"My name is in America"

There is a bit of a back story to this photograph, taken four months ago at Anani Memorial International School.

I met Mr. Abdullah four years ago.  He has taught French at the school for close to forty years.  He is one of the most dedicated and energetic educators I have ever met.

Anani School is a small private school that serves the children of many struggling families in the slum of Nima.  The parents often make about $2.00 a day, and many of the pupils are orphans who are being raised by grandparents or others.  Parents make big sacrifices to send their children to this school, as the available public schools are overwhelmed.  But they are not always able to pay the fees, so the school often struggles and the teachers, such as Mr. Adbullah, often suffer.

We believe strongly that Yo Ghana! should always help in a way that encourages local initiative, so our board decided that the best way to assist the school was to ask parents and other community members to donate goods (such as onions) or services (such as music lessons) to the school, and we would match their contributions with cash.

The project was very successful.  It not only raised goods and services and money for the school, it also increased parents' pride in and commitment to it, and they loved the certificates.  Madam Samira says that she hung hers in her room "so that I can see it every morning and tell myself to contribute more because my name is in America."

I tell  you this story because I think it illustrates how careful we are with the money that you donate to us, and how hard our partners in Ghana work to do their part, often against great odds, in giving their children and their students a chance at a better life.

We are trying to raise $5,000 in December, about 25% of our budget for the coming year.  So far we have raised $1,100, so we need your help.

To contribute, just to to http://www.yoghana.org/donate.html -- or e-mail yoghana.org@gmail.com and ask for my mailing address.  As we are a 501(c)3, deductions are tax deductible.

The Secret About Mormons

I recently ran across an article on how Utah is attacking homelessness in Mother Jones, the radical
magazine, that reminded that educated people like me are often blind to all the good things that conservative churches and people are doing.

Mention the word "Mormon" or "Utah" around most well-educated liberals, and you'll soon be hearing about their sexism, racism, intolerance toward gays, and all manner of other cruelties.

If you happen to be one of those rare liberals who actually has some Mormon friends, you might notice that they tend to be very family oriented and generous.

Now Mother Jones tells us that one of the reasons that Utah has done such a fine job of reducing homelessness is that they have drawn on the Mormon principle of charity.  Rather than insisting that someone first get sober, drug free, and otherwise get their lives in order before getting shelter, it turns out that once homeless people have a home, they have a much easier time fixing the rest of their problems, so much so that it is costs less to give homeless people a home than it does to deal with all of their problems while they are living on the street.

In this world in which radicals, liberals, and conservatives are so often insulting rather than listening to each other, I find it pretty cool that Mother Jones is pointing out some excellent and humane work coming out of Utah and the Church of Latter Day Saints.

So I invite you to seek out some good news about a group whose politics or theology makes you uncomfortable.

Surviving My Teen Years in the 1970s

The image to the right is from "Dazed and Confused," a widely beloved film of high school in the mid-1970s.  Having been in high school in the mid-1970s, I find the film all-too realistic and therefore not all that funny.  I think the problem is that the film implies that being stupid and rebellious was some sort of achievement and without repercussions.  The film doesn't present the lives of people like my classmate who tried every way he could think of to be cool without success until he finally settled on his route to fame: taking more drugs than anyone else.  The end of that gambit was not funny.

I found high school both boring and frightening.  I was completely clueless about how to connect to young women, especially the ones I found attractive, but also put off by the continual stream of sexual harassment that the school tolerated.  Taking a strong interest in academics never seemed like a viable option for some reason.  I don't know if that was because that's the stage I was in or because so few adults or certainly students seemed all that interested in it.  I wasn't into drinking (partying), so that seemed to be a barrier.  Distance running ended up being my "thing," and gave me a small set of friends and certainly a strong sense of purpose.

It's interesting, though, now that I'm spending more time with the people I went to school with to find out how much I enjoy them, and it makes me wonder why I couldn't have been less rigid and frightened and judgmental as a teen and made more friends and gotten a better sense of what the world was like.  It felt like years to survive, not explore.

Inspiring Book: Find Me Unafraid

I recently read a particularly inspiring book: Find Me Unafraid: Love, Loss, and Hoe in an African Slum. by Kennedy Odede and Jessica Posner.

The authors met in Kibera, the extensive slum in Nairobi, Kenya.  Kennedy and was a home-grown community organizer who had overcome poverty and a tumultuous home life to become a powerful community member.  How poor was the group who got the community group started?  Well, they had just one pen to write notes.

Jessica was an idealistic and strong-willed university student from the U.S. spending a semester in Nairobi who told Kennedy that she was going to take the highly unusual step, for a westerner, of living in Kibera.  Find Me Unafraid explains how they worked together, became married, and, with the help of many other, have built a school for girls and many other institutions and services.

Two things I like about this book: First) The authors present themselves as partners.  Jessica has a lot more formal education and wealth than Kennedy does, but Kennedy is rich in life and leadership experience.  Second) The organization at the heart of the story was started by a group of slum residents who had just a pen--and a lot of determination.  They didn't wait for a Western NGO.

Yo Ghana! and (Real and Imagined) Terrorism

Whenever Americans perceive there to be a threat from abroad, from Ebola to terrorism, we tend to panic.  This occurs even though the odds of being killed by a terrorist--or Ebola--in the U.S. are infinitesimally small.

Indeed, some people argue that our reaction to threats of terrorism may create more terrorists than it eliminates.  This is not just about drone attacks that anger people by killing the innocent along with the guilty.  It also has to do with the belief that Americans are only interested in our own well being, are indifferent to the rest of the world.  And in fact terrorism can easily make Americans so afraid of "people different from us" that we make bad and cruel decisions.  Today most every historian and legal scholar concludes that the internment of Japanese-Americans curing World War II was not only inhumane and illegal, , it also hurt more than it helped the war effort.  But very few voices were raised against it at the time.

So, what does this have to do with Yo Ghana! and Ghana, a place were terrorism and other forms of violence are rare?

First, many of our Ghana schools provide hope to families who might otherwise give up.  Turning to violence and crime is commonly a last resort, when working hard and playing by the rules seems like a fool's game.  Hope depends on institutions that offer hope.

