ABANTU @ 10: Celebrating 10 years of ABANTU!

On November 18th, ABANTU for Development's West African Regional Office (otherwise known as my workplace) celebrated a decade of amazing work in the struggle for women's equal rights in Africa. And in true Ghanaian style, they held their celebration just a tiny bit late... like a year late...their tenth year anniversary was last year. But the delay just granted the planners of this event more time to make it a jam-packed 9 - 5 day of engaging presentations, celebratory activities, food and, of course, dancing!

As a volunteer for ABANTU, the day provided me with a window into the history of the organization and enlightened me on just how much ABANTU has accomplished in a mere decade. I'll give you a summary of the day in pictures. It will read just like a children's storybook only without the condescending tone.

No anniversary in Ghana would be complete without some branded collectors items.










Stylish bracelets available in black and yellow, ABANTU's colours. All the staff were advised to wear these colours to the event. Most of us looked gorgeous, others, myself included, bordered on looking like honeybees.








Gertrude, my post-Ellen supervisor, pins an ABANTU pin on an attendee.

ABANTU's donation box. The organization must have made a great impression over the years as this box was pretty full at the end of the day.



















Adusei and Auntie Grace waiting for the crowds to show at registration.

Ms. Hilary Gbedemah, an absolute natural on the mic, was the emcee for the day. She has chaired and hosted many of ABANTU's conferences and events throughout my time at the organization. Definitely the funniest Ghanaian in town. Here, she has just finished asking the attendees to look at the conference agenda, look at the person to your left, and say to them: "we are here for the whooooooollleee day." Whenever energy was low in the room, Gbedemah was sure to remind us that we can't lose steam now, 'cause we're here for the whooooooolllllleeee day.

Meet Ms. Hamida Harrison, Programme Manager of ABANTU and one of the strongest women I have ever met. She's nicknamed "International Woman" by staff both because her work has taken her all around the globe but also because of her tendency to interrupt meetings to answer long-distance calls. The nickname sounds a lot better when my coworker, Joan, says it in a zealous cheering voice -"EEN TA NA SHIONAL WO MAN!"

Professor Takiywaa Manuh, the Chairperson of ABANTU's Board of Directors, acted as chairperson for the event. Expressed her deep sense of pride in ABANTU's work and commended Dr. Rose for her leadership.

Dr. Rose Mensah-Kutin, Director of ABANTU's West African Regional Office, welcoming participants. Everyone was so proud of her work with ABANTU and was sure to let her know at the event.

Mr. Kwasi Gyan Apenteng, the Programme Coordinator for Cultural Initiatives Suppose Programme, was invited to speak about the changes in Ghana with regards to gender equity and women's rights over the past ten years.

Dr. Angie Dawa, Regional Director of ABANT, Eastern and Southern Africa Regional Office in Nairobi, Kenya. Dawa delivered her speech on "Ten years of ABANTU: perspectives from Kenya." Though ABANTU's ROESA office adheres to the same mission and vision as ABANTU's ROWA, their areas of operation are different. ROESA seemed to focus more on women's health and economic development (wealth creation). However, they also focus on gender and governance like the ROWA office.

Ms. Grace Yeaney, Exec. Director of Women's Movement for Sustainable Development. She is based in Liberia and thus offered a her own narrative of what Liberia has seen over the past ten years with regards to women's rights and equality. She assured us that even though Liberia is the first African country to have a democratically-elected female president, women are still at a large disadvantage given that the country is still recovering from a civil war.

Professor Takiywaa Manuh chairing a panel discussion on the presentations.

Attendee who obviously got the "yellow" memo.

Celebration!! ABANTU and its supporters cheer Ghandi's famous saying "be the change you wish to see."

ABANTU and their supporters. Everyone's so happy!! And not just because lunch is about to be served...Though that may have something to do with it.

Lots of hugs and smiles that day.

Dr. Rose interviewed by the press. 

Attendees watching a photo slideshow of ABANTU over the years.

