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KCD Tamale, Ghana Trip February 7th – 18th, 2009
We gathered early Saturday morning at the Cincinnati International Airport. We were the second group of Kentucky Country Day (KCD) faculty and students to leave for Tamale, Ghana.
We brought nearly 400 pounds of gently-used soccer equipment with us, collected over an eight-week period through an equipment drive sponsored by KCD Middle School teachers Clark Pollitt and Matt Evans. We were also carrying nearly 200 pounds of medical and first aid supplies, generously donated by Louisville area physicians. Add to this the hundreds of return pen pal letters from KCD students to their Ghanaian friends, and you get the picture – twelve KCD faculty and students with 24 pieces of checked luggage waiting to be picked up at the airport in Accra.
Eric Quartey (protocol manager for the Ministry of Education) was there to meet us in Accra. He breezed us through customs (no small feat) into two awaiting vehicles and off we headed for a driving tour of Accra and a visit to the Kwame Nkrumah Monument.
On February 9 we arrived in Tamale. There to greet us were Haroon, Jahanfo, Mariam, Fati, Idrissu, Mubarak, Adima, and several other people representing Sister Cities of Tamale. It was a tremendous relief to be back in the gracious, warm, and hospitable arms of our Sister City representatives as they poured into the airport lobby to welcome us to their home.
The following day, we ate breakfast before heading out to meet the chiefs. We stopped at three palaces and were welcomed to Tamale and granted protection by these important men. For the first time, our young people really had a chance to experience genuine Ghanaian culture. Our afternoons were spent at Tamale Islamic Secondary School Education Center (TISSEC) with our students socializing and exchanging contact information with Ghanaian students. The Headmaster Idrisu joined us for every lunchtime meal and took the time to really get to know KCD’s students. At this point I would be remiss not to mention some Ghanaian food, specifically fufu and kenkey. Fufu is made from pounded yams formed into a pasty ball typically served with a spicy soup and fowl. Kenkey is pounded corn meal, slightly fermented and formed into a ball served with a hot pepper sauce with fish, fowl, or beef. Both dishes are delicious and very filling.
The following days were filled with many goings and doings: We delivered both pen pal letters and the soccer equipment to Dahin Sheli and TISSEC. We spent a morning touring Dahin Sheli and exchanging contact information with their students and faculty. We provided a small amount of first aid equipment to the two schools. We spent a morning traveling to three health facilities and provided each with donated medical equipment. The establishment of these links is a very exciting development in the Tamale/Louisville Sister City relationship. We also had an opportunity to Skype (free web-based voice and video conferencing software) with Mr. Mahaffey and members of the Rice family back in Louisville. Skype should prove a valuable tool in continuing to strengthen the links between KCD and TISSEC and Dahin Sheli. Ms. Stevens spent her time establishing the ground work for a rainwater catch system at Dahin Sheli.
The students spent two nights on home-stay visits with member of the Sister City Tamale committee. These visits proved extremely valuable for our young people to get a better sense of how our Ghanaian friends live and work on a day-to-day basis. I believe each KCD student returned from their home-stay with a richer appreciation of true Ghanaian hospitality and a genuine sense of purpose in continuing the linkages between our two cultures.
Our group also had the opportunity to take in the cultural market in Tamale. While at the market we stopped by to see the ladies from Collaboration with Women in Distress (COLWOD). COLWOD is a charity organization founded in 1995 to help abandoned women. Through teaching them skills, tie-dye, batik and sewing, COLWOD enables them to achieve economic independence as well as to regain their dignity*.
Over the weekend, we headed to Mole National Park. Seventeen faculty and students from TISSEC joined us. Headmaster generously provided the students dresses and shirts, in the school cloth, for their trip. It was official – KCD students were now fully enrolled at TISSEC.
KCD students began to process the week’s events and to discuss future goals of the KCD/ Tamale Sister City relationship. Sitting there with these nine young people being genuinely thoughtful, appreciative,
and responsible for future programmatic challenges ahead, the sense of purpose and humility hung as heavy as the African heat. We woke up early and embarked on a two-hour guided walking safari. We saw antelope, monkeys, baboons, and the star of Mole – elephants.
On the evening of our return, the KCD students invited the executive members of the Tamale Sister City Committee to a small meeting so they could show their appreciation. I believe it was during this event that our young people connected deeply with our Ghanaian hosts and during this time the mission of the Sister Cities program became focused and clear. Our visit was never about the things we can bring over in suitcases, the real substance of these trips is when the non-material exchange of friendship, hospitality, respect, kindness, humanity, and love crystallizes in the minds of young people far from home under the auspices of a program and people as vibrant and strong as the Tamale/Louisville Sister City program.
We finished our trip with a going-away party on Monday night. Many tears were shed and gifts exchanged as our visit came to an end. We arrived home in Louisville, eager to share our experiences with our peers and colleagues, ready to reflect on our wonderful visit and the work ahead to make the Sister City connections between Louisville and Ghana stronger for the future
By Tim Rice
* Taken from literature provided by COLWOD |