Second, administrators, teachers, and students in Ghana also tell us that having a friend in the U.S. and being visited by Yo Ghana! is a sign of respect.  America is often viewed as a sort of utopia, where everyone is rich and happy--but also as a place that does not care much about the rest of the world.  Letters and visitors from America challenge that stereotype.

Third, American students' fears of the unknown, the alien are dissolved by the warmth and consideration communicated through the letters they receive from Ghanaians, many of whom are Muslim.  Hollywood and our news media often portray Africans and Muslims as threats.  It is hard to feel threatened by someone who writes to tell you that he is praying for your family or that she hopes you can visit her home some day.

When we visit classrooms in Ghana and the the Pacific Northwest we tell students that we need them for important work not after they graduate from graduate school, college, high school, or their present grade level, but right now.  We need them to tell each other what life in their country is really like and to show the rest of us how to know and respect each other.

Welcome, Komi Kalevor, and Thank You, Leeann Bronson

The board of Yo Ghana! is delighted to welcome aboard Mr. Komi Kalevor, who has not only accepted our offer to join the board but is also assuming the Treasurer position. 

Komi moved to the U.S. from Ghana in the early 1980s and earned an MBA at Willamette University.  He has worked for many years in a variety of management positions in housing development finance, program management, and banking, including many years with the Portland Development Commission.  He is currently the Assistant Director of the Housing Authority of Washington County.  He has served on the boards of Portland Habitat for Humanity Metro West, the Portland Guadalajara Sister City Association, Portland Community Reinvestment Initiatives, the PSU Alumni Association, and the Ghana Association of Oregon.

Komi joined us “to do my part to help Yo Ghana! achieve its mission, which I am in full agreement with,” for “meaningful cultural exchanges can go a long way to break down barriers and serve to educate today's youth to be become 'citizens of the world.'”  In fact Komi himself participated in a high school student exchange program between Ghana and Oregon in the late 1970s, so at a young age he was living out our slogan: exchanges for transformation, was doing Yo Ghana! four decades before there was a Yo Ghana!

Komi and his wife, Judith, reside in Vancouver, Washington.  Son Selali, is a senior at Washington State University, Pullman, daughter Shika a sophomore at Seattle University.

Our board is saying farewell to one of its first members, Ms. Leeann Bronson. 

Leeann joined our board more than two years ago, before we became a 501(c)3, and immediately began serving as our Treasurer, a crucial position that is notoriously difficult to fill.  She never missed a meeting or a deadline.

I think what inspires me most about Leeann is that she stepped forward to do crucial and demanding work for an organization that she had no particular attachment to.  She had never been to Ghana or had an interest in letter exchanges.  But in her unassuming way she became passionate about our work and was one of our rocks.

We are most grateful, Leeann.

Brando's Seamless Faith

Part of what I most appreciated about Brando Akoto, my dear friend and Yo Ghana! board member who passed away barely a week ago,  was how he lived out his faith.  Like many
educated people in the U.S., I'm wary of discussing religious beliefs in a general forum like this.  Being a Christian is, I hope, at the center of my own life, but I work for a secular institution and head up a secular nonprofit.  And I notice that many people flinch at the mention of Christianity or faith, fearing--often with good cause--that Christians are prone to "trying to ram their religion down people's throats."

But I'm going to plunge ahead precisely because Brando was so comfortable living out a faith that was fundamental to who he was, and doing so with great consideration and respect for others.

I never sensed that Brando drew a distinction between his religious and public life.  Like many Christians from West Africa, he emphasized the healing and forgiving power of Christ's blood.  But Jesus was both example and redeemer to him.  Like St. Francis, he believed that Christians should "preach the gospel at all times, and when necessary use words."  With God's grace came a call to put one's life at God's disposal.  For Brando, that meant showing love and care to everyone he met as well as battling more abstract evils such as poverty, ignorance, hopelessness, racism, and other forms of oppression.  He gave himself to others with a sort of Christ-like recklessness.  I once asked him why he was devoting so much of his time to Yo Ghana!  He replied, "Prof., you give me no choice."  I took this to mean that he believed that if you saw someone doing something you respected, you were obligated to help her or him.  It did not matter how tired you or how many items there were on your "to do" list. Certainly he never seemed too tired to help a friend or a stranger, from spending three weeks of his vacation visiting schools in Ghana to encouraging a street vendor to do better in school.

Brando was a powerful speaker, inside and outside of church, and no one has been more important than him in drawing me into a deeper Christian commitment.  But his most compelling sermon was his life, a compelling witness of what a redeemed life, a soul on fire looks like.

I wonder what Christianity would look like and how Christians might be viewed if we expressed our faith as he did?

Brando Akoto, 1964-2015

I hardly know where to begin or to end in speaking of the life of our dear
brother, friend, and Yo Ghana! board member, Mr. Brando Akoto, who passed away October 28 after a long struggle with a rare form of cancer, at home with his wife and two sons, the family he loved so deeply and fiercely.  There are so many stories, so many memories.  I knew Brando for less than three years, but he left a deep mark on my life and the life of Yo Ghana!

Brando taught me that although there may be a million and one things to worry about in running a nonprofit or one's life, only one thing really matters: to love and attend to the person in front of you.  Whether he was talking to students in Ghana or Oregon, listening to the challenges faced by teachers, administrators, street vendors, a child at church or one of his countless friends, no one could doubt that he or she had his complete attention.  His solution to every problem seemed to boil down to taking care of relationships.  Once people cared about each other, everything else would work itself out.

There are so many ways to spend a life, particularly here in the U.S., countless hobbies or pastimes, no end of distractions to keep us preoccupied until the end of a day--or all of our days.  Brando illustrated that we are at our happiest, our best, when we elect to care for each other every chance that we get, that our numbered hours are best shared.

We are relieved that he is free from the terrible suffering that marked his last days and weeks and months.  But his absence is as deep a wound as his life was a blessing.  Thank you, dear friend, for lighting the way.