Attendee that sat next to me. Every time an obroni would appear in the slideshow her and her friend would point and asked if I can see myself in the photo. "You are there!" she would say. And I would tell her it wasn't me... until the time finally came that I was in a picture. 

Lizzy and Rafkatu, the lovely National Service Students working at ABANTU who put up with every Ghana-related question I have. In exchange, I try to explain a few things about white people. Hard to speak for all of them though...










Priscilla, another National Service Student, giving a sneaky smile. Priscilla also doubles as my Twi teacher and cultural guide. Again, in exchange I provide a bit of insight into the odd ways of the west.

Alfreida, one of the student interns at ABANTU this summer. She's handing out the ABANTU @ 10 souvenir book which was used to raise money for the organization. Student interns who come back to volunteer for ABANTU's programs or just to visit are so common that the organization has given them the nickname "Abantulettes" 

Afua holding the money-bag, as an auctioneer auctions off ABANTU's souvenir book for generous donations. The highest bid? 1000 GHC!! Not bloody bad.

Gracie, another Abantulette (and this one is full of personality, let me tell you) hands out the souvenir book to the highest bidders. 

Hilary and a woman from an organization that works closely with ABANTU dance to encourage people to donate.

Awards ready to be handed out

Hajia Bilkisu Yussif, Board Member for ABANTU's country office in Kaduna, Nigeria, accepts an award for her commitment to advancing gender equity in Nigeria.

Veronica Mba, an amazing woman - the first ever blind woman to be elected to the District Assembly in Ghana. She has participated in ABANTU's capacity-building programs for women running for district assembly positions.

     Jacob, ABANTU's Security Officer, is awarded for his hard work in protecting us at the ABANTU office!

Adusei, Support Services Officer for ABANTU, humbly accepts an award for his hard work.

Auntie Grace gets an award for her amazing work as ABANTU's Administrative Assistant. The place couldn't run without her.

Auntie Hamida, a.k.a. "International Woman", also receives an award for her hard work at ABANTU.

ABANTU Staff: Joan, Follie, Afua and Gertrude

Dancing ensues after the WHOOOLLEEE day has come to and end. National Service Students join the party.

Back home, it might take a bit of effort to get a guy on the dancefloor (well, maybe not the guys I hang out with), but here in Ghana - men are the first to leap at the opportunity to show off their moves. Here Marfo and Jacob, usually very shy and quiet, come alive with some Hi life beats.

 

Musician, Gonje and his band, provide live music for the crowd. 

Adusei and Mabel get down.

Obroni finally makes it on the other side of the camera.

A Final Visit to Sefwi Wiawso... for now

Last weekend was my last opportunity to squeeze in a quick weekend visit to Sefwi Wiawso before my return to Canada. When I called Joseph to make arrangements for my stay, I was delivered the unfortunate news that Joseph will be travelling to attend a funeral for the weekend. I was truly disappointed to hear this as Joseph is one of my favourite things about Sefwi Wiawso!

Joseph is a naturally paternal figure. He's very in tune with people's needs, particularly the needs of his community. It's difficult to explain how I know this about Joseph, but I suppose it's from noticing a lot of little things he does. Like making sure you have a seat in the shade or that you've had time to rest; making sure that everyone is looked after, well fed, healthy and comfortable. In synagogue, when people appear to have zoned out or lost interest, Joseph is the first to notice. He jumps to his feet and tries to liven up the services, engaging people either in a conversation or a song.

He's a natural leader and I can tell that people not only respect him, but they really like him. Every Shabbat I've noticed that people like to gather on his compound, as opposed to anyone else's, to relax and enjoy each other's company and conversation. Even if Joseph isn't involved in the conversation, it seems that people just enjoy his presence.

A few times when I have found myself lost in Dwumasi (pronounced Junasee), when people ask where I am heading, I mention Joseph's name. People immediately react with smiles and tell me that he is a good friend of theirs - a "bosom" friend, is often what they say.

