fort Prinzenstein followed by history and discussion

1230 ◊ Lunch a la carte in Keta Marketplace (behind Fort Prinzenstein)

Fort Prinzenstein

1330 ◊ Visit Atakor, site of an important slave market, supplier to the Ashanti. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a2G4gsO3g_g)

1500 ◊ Visit to traditional voodoo shrines in the vicinity of Keta. Discussion of Ghana’s religions.

1700 ◊ Visit to Agbozume, home to people of Keta who fled flood damage. Discussion of sea barrier and the effects on the local economy. Open discussion of possibilities to enhance infra-structure.

1900 ◊ Weather permitting, barbecue on beach with music, singing, dancing and drumming.

Day 3: Keta – KMA – Keta

0700 ◊ Buffet Breakfast

0900 ◊ Keta Municipal Assembly, CEO Sylvester Tornyevah. Municipal priorities and programmes (http://keta.ghanadistricts.gov.gh/)

Return to Freedom Campus.

1200 – 1800 ◊ Keta Lagoon (26,000 sq. km.) Lunch at Lagoon. Recreational activities ◊ Individual preference.

1930 ◊ Buffet at Freedom Hostel ◊ Evening storytelling, Music and entertainment on beach.

Day 4: Keta – Accra – Keta

Kwame Nkrumah Museum

0700 ◊ Buffet Breakfast

0830 ◊ Assemble for bus to Accra: In Accra, pioneers will visit important historical sites including the W.E. B. Dubois Centre, Kwame Nkrumah Museum, Osu Castle and, time permitting, Fort James.

1730 ◊ Return to Keta

2000 ◊ Buffet Dinner

Evening free

Day 5: Keta Freedom Campus

0700 ◊ Buffet Breakfast

Here’s what Queen Mother, Barbara Baeta, whose firm catered to the Obamas, serves:
Tom Brown (porridge made from toasted corn flour)
Hausa Koko (a spiced millet porridge)
Akra (a black-eyed pea fritter, aka kose, akara)
Beans Stew (a stew often made with smoked fish and red beans or black-eyed peas and eaten with ripe plantain)
Fried Plantain (probably ripe or “red” plantain slices)
Waakye with Meat Stew (rice and black-eyed peas with a meat stew made with tomatoes, onions, probably beef, etc.)
Galifoto (also known as “gari foto,” a one-pot made from cassava meal similar to Brazil’s farofa)
Oto with Boiled Eggs (a traditional dish made from mashed yam, onion and palm oil garnished with hard-boiled eggs)
Abolo (a baked corn dough and flour or sweet potato dough; another version omo abolo is made from rice) & Kenkey (steamed soured corn dough balls)
(Left: Groundnut soup – fabulous!)

Shito (pepper sauce – not pictured)
Scrambled Eggs with Bacon
Grilled Tomatoes & Sausages
Brown & White Rolls (Above menu courtesy BetumiBlog, Fran Osseo-Assare) www.betumi.com

0900 ◊ Freedom Hall for summaries of first observations

1030 ◊ Assignment of case studies. Divide into workshop teams

1230 ◊ Lunch a la carte in Keta Marketplace (behind Fort Prinzenstein)

1330 ◊ Continuation of workshops

1630 ◊ Each workshop to present its conclusion in a 30 minute summary.

1930 ◊ Pioneers gather at open air buffet on beach. Music and dancing.

Day 6: Keta – Togo – Benin

The slave house or “Maison des Esclaves” was one of the last clandestine slave trading houses in operation after the abolition of slavery. Located less than a mile from the beach, the house was the last stop for slaves before boarding slave ships off the coast of Togo. The Afro-Brazilian style building has one main floor and a sub floor where slaves were hidden while waiting for shipment.

0700 ◊ Buffet Breakfast

0930 ◊ Assemble outside Freedom Hall for transport to Lomé, one hour drive.

