Duloglana Ebenezer Adam

Wednesday, July 22, 2009, the day before my departure from Tamale to Accra and about two hours before our "Good-bye" dinner given by our host, I had the pleasure of meeting Ebenezer Adam. Last minute is the description the event and anxious was my state of mind. I was a bit nervous because I didn't have his phone number to schedule a meeting time. Thoughts of rejection and of being turned around at the door rattled me. "But how am I supposed to get in touch with someone who does not have a telephone," I thought. Once again I was proven to be the Americanized foreigner whom induces her own anxiety such as, being nervous about showing up to some one's home unannounced in the Ghanaian culture. I had to tell myself "Relax, this is the way they do it, it's fine." Of course it was no big deal. And my soothing process began when Ebenezer walked in excited and very welcoming. He has a smile and eyes that carried the innocence of a child and the joy of a grandfather every time he sees his grandchild. I felt the warmth of his welcome as he did my visit. At ease I felt.
Duloglana Ebenezer Adam of Tamale, Ghana is a sub-chief; Duloglana represents the region or neighborhood of Tamale in which the Chief resides. The Duloglana is eighty-nine years young and will be ninety in December. The Duloglana began his career as a teacher in Kumasi which is about three to four hours south of Tamale. His career then took a turn in 1948-49 in favor of politics, particularly, in the advocation of independence for Ghana. Chief Ebenezer Adam has worked closely with the first president of Ghana, Kwame Nkrumah, in the establishment of the United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC) in both the southern and northern regions of Ghana. Later after serving as a member of the the UGCC, he then became the General Secretary of the UGCC.
About six years after Ghana's independence was won in 1957, Ebenezer Adam became the Regional Commissionor for the Northern Region of Ghana in 1963 to 1966. He was also the NP for the Tamale. Chief is also known for his mastery work of facilitating, along with three other translators, a complete translation of the Old and New Testament Bible into the Dagbani language. The conception of the Naawuni Kundi Kasi was around 1980 and it took approximately 28 years total to translate both Old and New Testaments into Dagbani. The first Dagbani written bible, the Naawuni Kundi Kasi translated as God's Holy Bible, was published in 2006.

Missing Tamale

As the last of seven weeks comes to a soggy close, I pause to reflect upon this city of Tamale. It holds so many memories, experiences, and I am happy to say, friends. Now that I am getting ready to leave in less than 3 days, I look toward my departure as bittersweet and I reflect upon the things that have made this place so special.

Opening my eyes in the morning to the sound of 30 or more girls singing as they start their school day. “Taking breakfast” of “eggbread” at Fuseini’s. Traveling with strangers in a packed taxi cab, dodging a medley of farm animals and motorbikes. The constant
accessibility of cheap, tasty, freshly-made foods carried by beautiful women and children atop of their heads as well as the knowledge of precisely where your food is coming from as the air is packed with the scent of butchered and burning meat and the bleating of goats and sheep.

Fast food that comes from a giant cauldron served in open air without the million dollar advertising. A satisfying meal of guinea fowl and jolof rice at prices that put the dollar menu to shame. For when there is more time, sharing a bowl of TZed and groundnut soup. Enjoying the company of one another as you both dip your bare fingers into the piping hot ball of dough and then into the scalding soup before scooping the spicy mixture into your mouth unencumbered by the senseless taboo of “double-dipping.”

Bonding over laughter and music as cultural differences melt away and you are no longer where you come from, but who you are.

The beauty of the people. The women in their brightly patterned, tailor-made dresses which hug every curve and complement the figure of a woman. The men with their toned physique developed through years of skilled labor, not manufactured in a stale health club. Their uninhibited practicality and grounded reality.

Above all, those beautiful people I will miss most are the ones that showed me the real side of Tamale and who shared with me their culture, their passions, their hopes and dreams, their laughter, and most of all, their friendship.

How to Lose Weight in Africa

Losing weight is much harder than I had anticipated. Not that I was trying to shed some major poundage this summer, but I wasn't going to complain if I could fit into the favorite pair of jeans that much better. Being in a new location always makes me finicky about food for some reason. This has nothing to do with different tastes or textures, I just don’t normally eat a lot when I’m not in my comfort zone. So I expected to keep my meals to a healthy size and time. But it didn’t take long for me to forget that idea once I got to Tamale. Tamale is rich with flavor experiences, such as my new favorite poultry, the ever-popular guinea fowl. This tough little bird is an excellent meat choice to Red Red, a bean and tomato dish served with fried plantains, which I can’t get enough of. But this is just one of the many options of local dish. Jolof rice and fried fish can be purchased on the street corner in quantities that would make U.S. restaurants blush and at prices that can’t be beat by the McDonald’s dollar menu.