For those able to get to Portland, here are three events to mark Brando's passing:
Viewing of Body: Omega Funeral and Cremation Services, 223 SE 122nd Ave., Friday November 6, 5:00 to 9:00 p.m. and Saturday, November 7, 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Community Remembrance: African House (IRCO), 10301 NE Glisan Street, Saturday November 7, 4:00 to 9:00 p.m.
Remembrance Church Service: Portland International Church, 22 NE 80th Ave, Sunday, November 8, 10:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

Trevor Noah on Donald Trump

One of the themes that I am developing in my book on American
views of Africa is that it has become more and more difficult for Americans to imagine Africa without Africans making themselves heard.  African academics teach at hundreds of American colleges and universities, African writers are read more and more widely, African pundits take to twitter and the internet to contest movements like KONY 2012.  And then there's Trevor Noah.

Trevor Noah is the South African comedian who not long ago came to the U.S. (whereupon he finally became black) and recently began hosting The Daily Show.

So Noah's very presence in what has become an iconic American TV show confounds assumptions about Africa being completely "other."  But of course he doesn't settle for that.  One of his latest routines makes the case that Donald Trump would make a wonderful African president, that his megalomania, disregard for science, thin skin, and antipathy for immigrants evokes some leading African despots, past and present.

For believers in American exceptionalism, people who believe that the U.S. is simply better than and completely different from other nations, regardless of what we do or become, watching an African comedian draw parallels between the front-runner for the Republican nomination and African tyrants such as Idi Amin may cause some much-needed discomfort.

John Donnelly, A Twist of Faith, and Heroism

I just read a fascinating little book, John Donnelly's A Twist of Faith: An American Christian's Quest to Help Orphans in Africa.  It follows the struggles of  a North Carolina carpenter, David Nixon, to run an organization helping a community in Malawi, and it certainly serves as a cautionary tale of the dangers of good intentions.

Nixon, to be sure, is much more humble and flexible than are most Americans going to Africa determined to do good.  For example,  when a government official tells him to give up his dream of an orphanage because they are expensive and ineffective, Nixon is at first angry, but then sees the wisdom in adjusting.  Donnelly contrasts this approach with Madonna's nonprofit, which insisted, despite the government's objections, on giving very large grants to organizations unaccustomed to handling such large funds, a practice that often led to conflict and chaos.

But Nixon also faces a lot of troubles, from a spurned chief who threatens one of his worker's families to a supervisor who abuses his authority.  It turns out that running a small business in America is not sufficient preparation for running a large charitable organization in Malawi--though we should join Donnelly in giving Nixon props for his determination and flexibility.

Donnelly points out that problems inevitably occur when Americans start large projects in Africa before first understanding local cultures.  We see in Africa an opportunity to do something big, and we get in a hurry to become a hero.

The original sin of so many Americans, Christian and otherwise, is that we want to make a name for ourselves in Africa, want to star in movies of our own making.  So we often ignore or dismiss the fine work already being done by local people.

Yo Ghana! tries to avoid the pitfalls of western ignorance and individualism by: 1) Having a board of directors, a group of decision makers, that includes large numbers of Ghanaians; 2) Working with existing schools, with Ghanaians who have already been doing great things in their communities.

Africa can use the help of Americans such as David Nixon.  But it already has plenty of heroes of its own.

A Story with a Happy Ending

Last spring a friend of mine was really depressed about two things: the acute plantar fasciitis in her

right foot that made it painful to walk, and how difficult it was to get a good fish dinner in Portland, Oregon.

She decided that a vacation in Portland, Maine, on the Atlantic Coast might do her good.

And, sure enough, two weeks later, after an afternoon of pain-free walking and over a delicious fish dinner, she turned looked up with a big smile on her face, then pointed to her foot and then to her meal, and sang, with great enthusiasm: "It is well.  With my sole.  It is well, it is well, with my sole."

Ghana, the U.S., and a Sense of Purpose

Some Peace Corps Volunteers have referred to living in Africa as being "at the heart of things."  That could be meant to imply that living in the U.S. means living on the periphery of things.  And I think there is a certain truth to that.

Most of us in the U.S. are tempted to think that we have control over our lives.  Most of us have arranged things--or have had them arranged for us--in such a way that we do not confront acute need on a daily basis, and we generally expect that lights will go on when we flip a switch, paychecks will be deposited in bank accounts as scheduled, and that our lives will unfold in a generally predictable and pleasant fashion.  When we confront some little problem, we often respond with great indignation.

Of course life everywhere is essentially chaotic.  The lights may stay on in our homes, but people we care for die, jobs that seemed secure can disappear; life is much more unpredictable, even for middle-class Americans, than it seems.

But chaos is harder to ignore in Africa.  It is very difficult to live in Ghana under the impression that all is right with the world, or that life is predictable or, for that matter, boring.  Maybe that's why such a high proportion of the people Elizabeth and I met in Ghana are doing great things: it is very obvious both that great things need to be done, and that some people are going about doing them with great gusto and persistence.

So returning from Ghana, for me, always raises the question: If all is not right with the world, at home and across the globe, then why am I ignoring those tragedies?  What am I doing with my life, with the privileges of time and other resources that life has handed to me?  And if people with far fewer resources are devoting themselves so fully, so happily, to sharing with and serving others, then what's stopping me from doing the same?

Saturday, September 25

Well, we are now in our last day in Ghana, as our flight leaves early Sunday.

I’ve tended, in my blogs, to emphasize the positive. You haven’t heard about the couple of times we have shown up for appointments to find no one home.  Or  the couple of schools where people seemed more interested in our grant projects (which are very modest) than our letter writing (which is at the heart of our program and mission).  Or the many times we wondered whether or not we were on the right road—and often were not.  Or the effects of eating too much goat meat on intestines used to milder fare.  Or how you feel when the vehicle you are in hits a dog.  Or the times that all three of us have faltered while speaking to students or teachers and admitted that we were just really, really tired.

One reason I focus on the positive is of course is that I want people to be excited about Yo Ghana!  But I also focus on the positive because that’s what people in Ghana do.  About the biggest complaint one hears from a Ghanaian, is a “we are managing,” followed by a laugh.  In fact in the early Peace Corps there was a saying: volunteers came back from Asia meditating, Latin America radicalized, and Africa laughing.

Another reason why I have emphasized the positive during this trip is the example set by my two

dear friends and colleagues, Lucy and Elizabeth.  Lucy does a million and one things at the Aya Centre for Intercultural Awareness and Development, and ever since we met four years ago, I’ve been impressed by her resilience and determination.  She is a relentless problem solver who cares deeply about people, both in the abstract and as individuals.  We are truly blessed to have her as our Ghana coordinator.