1030 ◊ Arrival Lomé. Conducted tour of slave houses.

1230 ◊ Lunch in typical local restaurant.

1400 ◊ Visit historic slave sites, followed by tour of city and port of Lomé.

1600 ◊ Continue to Benin.

1800 ◊ Check into hotel.

1900 ◊ Dinner. Venue to be determined

Day 7: Benin – Keta

0800 ◊ Breakfast in Benin hotel

0900 ◊ Board bus for tour (partly on foot) of the ‘Slaves Route’, Ouidah, Benin:

From the 17th to the 19th century, the city of Ouidah served as a major slave-trading post in West Africa. Located in what is now the Republic of Benin, Ouidah witnessed the export of more than a million slaves. Often, Africans supplied fellow Africans as human cargo in exchange for such items as alcohol, cloth, bracelets, knives, swords, and especially guns, which were in high demand because of intertribal warfare.

1230 ◊ Leisurely Lunch at beachfront restaurant, followed by free time.

1530 ◊ Rejoin bus.

1800 ◊ Arrive Keta

1900 ◊ Buffet dinner at Lorneh Lodge, followed by dancing, drumming and singing on beach.

Day 8: Keta

0700 ◊ Buffet Breakfast

Morning free to explore Keta, meet the welcoming people and exotic animals; enjoy the market and view the splendid Danish Colonial architecture. A number of these buildings have been granted to Freedom University. We need help to restore them.

1230 ◊ Lunch a la carte in Keta Marketplace (behind Fort Prinzenstein)

1500 ◊ Meet in Freedom Hall for informal talks and group discussions

1900 ◊ Dinner

Evening free

Day 9: Keta – Elmina via Winneba

0800 ◊ Assemble for bus transport

1300 ◊ Lunch – Winneba

The Dutch West India Company captured Elimina in 1637; in subsequent centuries it was mostly used for the slave trade. The British attacked the city in 1782, but it remained in Dutch hands until 1872, when the Dutch Gold Coast was sold to the British.

1400 ◊ Hovede House Personalized Tour of ‘Challenging Heights’ conducted by James Kofe Annan, the founder.

Challenging heights is a non-governmental organization in Ghana protecting the rights of children and focusing their anti-trafficking efforts in the fishing and cocoa industry. According to Challenging Heights, over 24,000 children in Ghana fall victim to the worst forms of child labour annually.

Watch a moving documentary about child labour here:

1630 ◊ Bus to Elmina

1830 ◊ Check into hotel.

Dinner in local restaurant to be determined.

Day 10: Elmina/Fort George – Keta

0800 ◊ Breakfast in hotel, then

Cape Coast Castle or Elmina (‘The Mine’) Castle St George for a tour of the slave dungeons, visited by the United States President Barack Obama and his family in July 2009.

“We toured Cape Coast Castle, a place for centuries where men, women, and children of this nation and surrounding areas were sold into slavery. I’ll never forget the image of my two young daughters, the descendants of Africans and African Americans, walking through those doors of no return, but then walking back those doors of return. It was a remarkable reminder that while the future is unknowable, the winds always blow in the direction of human progress.” (President Barack Obama who visited the castle in 2009)(Picture: Wikipedia)

1100 ◊ Board bus for return to Keta

Lunch en route

2000 ◊ Dinner Keta◊Evening free

Day 11: Keta

0700 ◊ Buffet Breakfast

0900 ◊ Assemble in Freedom Hall for lectures

1230 ◊ Lunch a la carte in Keta Marketplace (behind Fort Prinzenstein)

1330 ◊ Freedom Hall Pioneer Teams gather for work shop assignments.

1700 ◊ Review and Discussion

1900 ◊ Dinner◊Evening free

Day 12: Keta – Bomigo (Island) – Keta

http://www.firstbreathmidwife.com/ghana-story/

0700 ◊ Breakfast Buffet

0900 ◊ Assemble for Bus

1030 – 1130 ◊ Arrive by boat ferry at Bomigo Island.