Besides the local dishes, Chinese food is served at most every sit down restaurant. Non-Ghanaian food is typically referred to as “fast food” thought it is anything but. What is meant by “fast food” is that it is the type of food one can get at a western fast food restaurant. No food is pre-made and left to sit under a heat lamp. When you order pizza here, they begin making the dough.

So amongst the fabulous flavors, plenteous portions and petite prices I was starting to wonder if I would fit into my tailor-made traditional dress. Then I came across a natural way to avoid those pesky pounds: a stomach virus. Indeed, I have discovered that a constant threat of nausea is the only thing to keep oneself from over indulgence.

Zero Visibility

So it was my second day in Tamale, Ghana about 6:30am and I am ironing my clothes outside. I saw one of the wives or at least I assumed she was a wife; there are two wives from what I was told. It was funny because I have met everyone under the sun in Tamale except for these two women whom are supposed to wash my laundry and cater to my every need; however, I have not met them yet, Why?! Subconsciously, about a hundred and one questions were crossing my mind. Why hasn’t anyone introduced them to us?! So she walks out of her room which is separate from her husband and the other wife and so I wait. And I wait. Why has she not spoken to me yet? Do I speak first? I’m the guest?! Does she see me standing here? Anyway, I initiated the first greet by saying, Dasiba, which means “good-morning,” and so she replied, Naa and then she reciprocated Dasiba and so I replied Naa. So it was confirmed she did in fact see me and could hear me. However, there is this odd distance and odd transparency in her personality almost like a personality does not exist. I don’t feel as though my greeting opened a window for a possible conversation of getting to know her but I feel as though she accepts me. After our greet exchange, the morning fell socially silent and time continued and daily duties followed. Awkwardly, I continued to iron my clothes with this permanent substance-less smile on my face (that of a confused foreigner.) Professor briefly enlightened me about Muslim marriage and explained the rank of women. They don’t matter. They are invisible in a sense; they do their duties and go on about the day, he says. Wow! I thought. His explanation greatly sufficed and moved me. Today’s life experience made an imprint on my conscious mind, subsequently, signifying the beginning of a very enlightening journey in Ghana.

Sister Cities Blog 1: Separated by Water, Brought Together by Faith: Reflections on Ceremony and Life

My few days in Tamale so far have been more than I could have ever hoped for. Talking, laughing and learning from the citizens of this city has given me new insight to thoughts and beliefs I had not touched in years. Living abroad has prompted me to reflect not only on the new ideas and experiences I am encountering, but to review and judge my own society and past experiences. My participation in a religious service this past Sunday serves as a physical metaphor for the ability of ceremonies to create unity within a culture and to serve as a vehicle for transcending cultures.

Accepting the invitation to attend liturgy, Erica and I joined Chief Zo-Simli-Naa to her Anglican church. I had never been to an Anglican service before, but since I was raised Catholic I knew there would be many similarities. I was curious to witness the traditions of this religion, but more specifically, the Tamale congregation. We arrived at 10:00am for what would be a three hour service, which is considerably short I am told.

In as many ways as the service was different, it was surprisingly the same. Parts of the service were more traditional, with the use of incense and the gate between the priest and the congregation, and the singing of most prayers. But in the next moment, there was a drum set and a bass guitar and people dancing in the isles. While watching the men and women dance around, I noticed another thing I had not often seen in churches I had attended in the U.S., a real sense of joy and thanksgiving. The dancing and singing was lively and energetic, and the people were smiling! I thought to myself, “now this is the way to celebrate and rejoice!”

Though it was the same act I had performed many times before, the taking of the host represented so much more to me this time. It was the first time I really understood its meaning. By sharing the bread and cup, I became a part of the congregation in some way. Thousands of miles from home, and a simple act of eating and drinking has brought me into the lives of people whom I have never met before. This small, symbolic act is a less personal version of what I have been doing daily in a secular way since I arrived in Tamale. Eating and drinking with strangers, and through the course of that communion, becoming friends. Christianity is irrelevant. The communion practiced in church is just a symbolic way to remember that it is this daily act that unites us to our fellow human beings.