Elizabeth seems like she was born on a different planet—and I mean that in a good way!  Lucy and I have learned to expect a burst of energy and enthusiasm whenever Elizabeth says “I’m so tired.”  I don’t know that I’ve ever met someone who has so much fun doing the work of trying to do good.  Like people from Ghana and the rest of Africa, people, not abstractions or personal ambitions, reside at the heart of Elizabeth’s world.  She lives out the insight that I think resides at the core of Yo Ghana!, namely that it is relationship, in knowing each other and working together in partnership, that we are most fully human, more fully alive.

So at the end of our four weeks, I can say that, at Yo Ghana!, we are, even on hard days, managing--and laughing.

Friday, September 24

After twelve days of traveling across Ghana, we spent Friday traveling across Accra for seven appointments.  We started at 7:00 a.m., heading out to Angel's Academy, then ended at 9:00 p.m., walking home from a meeting with Leonard and Sela, recent graduates of Ashesi University.

One of the most satisfying moments of the month for me, personally, was presenting Mr. Rashid Hafisu with a Yo Ghana! star award at Accra Girls Senior Secondary.

Rashid is now starting on a partnership with his fourth high school in the U.S.  I first met him four years ago, before there even was a Yo Ghana!, and since that time he has answered countless e-mails, printed and scanned innumerable letters, traveled long miles on his days off to straighten out problems, and been instrumental in setting up our scholarship for hard-working young women from poor families who could not afford the fees.

Rashid once told me that in Ghana, it is said that a teacher's reward comes in heaven.  Government teachers who receive their pay reliably--which is not a given--need to figure out a way to double it to have a chance at a middle-class life.  I believe that U.S. teachers are underpaid.  But when I once told Rashid what they/we make, he was stunned.

This is one of the reasons why absenteeism and low morale is a challenge at so many schools.  Yo Ghana! works with exceptional schools populated by teachers who love to teach and accept all the difficulties that come with it.

In accepting the Yo Ghana! star award, Rashid urged the seventy or so students who were present to pursue their educations and other life commitments with great passion, to embrace life as an opportunity for growth and service.  He certainly exemplifies that approach to life, and Yo Ghana! is honored to honor him for it.

Thursday, September 24

Here is the quartet--along with Lucy's parents, who missed her!--that has travelled many bouncy and slippery miles across much of Ghana over the past twelve days.  Lucy Dawu us our Ghana coordinator; Godsway is our unflappable driver; Elizabeth and I are board members.  Our accommodations varied a great deal.  The food—from fresh bread purchased along the road to feasts rolled out by multiple hosts—has always been amazing.  And so has the company.

I remember when I started volunteering for nonprofit boards some thirty years ago being shocked that people who were volunteering their time to stop violence against women or racism or some other great cause so often found it difficult to treat each other with civility.  So when my wife, Wendy, urged me to start something—and that “something” was very vague until Elizabeth, Roy, Brando, Kofi A., Michael and many others started putting flesh on the bone—she also urged me share the work not just with people who were willing, but people who were of the highest quality, people who believe that justice starts with how each of us treats the people around us.

Certainly this trip has shown that, for once, I have followed my life partner’s advice!

Godsway didn’t participate in our presentations, but he worked very hard to make sure that we got where we needed to be both safely and on time.  Driving in Ghana is not for the faint of heart.  There are multiple potholes, mud holes, goats, dogs, chickens, and other obstacles to negotiate, not to mention the lack of signage.  Godway, we are grateful.

Elizabeth and Lucy were (and are) amazing.  The three of us came to rely on each other throughout, from figuring out hotel accommodations late at night in a strange city to sharing food and ideas to seamlessly passing the floor back and forth to each other during presentations and question-and-answer sessions. If anyone was exhausted or out of sorts, I only knew it because they said so.  And this morning we got up at 4:30 a.m. and drove for three and a half hours without a break over some interesting roads.

Brando once remarked that if Yo Ghana! takes care of relationships, everything else will follow.  This trip has revealed to me even more deeply than before that I work with people who are always thinking not just about about global justice and understanding, but of how to be kind in every-day relationships.  I am grateful.

Tuesday, September 22

This morning we visited the Catholic girls’ senior high school that just opened in Sampa a year ago.  After meeting with Sister Mary, who recently arrived from India to lead the school, we had the pleasure of speaking with the students, who in another year and a half will be the school’s first graduates.  They are very interested in joining Yo Ghana!, so once we are back in Portland we will be exploring options for them.

Then we traveled a few miles down the road to our old friends at Morle Junior High School.

  Mr. Essan Weah, who volunteers with us a great deal in Portland, was the school’s headmaster some years ago, and is still well and fondly remembered at the school.  Mr. Albert, shown here, is our very able school coordinator and will be assistance this year from Mr. Michael, who teaches technology, as well as others.  He presented us with fifty letters that the students had already written, which is very impressive, as school has not been in session for very long.

Reflection: People ask, on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean, how we go about selecting schools in Ghana.  It almost always is through some sort of relationship.  Portland has many expats from Ghana who are very knowledgeable about the schools there.  Some of them are on our board.  This allows us to select schools that meet our criterion: excellent leadership; motivated teachers and students; a large proportion of students who come from families who are not well off.  This is one of many reasons why Western NGOs working in Africa should have a bi-cultural or multi-cultural leadership.

Nipaba Brew School

Today was Founder's Day in Ghana, yet the students of Nipaba Brew School

were out in force to welcome and listen to and talk with us.

This is the second year that the school has given up half of a holiday to spend time with us.  They do this because they are an unusually dedicated school, with an unusually dedicated Founder/Proprietor/Headmaster, Mr. Gilbert Brew.  The school excels at helping students to become highly literate at a young age, and this year they are offering the first year of JHS.

The school has some very impressive list of accomplishments with Yo Ghana!  It was one of just three schools to send four sets of letters last year, and this year it has committed to 120 students exchanging letters, 100 of them five times.

