Thank You

This will probably be my last post for a while. Usually we post about a once a month, when we have news, but this time I decided to more or less chronicle my visit. I’m back at home in Mount Vernon. Thanks for reading. I hope these news items gave you a glimpse of life in Axim, Ghana and of our efforts there.

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I had a rewarding and successful visit to Axim. Our efforts are bearing fruit on several fronts, which is very satisfying. We look forward to working with our Ghanaian friends going forward.

I want to thank our Ghana Together Board for their continuing support: Tom Castor, Louise Wilkinson, Sue Pederson, Jerome Chandler, Rich Ward, and myself. Years have gone by, and they have stuck with it for the long-haul through “thick and thin.”

I especially thank the Ghanaian WHH Board Chair James Kainyiah and his wife Beatrice for their unfailing hospitality. Their home in Sekondi is always welcoming to me. I also thank his kids---Heidi, Mary, James Jr, Godwin, and Elfriede---for doubling up on their mattresses so I can have a bedroom all to myself! I especially thank James and Beatrice for taking Godwin, one of the WHH Scholars, into their own home, provide schooling, and all his care. He and James Jr are becoming good brothers. Godwin is learning American Sign Language, and is teaching his new little sister Mary who is deaf from having meningitis when she was just a baby.

James, Beatrice, Heidi, and Mary

Godwin and I renewing our friendship

I thank Kathryn Roe for hosting me in her home. Kathryn is a friend from Bellingham, WA, who runs a wonderful program to fund high school students called Anansi (http://anansieducation.org). Located in the Cape Coast area, Kathryn and her organization have put more than 100 impoverished students through senior high school. High school is not free in Ghana. There is tuition, and usually room and board, because most communities don’t have their own school. Kathryn is also an expert in African art, and a visit to her home is a fascinating experience. Thank you, Kathryn, for your service in Ghana, and especially for providing a brief respite on my way from Axim to the airport in Accra.

Two experienced "Ghana hands", Kathryn and Jerome Chandler, share views (Summer 2011, in Mount Vernon)

I thank Elijah, my main taxi driver in Axim, for his promptness, courtesy, clean vehicle, working seat belts, SAFE driving, and cheerfulness! He is a generous man, dedicated to his community. He unfailingly delivered me to spots beyond walking distance. Why he habitually wears a woolen cap in this climate, I have NO idea! But, he even arranged to drive me through the streets of Axim to show off his dear little Elijahlina (2 years old about) who sat on my lap---an honor! J

Elijah, daughter Elijahlina, and taxi also named "Elijah-lina!!

I thank Frank and Anita Cudjoe for hosting me the first night of my arrival in Accra.

Thank you to Awulae Attibrukusu III for hosting me in his personal home and by his acceptance, paving the way for Ghana Together to work in Axim.



Awulae and Brian Cladoosby, Swinomish Tribe Community Chairman (taken in LaConner, WA, Summer 2011)

And last, thanks to the WHH Board of Directors who remain faithful to the cause after seven years...it’s a privilege for me to serve as an advisory member of their board. They are the best!

Maryanne, Fr. Paul Awuah (priest Catholic Church), Nana Adjow Sika II (Queen Mother Upper Axim Traditional Council), James Kainyiah (Board Chair), Hajara Yakubu (Director Axim Community Development Vocational Institute), Isaac Bentil (local businessman), and Frances Polley (retired senior high school math teacher)

 I invite you who are reading this and other posts to check out the "Milestones" section of our Ghana Together website:(http://ghanatogether.org/HTML/Milestones.html). We are proud of what we have accomplished. We have ideas for 2012 that we will share as plans firm up.

Thanks for your interest.

Maryanne 'Nana Ama Awuranke' Ward

Nkosohema of Axim Traditional Areas