It has been a life changing day in Ghana today. Before I let you know what happened, let me introduce myself. My name is Josh Ault. I am a teacher at Dawson Middle School in Southlake, Texas. I teach 7th grade social studies and 7th/8th grade journalism classes. I decided to join the Witness Tree Institute of Ghana because I think it is the role of a teacher to have as many experiences as you can, so you can bring those experiences back to your classroom. I did not have a plan to come to Africa this summer, but when I was accepted to the Institute, I was excited for the opportunity. How many times can you say you have visited Africa? I had no idea what I would encounter here, but it has been overwhelming. I have only been here three days, and the way I will teach has already changed and there are so many new ideas I am ready to incorporate into my classroom.
Let’s get back to today. I wish I could share everything I have experienced, but today has been special. It is a day I will never forget. It is a day that will be part of my life forever.
Josh and Dela outside St. George’s Castle on the coast in Elmina, Ghana
I knew we would be visiting two castles today. One called St. George’s Castle, and the other called Cape Coast Castle. I also knew they played a part in the international slave trade starting in the 1500s. I was not sure what to expect when we arrived.
At both locations, tour guides took us through each with an hour-long presentation. We visited St. George Castle in Elmina first. This is the oldest European structure in West Africa and was built by the Portuguese. They are the ones who started the slave trade in Ghana. It then switched hands to the Dutch who continued the international slave trade to the Americas. We went into the dungeons where the men and women were separated. We saw cells where rebellious Africans were put if they tried to fight back. We saw the secret door where the European leaders would sneak African women up to their rooms and rape them. We saw that even though they had a church at the castle, they held hundreds of slaves below them. At both locations there is a door that says “Door of No Return”. This is the door that leads to the ships. For many, they died of disease at these castles, and for many, they never made it across the ocean. If they died before the journey their bodies were just thrown into the ocean.
Our group visiting the inside one of the dungeons where enslaved folks were held captive.
After this first castle the realization of the magnitude of what happened here and how it changed the world started to sink in . . . then we went to the next castle. The castle was called Cape Coast Castle. Everything changed here.
The final words posted on the way out of St. George’s Castle, as we departed down the coast a short drive to Cape Coast Castle
This castle was built by the British many years after St. George Castle. It has similar features as the other, except for one part that left me feeling sad and that I was standing at a sacred place. Our guide at Cape Coast Castle explained while we were in the male slave dungeon where they would hold up to 1,000 male slaves they provided no restrooms. So their feces would just accumulate on the ground. So eventually you no longer saw the bricks on the floor. He pointed out how they were able to clean the bricks in one room, but they left a spot where you could see the difference. In another room, the floor was still plastered in the humiliation of the past. As I walked throughout this dungeon, I started to realize I was walking on part of the past. The suffering that was done here, and the sadness that slavery has caused through out the world. It all started here and I was able to see with my own two eyes a part of history that still impacts our world today. I had a desire for everyone to come here and to see this part of the past. I want my students to know what happened here and the horrible journey many made to the New World. I want them to know it is up to us to make a difference to change the past. I want them to know they can do it.
The area of the floor where the bricks were left uncleaned at Cape Coast Castle
The final part of the tour led us to the “Door of No Return'' of the Cape Coast Castle, but on the other side the door read “Door of Return''. Our tour guide explained that even through the pain of so many, it is up to us to return and go back, so that it can never happen again.
It is up to us to return and teach the past to make a brighter future for all. I am so grateful for the Witness Tree Institute of Ghana and this amazing experience to visit Africa.
– Josh
A moving memorial left by ancestral visitors at St. George’s Castle