Reflection: Most Americans would find living in Ghana discouraging.  The infrastructure is weak, and university graduated struggle with a roughly 50 percent unemployment rate.  Yet the optimism and determination of students at schools like Nipaba Brew is palpable.  These are students who believe that they can make their way in the world--and help others while doing so.

Matchless Hospitality

Lucy, Elizabeth, Godsway, and I are not spending much money on

food on this trip, but we are eating very, very well.

Father Mawusi fed us very well at St. Kizito.  Then, in Tamale, the families of Mr. Dominick and Mr. Nantogma hosted us to feasts on back-to-back evenings.  Now, at Sampa, Mr. Brew, pictured here, has besieged us with breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and of very large portions.

Of course this desire to see guests well fed is part of a larger cultural characteristic or pattern: a desire to pay close attention to people.  "A human being is not a palm tree," as the Akan aphorism puts it.  People are not meant to be solitary.  We depend on each other.  Feeding people, greeting people, attending to people is a way of showing respect and expressing care.

This is sometimes a challenge for out letter writers.  American students often find their Ghanaian partners overly serious or even demanding.  Ghanaian students may find their U.S. counterparts overly distant.  It's part of the tension that Yo Ghana! embodies, a tension that we hope leads to richer understanding and lives.  It certainly is for Elizabeth and I.  There is something very grounding and comforting about being in Ghana, surrounded by such care.

Lucy Does It All

Lucy Dawu, our main coordinator in Ghana, does it all. 

She takes ten-minute walks to remote schools walking down steep, rocky paths in three-inch-heels without missing a step, a feat that sums up how she approaches life.  She is skilled interviewer, accountant, liaison, grant administrator, organizer, tech person, speaker, and ambassador for Yo Ghana! and never seems to get rattled.  This trip she has been teaching people how to use complex smart phones, speaking to groups of up to seven hundred, making sure that we cover the nuances of our several programs, representing us to academics, administrators, teachers, and countless students, all while enduring a demanding schedule of travel and looking meticulous while she does it.

Lucy has worked at the Aya Centre for Intercultural Awareness and Development for several years, and one of our board members, Dr. Michael Williams, the Centre’s Director, recommended her as our first Ghana coordinator earlier this year.  Having gone to several schools with Lucy over the years, I was delighted when she agreed to help us.  She had already grasped what Yo Ghana! is all about and excels at explaining to students how we differ from old-fashioned penpal programs in which students from Ghana would seek out a friend in a wealthier country who might eventually send them a present.  Lucy explains that our relationships are mediated by schools and teachers and that the currency is knowledge, a currency in which the Ghanaian partners are at least as wealthy as their U.S. counterparts.  And she certainly carries herself that way.

Yo Ghana! is so very fortunate to have her in the middle of our team.

September 18

Today we had the pleasure of visiting Savelugu Senior High School, also known as SAVESS.  The

form I students have yet to arrive, but there are about 1,000 students in the school once they arrive.

All of our schools in Ghana have welcomed us enthusiastically, but the welcome at SAVESS was particularly warm.  Headmaster Baba paid us many compliments, and our coordinator, Mr. Nantogma, and Miss Joyce, who assists him, were wonderful hosts.  We got to speak to all of the students in a large group using a microphone, and then interviewed several students individually.

We also toured the new urinal that Yo Ghana! contributed a modest donation for, an amenity that will save the students and the female faculty a walk of about ten minutes each time the need arises.    We were very flattered to receive gifts of cloth from the school of their school emblem.  

Reflection: It was interesting to talk with students and staff and to realize anew that most Ghanaians do not realize how strong their education system is.  Much of this can be attributed to the drive and determination of the students, who are often surprised to learn that many of their American friends have so much leisure time, that they do not spend much time on household chores, farming, or studying.  Some are also puzzled that American students don't write much about their culture.  I pointed out that most Americans do not perceive themselves as belonging to a particular ethnic group--though the U.S. contains thousand of ethnic groups.  So the question of what cultural group one belongs to is confusing for many people in the U.S.  Ghanaian students live much more structured lives, have a sense of both belonging to a particular culture (and the language, celebrations, and other features that come with it) and also tend to develop at a young age a particular career path that a strong education is required for.  The Ghanaian pattern--strange as it may seem to most modern Americans--is much closer to the historical norm than the modern American one is.  Only recently have large numbers of people grown up with so little structure to their lives.

September 17

Last night was one of those days.  We took a wrong turn at some point

which turned into a two-to-three hour detour, got settled in very late.  Then the ten-minute drive to ECG School in Tamale turned into a forty-minute drive, as I couldn't remember how to get there.

But once we arrived, all went smoothly.  Many of the students remember Mr. Brando and I from last year,  Mr. Joseph, below, did a fine job of hosting us, and the students were full of suggestions for and reflections on the role of Yo
Ghana! in their school.  Elizabeth in fact remarked that this was perhaps the most confident group of students we had encountered so far, certainly a testament to the fine education they receive.  ECG Tamale is one the least expensive and most respected private schools in Tamale, and Yo Ghana! is thrilled that are able to support them in a small way by
supplementing their scholarship fund for students from families that are struggling financially.

Reflection: Our board is struggling with the question of whether or not and how to expand Yo Ghana!  I enjoy working with a number of schools small enough that I can personally visit each classroom once a year.  In Ghana, schools usually have several grade levels participate, so some of the students and I remember each other.  In one school, some children now entering fourth grade remember seeing me come to the school when they were in kindergarten.  But as more and more schools are interested in joining us, do we turn them away because we do not want to get too large?  If we we are doing a good thing with thirty-six schools, could we do a good thing with one hundred?  I guess it is the same question that many schools struggle with.

September 16

We got to spend Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning with one of my favorite persons, Father

Mawusi.  Father Mawusi joked last year that he thinks he shall be remembered in and around Kpandai "as the priest who fired all the cooks."  Though his culinary standards are high and his manner at times blunt, he gets a tremendous amount of good work done and has an extraordinarily big heart.  I have seldom met a person more dedicated to service.  St. Kizito School, which he oversees, is packed because it offers an outstanding education with virtually no fees--a rare combination in Ghana.  I lost track of the major projects he has recently finished, started, or is contemplating.

