I am writing this from the Central Region outside of Cape Coast, where I am visiting some friends. Tuesday I will head to Accra, and Friday I fly back to NYC. My role in the school building project is, for the most part, over. I stayed as long as possible, and when I left about half the walls were plastered. After the walls, the floors will be plastered, and all that is left after that is to paint.
Our money situation, while it is still tight, has been mostly resolved. Trina came through with a donation last minute that will cover the bare minimum, and there's still hope to bring electricity to the school, since it won't cost much money (probably no more than $400, maybe less). Even if we don't do it now, it's such a simple task we could wire money to Kwame to do it after we're gone. He'll be back in Naama in October anyway for his job at the School of International Training (SIT), which is where I first got to know him on my trip studying abroad through the same program.
We have yet to hear back from the local government about our water project proposal, but Kwame can cover that if it is approved. On Friday, my last full day in Naama, I gave a tutorial to a committee of village residents on the solar equipment that we plan to use for a water well. Our philosophy is that if the technology isn't teachable, it isn't sustainable. Luckily, I was taught well myself, and the committee seemed to understand the technology very well, evidenced by Kwame saying that he can manage the project without us if it's approved.
Trina and I have decided to start our own organization called Sankofa, of which I won't write much about yet here. We still have a lot of work to do, but this is our "launch project," which we didn't realize until Friday night at the goodbye ceremony the village had for me (Trina is staying until the school is completed). At the ceremony, the chief of the village, Nana Sarfo-Adu, told us that the school would be named Sankofa Primary School, named after our young NGO.
The ceremony was a moving experience for Trina and me. The love and gratitude that the people of the village have shown us has been truly remarkable. The council of elders named us King and Queen of Development in Naama. My official name in Naama is now Nana Osei Yao Akoto II, and I am obligated by my title to inform my family and friends that it is proper to use the term "Nana," out of respect for my position (I know this isn't gonna happen, but it would wrong to not even mention here).
The ceremony impressed upon Trina and me how much more work we have left in Naama alone. In addition to the school, electricity, and water, we still have to bring computers, help the village complete the Pre-K structure that they have been working on for years now, and build a Junior Secondary School (middle school), since the village doesn't have one right now. After we complete all this, we'll move on to the next phase of Sankofa. Until then, we much left to do here.
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I looked up Sankofa's meaning and found the following:
ReplyDeleteThe Akan people of Ghana use an Adinkra symbol to represent this same idea and one version of it is similar to the eastern symbol of a heart, and another version is that of a bird with its head turned backwards taking an egg off its back. It symbolizes one taking from the past what is good and bringing it into the present in order to make positive progress through the benevolent use of knowledge. Adinkra symbols are used by the Akan people to express proverbs and other philosophical ideas.
[edit] Use of the Sankofa in North America
The sankofa image has been adopted by numerous afro-centric organizations in North America
During a building excavation in Lower Manhattan in 1991, a cemetery for free and enslaved Africans was discovered. Over 400 remains were identified, but one coffin in particular stood out. Nailed into its wooden lid were iron tacks, 51 of which formed an enigmatic, heart-shaped design that could be a Sankofa.[2] The site is now a national monument, known as the African Burial Ground National Monument, administered by the National Park Service. A copy of the design found on the coffin lid is prominently carved onto a large black granite memorial at the center of the site.[3]
The National Museum of African American History and Culture uses the heart-shaped symbol on its website.[4] The "mouse over" for the image reads, "The Sankofa represents the importance of learning from the past."