THE GHANA CHRONICLES: Closing Circle—6/29/23

 

This morning was the last “Wake Up to Life” with Kofi, our 6:30 am Zumba class Ewe style. A fine way to greet each day. On we went to our last morning classes, farewell jollof rice and chicken lunch at the White Dove Hotel and on the bus to Ho, a larger town a couple of hours from Dzodze where Kofi’s wife is from and where her family still lives. More bustling, with lots of tro-tro taxis, rolling hills and a larger, more cosmopolitan hotel. After dinner, we gathered for a closing circle. First people talked in groups of two or three about their “takeaways”— musically, educationally, culturally, personally— and then shared back with the whole group. The last three were myself, Sofia and Kofi. Strangely, I forget what I said, perhaps because Sofia’s was so powerful. She surprised us all by choosing to talk to Kofi the way people talk to a Chief or person of high reputation— not directly, but through another person. Kofi was deeply moved, partly by what she said, but even more by the respect she showed him and his culture by the way she chose to say it. 

 

We then had a hug line to say goodbye to the six of us (me included) who were leaving the next morning while the rest were awakening at 5:30 to go see monkeys and wrap their hands around a giant baobob tree. Nunya Academy’s guiding proverb is: 

 

“Nunya Adidue, asi me tu neo. Knowledge is like a baobob tree. No one person’s hand can encircle it all alone.”

 

A perfect summary of the community we created and all the knowledge we shared.