One of Father Mawusi's recent projects has been adding three kindergarten classrooms so that the school has seven rather than four (see the photo below).  Yo Ghana! made a modest contribution to that effort, and only after asking Father Mawusi several times how we might help.  The community and other sources built the foundations and walls and are finishing the floors and walls.  We helped with the roof.  Today he showed us the foundations laid out for another set of rooms for a play area and nursing station for the school's youngest students.

Reflection: People like Father Mawusi have a certain clarity of purpose, a peacefulness, about them.

 They are at times dismayed or even discouraged by the overwhelming problems they confront, perhaps even by the human condition itself, the stain of selfishness that provides the breeding ground for the indifference to suffering that is at the root of so much suffering.  But I seldom detect any traces of regret in the Father Mawusis I have met.  Rather, they seem to count it a blessing and a privilege to be in a position to help others, even as they are sorrowed by the many more they are unable to help.  Father Mawusi's life illustrates the great joy and dignity of a life constantly informed by the needs of others.

September 14/15

After a long drive on Sunday we enjoyed the hospitality of Mr. Daniel and

Mr. Limpu at the Dambai Teachers Training College Demonstration School.  They found a lovely hotel for us and spent much of their late afternoon and early evening with us.  Monday morning we experienced the most terrific rain storm I have ever seen.  It lasted about twenty minutes, and the sound of the rain on the school's tin roof was so terrific that any instruction was impossible.  But we had a very good meeting with the students who will be writing letters, from grades 1-8, and were treated to the school's award winning dancers and drummers.  The school already enjoys a very high reputation in the community, in part because students at the training college practice there, but the staff tells us that the partnership with Yo Ghana! had made them even more popular.  The PTA has already begun building two new classrooms for the junior high school, which opened just three years ago.

A long wait for a short ferry ride and then a two-hour drive over roads made muddy by

rain then brought us to John Doeswijck Junior High School in Kete-Krachi.  Our old friend, Mr. Martin, hosted us, along with the new Headmaster, Mr. Anane.  Mr. George, who combats child trafficking, hosted us to a fine breakfast.  We spent a long morning at the school, with a long meeting with both the teachers and the students; in fact the students may have set a record for most questions asked.  It was a good thing that there were three of us to trade off.  There's a lot of enthusiasm here for the letter exchanges; the students are sad to hear that Americans have so many misconceptions about Africa and Ghana, but excited to hear that they can do something about that.  The school's PTA very generously gifted us about sixty pounds of yams, one of the agricultural staples of the region, and a particular favorite of Miss Lucy.

Reflection: We are struck again and again by the tremendous resilience and determination that saturates Ghanaian life.  Climate change is making it more difficult to farm.  When the rains do come, the nature of how the schools and roads are constructed makes things more difficult, at least in the short run.  And the roads are often poor to begin with.  The lights go off regularly, traffic laws are routinely ignored, but one might be pulled over, seemingly at random, and cited for some trivial or contrived offense.  Yet all of these difficulties and more simply seem to make Ghanaians more determined to succeed--in spite or perhaps because of the steep odds.  Now it's Tuesday night, and the rains are coming again, which will  make for an interesting drive tomorrow.  But enough of Ghana has rubbed off for me to feel confident that we will succeed, though improvisations and a lot of help from our many friends may be required.

Elizabeth Power

I first met Elizabeth-Fosler Jones four years ago, when a mutual friend introduced us because we were both interested in Africa.  A few months later, Elizabeth had: organized a group of students to write letters to a school in Ghana; created our name (Yo Ghana!) and logo; created and starting selling more than one hundred t-shirts; raised a bunch of money in other ways; and a lot of other things I can't even remember.  She is a force to be reckoned with.  And unlike most people I know who get a lot of things done in a hurry, she seems to be having a  blast while doing so.  Some people who haven't met her find it hard to believe that a fourteen-year-old could co-found  an organization whose board if full of people with doctorates, but it's true; without her drive, confidence, and competence, we would have stayed small, or withered away.

Elizabeth is spending a lot of time and money to represent Yo Ghana! in Ghana, as we don't pay any travel expenses for our board members or other volunteers.  The days have been long, the rides often uncomfortable.  But she never complains.  Today, after a four-hour wait for a fifteen-minute ferry ride, the captain tried to usher us, the only two white people on board, up to a special seat high above and set apart from all the other passengers.  I found Elizabeth down on the lowest level, among the market women who were standing by their wares and nursing their babies.  As you can see from the photograph above, taken today at Dambai Teachers Training College Demonstration School, she attracts a great deal of attention, and not primarily because of the color of her hair and skin.  She loves meeting and interacting with people, and the children here readily apprehend her interest in them.

Yo Ghana! has benefited from quite a bit of good luck in its short history, none larger than Elizabeth's presence.

September 10/11

Thursday morning brought us back to Winneba, home of Dr. Eric Ananga, our Yo Ghana!

board member and possessor of seemingly inexhaustible energy.  We first visited John Bosco School and then St. Paul Methodist.  Students and teachers at both schools are very interested in the letter writing, particularly the original-research projects, and they posed a great number of questions.  We had a full team: Elizabeth and I and Lucy Dawu, our Accra coordinator, together with Eric and his very able assistant, Betty.  Eric and Betty are pictured here at Don Bosco.  So the students heard from a variety of perspectives.  They are two of three Ghana schools we are adding this year and are participating in a research project Eric is overseeing to measure the impact of the letters on several factors, including perceptions of the U.S.

Friday morning we drove along the ocean to the outskirts of Cape Coast and Ebubonko Basic School.  There we met our very capable school coordinator, Mr. Havor Wisdom, and the rest of the staff, including Madam Dorthy and Mr. Alexander, who will be assisting Wisdom this year.  Elizabeth, Lucy, and I were very impressed by the level of attention and interest shown by the students, and it looks like quite a number will be working on original-research projects, despite the fact that most are still in primary school.  Here is a photo of them, in their library, below, listening to Miss Lucy.

Reflection: One theme that I live to dwell on in my short (by my standards) talks to students is that

Yo Ghana! is relying on them to teach Americans about Africa, because we cannot depend on our media to do that.  Popular images of Africa depict it as a "failed continent" of disease and warfare.  Most of the positive images are of animals.  But these students have many success stories to tell, of lives rich in friendships and hard work and persistence.