In the middle, all newcomers were asked to come up, introduce themselves and to be blessed by the priest. Though slightly uncomfortable, being welcomed infront of the entire congregation and then individually blessed by the priest was another example of how welcoming and genuine the citizens of Tamale are. With nearly every person I have met here, I have felt a genuine warmth, friendliness and sense of interest that I have yet to discover in the United States or in any of my travels abroad. It reminded me of my work with foreign exchange students at Beloit college. Two German girls repeatedly seemed concerned with the validity of friendships in the United States. At first, I thought I understood what they meant. In the U.S. the term “friend” is carelessly thrown around when one really means “acquaintance.” This leads to false conceptions of relationships when Americans claim to be friends, but lose contact within a matter of days. Now, in Tamale, I am recognizing the shallowness of typical American culture. This is not to say that I have not experienced true friendship in the United States, only that the majority of interactions with new people are incredibly transient. But in Tamale, within the first few meetings, I felt at home here. The cultural focus on greetings ensures a conversation with each person upon every meeting. Our interest in learning Dagbane has created even closer bonds as we develop new ways to relate through language. Most of all, when anyone is in the room, they are included, without fail, and we as guest have been given a sense of importance reserved for those twice our age.

I know that visitors from Tamale have enjoyed their time in Louisville. When I attended a farewell dinner in Louisville for recent guests, they graciously thanked their hosts and Sister Cities for the hospitality they received. But after coming to Tamale, I find it difficult to believe that they met the level of warmth and respect that perpetuates this society.

Guy Love

Before I left for Tamale, Ghana, I was told that it might happen. I wasn’t sure how I felt about it though. The flash of a Cheshire grin exuding coolness (the kind equipped to mask fear or hesitancy in the face of a challenge or imminent danger) was my only response to my Ghanaian brother's forewarning. I spoke with some (female) friends (in America) about it and they applauded the openness that accompanied my ambivalence towards it. “Well at least you haven’t taken a stance against it…that says a lot about you…” Umm, yeah but it doesn’t make me feel any easier about it.

It = holding hands (heretofore abbreviated as HH)
a common act of friendship between men in Tamale, Ghana.

In American culture, extreme acts of manliness do not include handholding with other men. Physical expressions of male-to-male non-aggressive behavior are allowed in limited contexts – father/son relationships, athletic championships (its okay, even expected, to weep like a child when you win the Super Bowl), and in extreme cases, the death of a relative. In fact, holding hands with members of the opposite sex in public spaces is often regarded as a chore. But I’m not in America anymore. According to my Ghanaian hosts, homosexuality is not openly practiced in Tamale. However, behaviors Americans stereotypically ascribed to homosexuals do occur in my new environment.

HH Encounter #1: We were greeted by a small contingent of Dagbani folks representing Sister Cities in Tamale. Upon our arrival in northern Ghana Saturday morning, the notion of guy love took was initiated. An elder member of the delegation reached for my hand to shake it and welcome me to Tamale. In a sudden act of discreet precision, the handshake morphed into him guiding me by the hand towards the rest of the group. The manly man inside of me released his hand and grabbed hold of my cool. I was on hand guard patrol for the rest of the day but I wasn’t prepared for my next encounter.

HH Encounter #2: During my time here, I have made friends with a Dagbani man of my age. We have grown to be fast friends and share a lot of interests. One day walking through the Zo-Simli Naa Palace, we were joking about some things as men often do. We slapped hands (a ritual that appears to be a universal sign of male peers) after a good laugh and it happened again. The Dagbani men are swift in their execution! I found myself walking with my friend hand in hand for paces through the palace. It doesn’t last long like a nice walk in the park or anything, but it’s lengthy enough to recognize that this XY chromosome carrier has my hand.

I’ve given a lot of thought to the cultural significance of the act. Male friends of all ages can be found walking hand in hand with little regard for any misinterpretation of their relationship. It is an act of friendship. I’m still debating on where to draw the line or whether a line needs to be drawn at all in this regard. If I am to call this man my friend, do I reject his hand when he reaches for mine? While the story unfolds, I’ll leave you with this memorable moment from Scrubs the musical. Time for some jolof rice!

Like what you've read so far?

