Environmentalism?

Things have begun to normalize on campus. Everyone is moved into there rooms, lectures have started and moved past the syllabus, and I am starting to develop some kind of routine. I am attempting to mix courses between the Faculty of Humanities and the Faculty of Sciences, which may prove to be a risky move. Unlike universities at home that allow students to pick and choose courses from just about every discipline, the registration process is much more rigid here. I would say that the main cause of the inflexibility is the disorganized and poorly connected nature of the University of Ghana. Not to say that the level of instruction is inferior to colleges in the U.S just that the school is incredibly underfunded and staffed making a streamlined scheduling system nearly impossible.

For now I am offering (that is the Ghanaian terminology) courses in both the Department of Geography and Resource Development and the Department of Oceanography and Fisheries. The University does not have a department dedicated to the study of environmental science or policy, so I am doing my best to mix and match classes that have some environmental relevance. In my honest opinion, after roughly two weeks of class, I'm undecided about the quality of the instruction and material of my lectures. Keep in mind that the United States has had over 40 years of experience dealing with environmental legislation. In contrast, Ghana has been a democratic country for just over 50 years. Therefore, the country is in the earliest stages of drafting environmental policies and the ability of the government to plan and implement large scale projects is limited. Not to mention that the country has an illiteracy rate of nearly 60 percent and almost 30 percent of the population is currently living underneath the poverty line. As my friend Kina said so poignantly, "environmentalism comes after breakfast." I think there is a lot of truth in that statement. I've often heard my instructors at UC Davis say that environmental policies are a luxury of the wealthy class and the more developed world. How can you really expect people to care where and how they dispose of their waste if they are surviving from meal to meal. It's a difficult question to answer, but I feel like Ghana is at least beginning to take the necessary steps to approach the problem head on.

The internet cafe is shutting down so I'll have to revisit this topic next time. Just remember it is a privilage to have the capacity to recycle your newspaper and drive low emission vehicles...use it wisely.