Tuesday and Wednesday

Tuesday brought us back up to Purity Preparatory School for the opening of school.  In Ghana,

students tend to trickle in, and the first days are spent cleaning the school and the grounds.  But the students from creche to 9th level (grade) took a break from their work to welcome us and to listen to us talk about the coming year of letter writing.  Then it was back down to Accra, to the lively streets of Nima, where our friend Mary Jackson joined us.  This was also the first day of school for Anani Memorial International School, but  three classes of students, creche through upper primary, treated us to rousing songs and expressed a lot of interest in the letter writing.  Elizabeth and I especially enjoyed presenting certificates of appreciation from Yo Ghana! to some of the many community members who had donated time or food to the school in order to match our grant.

Wednesday we spent the day at another long-time Yo Ghana! partner: L & A Academy.  Mr. Kankam was, as usual, a very generous host, and we got to talk with six classes, from upper primary (4-6) to JHS (7-9).  Elizabeth and I were delighted to be joined by Mr. Essan Weah and Madam Agatha Weah, his wife.  Essan has visited many Oregon classrooms for Yo Ghana and has spent the past few weeks in Ghana visiting his family, so the Ghana students enjoyed hearing about American schools from a former Ghana student, teacher, and headmaster.  We are very, very grateful to the Weahs for giving Yo Ghana! one of their precious days together.

Reflection: Essan mentioned over lunch that most Ghanaians expect white Americans to show up with a lot of money one time and then disappear.  Yo Ghana! does the opposite of that.  Our grants are modest and require that a community initiate a project.  But we come back every year and hope to be in partnership with our schools for decades to come.  One key to these partnerships is the many Yo Ghana! volunteers who have lived for years in both the U.S. and Ghana.  It is not a "we" and "them" sort of an organization.

Saturday, Sunday, Monday

Saturday Mr. Kwame Akoto took us to visit his family and the family of board member Mr. Brando Akoto in Akalove, a little village near the mouth of the Volta River.  We also had the pleasure of meeting with most of the student body to talk about Yo Ghana!  It is a very peaceful and beautiful place who always treat us with great kindness and enthusiasm.

Sunday we recuperated and caught up on paperwork before heading out to visit Mr. Leonard Annan, the co-founder and President of the Adesua Ye Adult Literacy Program in Berekuso.  Leonard had some great ideas for Yo Ghana! and is one of the most focused persons I know.

Then Monday we returned to Ashesi for a whole bunch of meetings with leaders from several of its many organizations: Sesa Mu Farmer's Initiative; AmoBempa Intitiative (community development); Starfish Aid Program (literacy in primary schools); and Trim Lab Network (mentoring at-risk junior high school students).  Sam and Dan of Sesa Mu took us on a quick tour of their demonstration farm (above).  The pineapple plants pictured have been treated with an application of oil extracted from Neem Tree leaves, which is an inexpensive and nontoxic pesticide, just one of several innovative strategies the demonstration farm is testing.

Reflection: The four sets of meetings we had today reflect the tremendous
idealism, industry, and intelligence of Ashesi University's student body, the reason why I tell students in both the U.S. and Ghana that the best university I know of is in Ghana.  It might seem a bit odd that a nonprofit devoted to transformative letter exchanges would be interested in pineapple cultivation, but in developing countries education is linked to many factors, and we have found that much is gained for the greater good as well as our own organization's well-being when we seek out and collaborate with great people doing great work in the communities we serve.  It has been a particular treat to see Yo Ghana!'s co-founder, Elizabeth, interacting with other young founders such as Miss Miriam and Mr. Maxwell of Starfish, pictured together here.  Starfish works with rural primary schools in which there may not be a single functionally literate student.  But nothing seems to discourage them from recalibrating and reworking their approaches to bring hope to seemingly hopeless situations.  We came up with some exciting ideas on how Yo Ghana! might offer incentives to literacy for their students.  A lot of young adults want to save the world, but these people go about it with a tenacity and joyfulness that is contagious and inspiring.

Thursday and Friday

Thursday morning brought us, with our friend Dr. Richard White, to Purity School in beautiful Akropong.  Yo Ghana! Has worked with this small, rural school with high standards well before we became a 501(c)3, and it was a thrill to see the new library that the school had constructed.  Dr. White had a good discussion with Madame Constance, Headmistress Samantha, and several other school leaders about how the school was using the library to both enhance the education of its students and to increase attendance at and support for this gem in the hills.  "At recess the students used to just want to play," observed one teacher, and "now they want to come here," to the library. We then went down the scenic road back to Accra,  where we met with our good friend Mr. Rashid Hafisu, coordinator at Accra Girls Secondary School and two teachers who will be assisting him with the letters.  It was delightful to again spend time with Miss Deborah, who had completed the service requirement that Yo Ghana! requires of older scholarship recipients by volunteering at St. Bartholemew’s School.  Miss Deborah reported that she had not worked much with children or teaching before and enjoyed it very much and was impressed by the student’s determination to learn.  Thursday night we sat in on Richard’s lecture on how to be a strong student at the Palm Institute in East Legon, a two-year college founded and led by Dr. Peter Okantey, an old friend who has been working for many years to transform education in Ghana.

Friday we toured the Ghana National Museum in the morning and then made the bone-rattling drive up to Ashesi where we had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Prince and Mr. Frederick, two of many Ashesi students who are passionate about community development: mentoring junior high school students and developing Ghana agriculture, respectively.  Dr. Charley Jackson, faculty member in the newly opened School of Engineering at Ashesi, then took us home for a delicious dinner and the company of his wife, Mary Kay, who has done development work in Ghana for many years.

Reflection: Many Ghanaians have told us that although they have a very strong tradition of helping an extensive network of family and kin, there is not such a strong tradition of helping people one is not related to.  Our Ghana board members and advisors have been particularly adamant that Yo Ghana! play a role in widening this circle of generosity.  Mary Kay talked about how development workers often forget how empowering it is to give.  One of Yo Ghana!’s tenets is that “everyone can help someone.”  It’s a sad fact, though, that NGOs often expect little or nothing of the people that they purport to help, low expectations that can sap a community of the very strength that allowed it to flourish for millennia long before the NGOs showed up.  So we were delighted to learn how Purity School was already using its library to strengthen the rest of the community and to see how delighted Miss Deborah was with her experience of volunteering with young students.

