THE GHANA CHRONICLES: You're Welcome-Thank You—6/30/23

 

And so this most marvelous two weeks ended for me, six of us in a van headed to the airport, a final meal together and each off our separate ways— to Spain, Brazil, Chile, the U.S. Back to our familiar selves in our familiar settings, but not quite the same people who left them. The vibrations of all we saw and heard and did and shared echoing in our bodies, embedding themselves in our cells and there to call upon when the world seems dark or bleak or hopeless. We know how trauma lives on in the body and affects everything we think, we do, we are, but so does beauty and love and happiness. And as teachers, committed to passing on the delights we’ve known during our short time here, we are carrying the baton of joy to the children who we hope will keep the delight and gladness close to their hearts for their whole life long.

 

One of so many lessons our Ewe fellow people have to teach us is the way they reverse our social convention of “Thank you” and You’re welcome.” They begin always, from the moment they meet you, with “You are welcome” and then you might say “Thank you.” Do you feel it? They begin each encounter from the positive space of welcoming you before they know anything about you and yes, the proper response is to thank them for such generosity. We wait for someone to do something that benefits us and say “Thank you” and they then respond with “You’re welcome.” Both have value, but the first actually makes more sense and is more open-hearted. 

 

To each and every one of the Ghanaian people I met, I say both—you are heartily welcome should you ever come to my home city and thank you for all you’ve given, all you stand for, all you are. Your lives and lessons continue to echo on in me wherever I may be. 

 

And a special thank you to my most extraordinary teachers, Kofi and Aaron and Prosper (not in the photo here). Yo!