So, needless to say, I was a bit sad that I wouldn't get to see Joseph before leaving Ghana. However, I was happy that at least I would get to see his wife, Gladys and some of his older children - Partick and Anthony, whom I felt close to as well.

Much to my surprise, however, when I arrived at the compound around 4:00pm on a Friday - the place was remarkably empty. As I exited the taxi, I recognized a tiny smiling face - it was Frank, one of the youngest sons on the compound. He smiled, giggled, and ran into the kitchen (a concrete room with a corrugated tin roof, separated from the rest of the compound). I followed him into the kitchen where I found about 12 children all gathered together preparing dinner - pounding fufu, boiling plantain and cooking some stew. I greeted each of them, gave them hugs and asked where all the adults were.

"It is only us children here." Said Joshua, who was crowned the oldest sibling in the absence of his older brothers and sisters.

The situation made me laugh. There wasn't an adult in sight! I felt like I had walked on to the set of Annie... in Africa. I wondered what kind of trouble we could get into. What would Kevin from "Home Alone" do in this situation?

The scenario I imagined in my head was what my brother and I would likely have looked forward to with our parents out of town - a weekend of kraft dinner, pizza, candy, tv and playing games that involved hopping all over the furniture and handling the objects in the house we were advised not to play with like delicate statues and vases. However, that scenario didn't translate too well in Sefwi Wiawso. Especially since the key ingredients, Kraft Dinner and Pizza, were unavailable.

But another idea came to mind. How about a movie? We had about a half an hour left before sundown, the welcoming of Shabbat, so I quickly grabbed Joshua and we went to the main street in town and I had him pick out a movie that everyone would enjoy. Without thinking twice, he grabbed a Jet Li flick called "The Defender." I said I wasn't such a fan of action movies, but our selection of pirated DVDs was limited. So I picked out "You Got Served", a self-titled "dance-drama", in case I found The Defender too unbearable. We would watch the movies on Saturday night, when Shabbat ended.

The weekend went very well. I was amazed at how incredibly self-sufficient and responsible the children were. At the crack of dawn, each of them followed their household duties as they would if their parents were around - meticulously sweeping the compound, washing their clothes, bathing, cooking breakfast by the fire. Other than a minor mishap involving two fighting brothers and a machete, the children were on their best behaviour! (don't worry, no one was hurt...)

Synagogue was quite interesting as well. Services were said to be held at 8 and every showed up about 9:30 as usual. Alex, the community leader, decided to teach the congregation a new prayer. For about an hour and a half, we practiced reciting this prayer - each of us being selected at random to say a line or two as a test. People were encountering significant difficulty in pronouncing the guttural "ch" sound of the Hebrew language and it was pretty amusing to watch Alex and I try to explain how to make this sound.

After Havdalah, the ritual ending of Shabbat, a small audience gathered in my room in front of an old computer to watch "The Defender." The fact that it was an action flick worked out in our favour, as the  audio wasn't working too well.

Whereas I normally find myself ready to pass out around 7:30pm when I visit Sefwi Wiawso, this past Saturday night was different. I didn't want the night to end because I knew it would be a very long time before I see my friends in the community again. After The Defenders ended, I asked the kids to stick around and watch the second movie... but for the first time ever, they were the ones who wanted to go to bed and not me!

Front row seats to Jet Li's "The Defender"

Havdalah services in front of the synagogue.

Havdalah Services in front of the synagogue.

Mr. Samuel, a dear friend from the community.

Early the next morning, Alex, Joshua and Mata's oldest son, Kwame, escorted me to the junction to catch a taxi to the bus stop. I would catch the 5:30am bus to Kumasi and then make my way back to Accra. As promised, I left Joshua about 15 self-addressed envelopes and money to buy stamps so we could write each other while I'm in Canada.

As the bus took off for Kumasi, I watched as the sun rise poured its pink and orange hue over the gorgeous green mountains that harbour some of the tallest trees I have ever seen. The site is absolutely beautiful and I remember thinking to myself: this better not be my last time seeing it.