Tuesday and Wednesday

Elizabeth and I got up early Tuesday morning to spend the day with a third Yo Ghana! Board member, Dr. Eric Ananga, a faculty member at the University of Education, Winneba.  Yo Ghana! Seems to attract people who are really, really busy, and Eric has to be up there near the top of that list.  But he made time to feed us lunch, get us acquainted with our coordinator for Winneba, Miss Betty, and to introduce us to the regional head of education and the headmasters at our two new schools, Mr. Hammond and Mr. Nyarko.  They then took us to their schools, Bosco Catholic (a public school) and St. Paul’s Methodist School.  It is thanks to the connections and knowledge of people like Eric that we get to work with the schools that best fit our mission.  We did some planning for a conference for our coordinators and outstanding letter writers we hope to have at Winneba next June.  Mr. Frank then drove us back to Chez Afrique for dinner with Dr. Williams, who spends many evenings at his wife Afua’s fine restaurant.

Wednesday we went to see our friends at Angel’s Academy, Proprietor Ernest Opoku-Ansah

and his daughter, Headmistress Regina.  They are two of the most joy-filled people I’ve ever met, and we had good meetings with them, the teachers, and then each of the classrooms that will be writing letters.  They quickly lost their shyness when Elizabeth spoke with them and requested the U.S. National Anthem and Pledge of Allegiance, among other things. The school also entertained us with dancing.  This was one of our short days,  but still consumed 8 hours by the time you factor in travel and logistics.  Even so, we are getting a chance to recharge our batteries a bit before a long day tomorrow.

Reflection:  Angel’s Academy began in the living room of its founder some twenty years ago.  Today it is a very impressive set of two-story structures, and the school just added teacher offices and spaces for a computer laboratory, expanded library, and a science laboratory.  For years Mr. Opoku-Ansah taught students for free in his living room, and the school continues to offer students from modest backgrounds an outstanding education.  But Mr. Opoku-Ansah comes across as a very humble man.  He seems to be always laughing and smiling, and no one enjoyed the musical program more.  The teachers tell us that they still go to him for advice.  If there are angels in human form, he is one of them.  Elizabeth, Eric, and Michael are also among the people I most admire.  The cool thing about volunteering so much with Yo Ghana! is that I get to spend so much time around cool people who work tirelessly and happily to help others.

Our First Two Days in Ghana

Elizabeth and I had an easy trip to Accra, sailed through the airport and baggage with no hitches at all, then were met by Dr. Michael Williams of the Aya Centre, who is also a good friend and Yo Ghana! board member.  We settled in with a very hospitable host family in East Legon and then purchased modems and a cell phone at the mall and got caught up with correspondence.

Monday it was time to start working.  A twenty-five minute walk brought us to the Aya Centre and Palm Institute.  There we joined Miss Lucy Dawu, who is our Ghana coordinator, and Dr. Richard White, who teaches development at Portland State, and were reunited with Mr. Frank, one of the most careful and most capable taxi drivers in Ghana.  Frank drove us to Nima, where Richard brainstormed with Kofi and Kate Anane, about how their very impressive school, Anani Memorial International School, might find additional ways of developing the school, which serves many children from poorer families.

Then we had a late lunch with Mr. Kankam Mensah Felix, our very, very industrious and organized coordinator at L & A Academy, and his friend, Mr. Richard.

Reflection: Dr. White mentioned that across the developing world "slums" (a word that in Ghana lacks many of the negative connotations it has in the U.S.) are often places of great creativity and accomplishment.  Nima, the slum in which Anani School is located, draws people from all over West Africa looking for a better life.  Many of them succeed and then leave Nima.  So, in broad terms, people in development see Nima as a place between two other places: the many (often rural) parts of West Africa where conditions are often desperate enough for people to move many miles to Nima, and the places in Ghana and beyond that the people who are successful in Nima then migrate to.  So Nima is a very dynamic place, with many people coming and going, and institutions like Anani Memorial International School are crucial to the many success stories that Nima generates.  But the successes do not come easily, and there is a nearly infinite supply of people in West Africa eager to get to places like Nima where, it seems, the chances for success are better.

Joseph's Question: What Are You Getting From This?

I had coffee a couple of days ago with a friend I hadn't seen in some years, when we served on the board of a little nonprofit together.  I had always appreciated his mix of warmth and candor, a characteristic that had not abated with age.  So after asking me several searching questions about Yo Ghana! he said something like this: "David, people from Ghana will be thinking, even if they don't say it: "What are you getting from this?"

It is a very fair question.  Many "philanthropists" make a living from their work, sometimes a very good living.  It also looks good on a resume or c.v., can be used indirectly to build wealth.  Most commonly, I think, those of us who do volunteer work with people considered vulnerable due to poverty or trauma or what have you are trying to look better to ourselves and others.  Teju Cole calls this "The White Savior Industrial Complex."  Helping Africans is about "having a big emotional experience that validates privilege."  Being a person born into privilege with more than a little bit of ambition and insecurity, I must admit that a desire to build myself up has had more than a little to do with my volunteer work with battered women, vulnerable children, racial reconciliation, and Kenya and Ghana.

But I also learned slowly, over the years, that the biggest pay-off in all of these activities was the relationships that they brought.  It may seem odd, but the happiest people I know are those who see their lives as a vessel to be joyfully emptied on behalf of others.  With Yo Ghana! I get to work with dozens of such people: the best of the best teachers, people who already have too much to do yet take on more; the principals and headmasters and headmistresses who face incredible problems with good humor and boundless energy; volunteers and advisers who are already stretched thin but sacrifice to support us with gifts of time and money.  And people who are vulnerable economically are often very rich and generous in other respects.  The month I spend in Ghana every year is a month suffused with warmth and inspiration I have found nowhere else.  Our slogan, "exchanges for transformation," certainly applies for and to me.

Religion tell us that service is good for the soul.  Evolution tell us that we are hard-wired to care for each other, that our survival has always been a collective endeavor.  And experience tells me that happiness comes from finding people doing great things and joining them.