Lunch on the island, famous for its drummers and artisans in clay and bronze. Festive dancing and music.

1700 ◊ Return to Keta

Clay figurines made by people living in Ghana 1,400-years ago Courtesy University of Manchester and University of Ghana.

1930 ◊ Dinner Evening free

Day 13: Keta

0700 ◊ Buffet Breakfast

0900 ◊ Assemble at Freedom Hall for concluding talks and discussion of follow-up activities.

1230 ◊ Lunch a la carte in Keta Marketplace (behind Fort Prinzenstein)

1330 ◊ Continuation of morning discussions.

1500 ◊ Formal conclusion of Inaugural Freedom Corps Programme

Pack, prepare for departure the following morning

1900 ◊ Gala Farewell Dinner: Freedom Corps Ghana Pioneer Certificates and Diplomas.

2100 ◊ Beach Party

Day 14: Departure

0700 ◊ Buffet Breakfast

Transfer by car or mini-van to Kotoka International Airport, Accra

Fees & Conditions

Fees & Conditions will be published in a couple of days.

• Attendees need to be insured.
• Attendees need to have received the proper inoculations (see below).
• Attendees will need to sign a “Release of Liability and Assumption of Risks” from Freedom University and The 7R Future Leadership Institute.
• Freedom University nor The 7R Future Leadership Institute cannot and do not assume responsibility for any personal injuries or property damage.
• The 7R Future Leadership Institute is a marketing and content partner, not the official organizer of the course, nor the owner of the Freedom Campus.
• Freedom University has the right to refuse attendees.
• Please contact us for requiring the necessary documents.

If interested in this unique course, please contact kristine (at) fli.institute

Freedom Corps Pioneer Program: Information and Links

Inoculations

The 7R Future Leadership Institute

Bridging Higher Education and Industry

Inquirere et Immutare

The concept of a virtual institute bringing higher education and industry together was developed by Gert van Mol in 2007. Based on research that links the 7R variant of the DRD4 gene to curiosity and restlessness ‒ values we embrace ‒ we have added 7R as a vanguard to our title.

The adage of The 7R Future Leadership Institute says it all: “Inquirere et Immutare” or “To Study and Reform”. We believe in lifelong learning as a way to grow ourselves from birth ‘til death, not only to acquire knowledge and skills, but to continuously improve our personal environment and hence society by our actions.

We continually explore worldwide opportunities for knowledge building and sharing, innovation and networking, in order to create awareness of current issues.

It is in this spirit that The 7R Future Leadership Institute endorses the Freedom Corps Ghana Pioneer program at Freedom University. With an estimated 35.8 million men, women and children trapped around the world, modern day slavery is an undeniable fact. We support the work of the FCG Pioneer program in taking responsibility for reminding the world of what happens to human beings when they are enslaved.

The essence of the FCG program is congruent with the mission, vision and purpose of The 7R Future Leadership program.

For further information about The 7R Future Leadership Institute, please visit:

http://fli.institute or contact Kristine@fli.institute.

‘Little palm tree, stop crying,  You child is the tall palm tree’ Ghana Proverb

Copyrights

FREEDOM CORPS GHANA
A Freedom University Keta Project
‘Honor the Past and Anticipate the Future’

Inaugural Pioneer Program • June 28 – July 11, 2015
In Association with the 7R Future Leadership Institute

FREEDOM UNIVERSITY
Dedicated to Human Dignity and Shared Knowledge
KETA, VOLTA REGION, GHANA

Contents, Design and Layout by Michael Flannery ◊ Lannebert ◊ March 2015
‘Freedom Corps’, ‘The Ghana Connection’ and ‘Slave Roots’ are Registered Trademarks of Freedom University, Keta, Ghana
© Copyright Freedom University Keta.
Pictures and articles: unless otherwise specified: copyright Michael Flannery