On September 17th, Ako-san, an international student at OKU University who teaches English at a high school in Ghana, led a session where we learned about the illegal small-scale gold mining known as "Galamsey," which has recently become a big social issue in Ghana. Each participating student was handed a piece of Ghana chocolate and asked to consider how the rise in global chocolate prices is connected to the problems in Ghana. Ako-san, who explained the location of Ghana in Japanese while looking at a map of the African continent, created a friendly atmosphere and connected it to some somewhat difficult social issues.

First, we watched a 5-minute video footage from the BBC news, and after Ako-san explained the background and current situation of this issue, we discussed in groups the problems caused by illegal gold mining by examining cards with questions from different perspectives. Here are some examples of the tasks given to the groups:

1. Due to the presence of mercury, a harmful substance, health problems are occurring among local residents near the gold mining sites.

2. Young people in the village are involved in small-scale gold mining out of necessity, as they cannot find other employment.

3. The influx of brokers from overseas looking to buy gold has led to an increase in young people who want to involve themselves in gold extraction, bringing harm to their health.

4. The mining sites are destroying cacao trees, which has hindered cacao production, one of the Ghana's major industry, thereby damaging the environment and threatening the country's economy.

I hope this session helped us reflect on the issue of Galamsey in Ghana, located on the eastern side of the distant continent of Africa, and its connection to the rising global chocolate prices, its social background, the causes of this situation, and the interconnectedness of our world. It was a time to imagine the lives of people affected by these issues. This social issue will take a bit more time, so we plan to invite Ako-san back for a second session.