Sarah, Vicki, Syd, Mara, Sophia |
Early on in the trip we heard talk
that previous students got their hair braided while in Bolgatanga. Having always
wanted our hair braided with extensions we were excited about the
opportunity but apprehensive due to the issues surrounding cultural
appropriation in our society.
We were worried about how we would be viewed as
white women wearing an African hair style that is an essential aspect of their
culture.
After talking with our Ghanaian hosts it became clear that having our
hair braided would be seen as an appreciation of their culture by
community members and that we would be welcomed at the salon.
Our new friends.... |
So with this
understanding we went to a braid salon down the street from our guest house in Bolgatanga to inquire about getting our hair done later in the week. We were
warmly greeted by the staff who remembered Mara from her previous trip to Ghana
3 yeas ago. The staff made us feel so welcomed and eagerly showed us different
styles to choose from.
The staff noticed that both Sydney and I had blonde hair
and that none of the extensions they had in stock would be a match for our
light hair. To our surprise when we showed up on Sunday they had gone out and
specially purchased blonde extensions for our hair. It was quite a long
process from prepping the extensions, applying them into our hair and
throughout our braids, to burning the tips of the fake hair and dunking our
braids in hot water to “activate” and keep them in place.
Everybody pitching in.... |
After this we added
silver clips and silver string throughout our braids to add a bit more fun.
Most of our group got braids ranging from a full head to a few braids on the
side. The ladies in the salon loved sharing this large part of their culture
with us all day long and even referred to this day as “Canada Day” for them.
They appreciated our willingness to immerse ourselves in this experience while
we listened and danced to cultural music played through a boombox. Everyone’s
hair turned out wonderful and we are truly grateful for the experience.
Elyse, Christie and Alyshia |
Syd and Soph |
By Sophia Gray and Sydney Schindel
4th Year BSN Student
UBC Okanagan
I'm glad to see that there were some critical analyses and intentional reflection around wearing this hair style as white folks. I hope this intentional reflection and mindfulness continues. It wasn't long ago when students electing to go on this trip used language like 'i know now what it feels like to be marginalized'. there's a lot of nuance that has been historically missed in the curicullum for folks going on this trip so i'm hoping that has changed at UBCO since I graduated..
ReplyDelete