Check out my personal blog at www.khalfani-thenextpage.blogspot.com

Meredith-Dunn School ‘walks’ to Quito, Ecuador

How long does it take to walk to Quito, Ecuador? Well, the students at Meredith-Dunn School can tell you it takes one week and lots of friends to help you!
The school recently held a Virtual Walk to Quito. Entrants wore pedometers for a week, tracked their mileage, and walked the equivalent of the approximately 4,086 miles to Quito.
"It’s a new twist on an age-old fundraiser," said Carol Morrison, Development Director at Meredith-Dunn. "We’ve held traditional walks in the past but wanted to do something more exciting and interesting this year."
"We are so very grateful to Sister Cities of Louisville for working with us and introducing us to the beautiful culture of Quito," said Kyle Pierce, the school’s marketing director. "They have been so gracious…providing resources for our students, introducing us to a dance troupe in Quito, giving us bags and artwork to use as prizes…. They’ve been wonderful."
The students who raised the most money during their Virtual Walk to Quito met with Mayor Jerry Abramson in the Mayor’s Gallery at Metro Hall and presented a new Ecuadorian flag to him. The bright new flag now hangs in Jefferson Square alongside the flags of the countries of Louisville’s other seven Sister Cities.
Meredith-Dunn School provides individualized education to students with learning differences in grades K-8. Proceeds from the Virtual Walk to Quito will provide tuition assistance, helping children who otherwise would not be able to attend the school. For more information about the Walk to Quito, or Meredith-Dunn School, please visit their website at www.meredithdunnschool.org.
Submitted by Kyle Pierce

Kentucky Country Day students travel back to Tamale, Ghana

By Kelly Beam and Hayden Dry:

On the first day of the year we were off to head back to our favorite country in the world, Ghana. Both of us had previously been in Ghana in June of 2008 for two weeks, and fell so in love with the country and its people that we just had to return. We wanted a reason to go back, and to work with Dahin Sheli Primary School. We decided to focus our Senior Graduation Project on education differences between Ghana and America. We would spend three weeks as teaching assistants at Dhain Sheli Primary School in Tamale, Ghana. When we arrived in Tamale, we were greeted by our old friends and welcomed right back into our second home. We were immediately embraced by everyone at Sister Cities Tamale and so excited to finally be back. The purpose of our trip was to work as teaching assistants at Dahin Sheli Primary School. We would teach and observe classes to figure out the differences between the American and Ghanaian education system. We wanted to do this because during our June trip we had fallen in love with the school and its children. Our goal for our trip was also to develop a connection between Dahin Sheli’s teachers and students and our own. We brought with us over one hundred letters from students at our school and were able to collect even more from their students to bring home. Over the course of this school year we have established a pen pal relationship between the lower and middle school students at both schools. We also collected several e-mail addresses from teachers there to bring to our teachers so they could communicate via e-mail about different teaching strategies and techniques. Not only did we get a lot out of our trip, but we were also able to extend its effects to both schools through the lasting exchanges created through email. Our hope is that in the future teachers and students from our sister schools will be able to come here and continue the exchange of knowledge.

Jiujiang China Spring 2009 by Fran Warren

I arrived in Jiujiang January 23 just in time for Chinese New Year and Spring Festival. A warm welcome awaited me especially from our two groups of public officials who spent six months in Louisville (aka JJ10 and JJ7). This picture is of a street vendor in the village of Zhongnan. Dai (JJ 10) and her husband took me there to celebrate the New Year with family. Lots of food and firecrackers.





Left: Street Vendors selling New Year's banners for doors. I bought one for my apartment. Hoped it would bring me good luck.








Right: View of farm land surrounding the village.






Left: Young boy playing checkers on village street. Notice the pieces of paper for missing pieces.

Back in Jiujiang from the village I had dinner with Yang Bin's(JJ10) extended family. Her father 83 decided to take a nap while the feast was being prepared. This is one of favorite pictures. He made me feel right at home and I knew my stay in Jiujiang would be OK. Yang Bin's family have become my Chinese family.

A quick recap and 2 events not to be missed!

I should probably be writing about time management since the blog has been seriously suffering from a lack of it lately. So, what's been going on at Sister Cities? Well, we just bid farewell to 4 musicians from our Sister City Leeds, England who were in Louisville to take part in the University International Jazz Festival this past Wednesday, if you couldn't make it then you'll have to take my word for it that it was an excellent concert. The musicians played alongside the great musical talent we have here at the University as well as some guests from Russia - a truly International concert! The Frazier International History Museum also held a reception for the musicians and gave them a tour of all the great exhibits - by the way they are re-doing the 3rd floor exhibit so watch out for the grand opening later this year! The Kentucky Country Day School delegation arrived home safely from our Sister City Tamale, Ghana after having a great visit - they were even able to set up a Skype chat with the students back at Louisville during the trip. They are currently writing a article for us about their trip so come back and check that out soon.

