Belgian Journalist tells her experience in Ghana

Wa, May 4, GNA - A Belgian journalist, Miss Klaartje Van Rompaey, 25, said her first cultural shock in Ghana when her plane touched down at the Kotoka International Airport in Accra was to see people carry heavy loads on their heads.

"This is the first time I have seen this," Miss Van Rompaey, who reports for Mechelen State Television Station, the Ring TV, told the GNA in an interview.


Narrating her experiences Miss Van Rompaey said: " I have realized that here in Ghana, pedestrians care more about cars than drivers but in Belgiun drivers rather care more about the lives of pedestrians because they are considered the weaker side".


She said traffic news was the hottest news in Belgium, for community members to know about what was happening on a particular road.


"For instance, a dog or a goat can cause a traffic jam and no driver has the right to kill it. The traffic laws give equal protection to both animals and human beings", she said.

Miss Van Rompaey was in Wa to make a documentary about two Belgian volunteers at " Child Support Ghana" a Netherlands funded non-governmental organisation dedicated to maintaining street children in the region.


Miss Katrien Vanderneyden and Miss Kim Welman are also supporting the Wa School for the Deaf.


On the movement of buses, Miss Van Rompaey said bus drivers in Ghana waste time in their quest to get their buses full with passengers before they move. In Belgium, buses move according to time whether they are full with passengers or not.


Another experience she said shocked her was the indiscriminate manner traders sell their goods in the open market. " Everywhere in Ghana is turned into a market place and one can buy at any spot but in Belgium, goods are sold only at specific stores and shops", she said. Miss Van Rompaey praised the Ghanaian hospitality and said: "Ghanaians are peaceful and loving people, they care more about other people and this they express through greetings. I love this country".