Women, Religion, and Culture
January 8th – 28th, 2005
| At the Ntonabuw shrine for the St. Anthony statue relic.... | |
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| ...the priest explains the history and meaning of the shrine... | ....as Wellesley students, faculty and local villagers listen. |
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| At Kakum National Park some brave students made the Canopy Walk. | |
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Elmina Castle is one of the many structures on the west coast of Africa which "warehoused" enslaved Africans before they were shipped across the Atlantic.Built by the Portuguese in 1482, it was later controlled by the Dutch (1637-1872), then the English (1872-1957). At the peak of its role in the trade in humans, over a thousand Africans were crowded into its dungeons (so small it was almost impossible for anyone to lie down) and approximately 700,000 Africans per year were shipped from the Gold Coast (Ghana) alone. During this "warehousing," conditions for Africans were unsanitary, food was minimal, and rape of enslaved women by Europeans was routine. Such conditions continued on slave ships. It has been estimated that, for every one African who arrived in the New World, twelve had died during the process of capture, "warehousing," and the Middle Passage across the Atlantic. In 2001, the United Nations declared the Atlantic Slave Trade a "crime against humanity."
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| The "Door of No Return" (above) was the exit through which all enslaved Africans were forced. It led directly to slave ships. | Students looking out of the "Door of No Return." |
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| The women's dungeon (above). | The Portuguese built a small chapel for their own use in the middle of the large central courtyard. |
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