Lastly 2 upcoming events - If you watched the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics and wondered how they pulled off all the special effects wonder no longer - just come to the free showing of a behind the scenes documentary this Wednesday:

March 4, 6pm

The University of Louisville

Elaine Chao Auditorium

For more information check out our Facebook page - just click on the event link on the right.

If you are a member, are considering becoming a member or just want more information about us then come to our annual membership meeting next Sunday:

March 8, 4pm

German American Club

1842 Lincoln Ave (just off Poplar Level Road at I-264)

We hope to see you at one of these events!

Happy Chinese New Year

This past weekend I was fortunate enough to let in the Year of the Ox with some members of the local Asian community and a group of Chinese students visiting from our Sister City, Jiujiang China. As the adults gathered in the kitchen and left the students to call home and wish their families on the other side of the world a Happy New Year I was warmly welcomed into an enthusiastic dumpling production line. With delicate instruction I was soon on my way producing one dumpling to their three and placed them onto the tray with a slight concern that my novice folding might lead to a dumpling explosion in the pan. The dumplings turned out just right and absolutely delicious - which reminds me, I must get that pork & shrimp filling recipe! I have spent the past two years giving presentations about how Louisville 

is a friendly city and welcoming to immigrants; this past weekend I found myself on the other side of that -being welcomed and completely accepted by both local and visiting internationals, I only hope my home feels as warm and welcoming to guests. The students seemed to have a good time too, tucking into the food and enjoying each others company; it was a lesson that teenagers are the same the world over - giggly, excitable, loud and very hungry. 

Farewell Fran

The countdown begins for Fran Warren, Co-chair to our Sister City in Jiujiang, China. Fran will be leaving for Jiujiang tomorrow 1/21 to embark on a 5 month teaching experience as part of the Teaching in Asia program, representing Jefferson Community College per a Memorandum of Understanding signed by Dr. Newberry and President Lu of Jiujiang Vocational University. Fran will be teaching conversational English and is more than qualified for the challenge. This will be Fran's third trip to Jiujiang. After much pestering we have convinced Fran to send us updates and photos of her experiences as they happen, we look forward to living in China vicariously through Fran in the coming months! So look out for Fran's updates right here at the Sister Cities blog. Good Luck Fran, we wish you all the best in your travels!

One of many inspiring projects

The more people I meet, the more I am inspired and excited about Sister Cities of Louisville and the endless possibilities. This past Friday I had the opportunity to talk with Steve Diamond, Executive Director of Healing the Children, Louisville. This is an amazing organization which helps children around the world who require medical help that they otherwise could not receive. They do this through a number of different projects and Sister Cities of Louisville is proud to be involved. Currently three of Louisville's Sister Cities have established relationships with Healing the Children, in fact as we speak Johana Ona, a little 5 year old girl from Quito is preparing to return home as her 5 month stay in Louisville comes to an end. Johana now has a new right ear thanks to donated care from our wonderful medical community and has been fitted with a bone conductivity hearing aid enabling her to hear and speak for the first time. Johana also received some much needed dental work during her stay. We wish Johana a safe trip back home and thank all of those who have been involved in her care. There are also plans to send a team of doctors and other medical personnel to spend 7-10 days in Quito this Spring to work directly with children in need there.

Sister Cities will shortly be adding another city to our relationship with Healing the Children: Tamale, Ghana. We look forward to the projects and aid work that this may lead to, we have already been provided with a list of much needed medical equipment; if you can help please let us know!

If you are interested in helping with any or all of these initiatives please contact us, Louisville is such a giving city - be proud Louisville!

A New Year, A New Blog

It's a new year and Sister Cities of Louisville has a New Year's resolution to enter the world of social networking. We hope to keep you up to date with all the exciting programs, exchanges, visits, events and much much more. We just can't physically fit everything into our quarterly newsletter anymore so we're branching out! Each of our eight sister cities have unique relationships ranging from aid work to arts & culture to educational exchanges and lots more - so subsribe to our RSS feed to keep up to date with what's happening! Incidentally, if you are new to Sister Cities and would like the 101 then take a look at our website http://www.sclou.org/ and click on the About Us link.


Here's what's happening between our sister cities right now:

• Two louisville students arrived in Tamale, Ghana last week to continue a research project, studying early and elementary childhood education....Learn More



• Louisville photographer Michael Brohm leaves for Perm, Russia tomorrow to exhibit 60 pieces of local work to an estimated 80,000..... Learn More



• Students from JiuJiang, China will arrive in Louisville for a two week exchange this month....Learn More

The sky's the limit with Sister Cities - tell us what programs you'd like to see by leaving a comment.