Along the coast of Ghana, visitors can still see the former slave castles built during the Atlantic Slave Trade. There has been disagreement among Ghanaians about what to do with the castles, whether they should stay standing as a symbol of human suffering or not. Today they stand as a mark on Ghana’s historical timeline. I do not think I can find the proper words to convey my experience visiting the Elmina Slave Castle; nevertheless, I can say with certainty the trip was nothing short of a stirring experience.The Elmina Slave Castle is not particularly special. It is just one of many slave castles and does not stand out from any of the others. I say this to emphasize the extent of suffering brought on in this era of history. The Elmina Slave Castle is one location. There are many others just like it, with the same history and the same horrors.In Elmina one can see the cramped, tight spaces where thousands of human beings were herded, caged, and treated as filth. Listening to the tour guide and hearing the history of Elmina Slave Castle introduced a frame of thought that I had never truly considered before: reading about it in history books does not do justice to the horrors and atrocities committed. Walking around in the cramped spaces a murky smell lingered about. It was not pleasant, and hit me even harder as I listened to the tour guide. He talked about how many people were kept in these enclosed spaces, about the amount of human waste that would collect in this same place, how the smell of hundreds of people trapped together, sweating in the humidity, and the scent of human waste gathering around them, was complemented by the dead still trapped inside with the living.The lives of these captured individuals offered no hope and the walls that surrounded them only corroborated the fact that their lives were over. The worst space in the castle was the "Place of No Return,” a hole in which the slaves were shuffled out and led onto the boats that would take them away. Looking out past the stones that make up this small hole you see the sea stretching out in front of you. It was at that moment that I did not want to take pictures anymore. I sat down and touched the ground so many feet had had to walk over out the small hole and towards the sea. Even after the tour group moved on, I spent a long time just sitting and thinking about everything.There is no proper way to process what happened in those 300+ years of slavery -- even when you are standing in a place where it all happened. It's one of those things that can't be explained. You just have to see it. [cincopa A0OAWAtT9oV0] This article was written by Kevin Pham. Send an email to [email protected] to get in touch. Photo Credit: Kevin Pham