| Building Bridges Between Africa and America
When Patricia Hamilton, coordinator of the CSUDH Institute of the Study of Cultural Diversity and Internationalization served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Ghana 10 years ago, she made many friends in the village of Under the Tree that she maintains contact with today. This summer, she was able to introduce them to her Dominguez Hills friends Maxine Lowe, clerk, Mail Services, and Addie Hunt, day distribution supervisor, Instructional Media Services.
“I was very honored to be with Maxine and Addie,” Hamilton says. “We turned out to be the greatest of friends, and had so many laughs together. Tears rolled at certain times, lots of hugs and encouragement. It was a real pleasure to be with them, and a great cultural experience for us together.”
For Lowe and Hunt, who had never been to Africa, the chance to go with someone who had lived in Ghana made for “a great opportunity,” according to Hunt.
“It turned out to be a fabulous tour, one you wouldn’t get from a tour guide,” she recalls. “We went into the villages where her friends live. They accepted us right into their homes and the village so that every day was part of a magnificent trip.”
 The trio spent a year planning their voyage, which included touring the rain forest, visiting schools, churches, and the University of Ghana. What wasn’t planned was the warmth with which the visitors were received, and the human experience that a close-up look at everyday Ghanaian life afforded. Hunt describes a social situation that, initially, seemed like a dire situation for the travelers.
“The [village] chief and his wife had us in their home for lunch, and we were sitting around, getting ready to go back to the city,” she says. “He was getting ready to watch soccer, so we said we would leave about the time that the game started. We were interrupted by a messenger from the premier chief, who wanted us to come down to the palace right away. Of course, we didn’t understand what he was saying, he was talking in Twi (the Ghanaian language). Then Valerie, the chief’s wife said, ‘We have to go to the palace, the paramount chief is beckoning for us to come down now.’
“The couple got up, and signaled us to rise out of our chairs because we had to leave immediately. I was trying to look at Patricia, and she was trying to look at Maxine, and we all were trying to look at each other trying to figure out what we did wrong.
The messenger waited for us. We left their home, and had to walk about 800 yards to the palace. All I could think was we were going to the slaughter.
“As we entered the palace, it was half-full of people,” she continues. “About 75 students were sitting in chairs in the middle of the floor. The chiefs were all sitting in their spots on the platform, and we were beckoned in by them to sit on the sidelines, and the chief and his wife were told to sit with the other chiefs. This is how we were invited to attend a graduation ceremony.”
Apart from the relief of this comic episode, the discovery of cultural differences was often celebratory for the visitors. Hunt was impressed by the industry of the Ghanaians despite the relative poverty of the people.
 “I was very surprised to see that all of the Africans are busy,” she says. “In the city, they’re on the corners selling whistles, hats, socks, combs, umbrellas, food, ice. They’re very busy people as a whole, even in the villages. I didn’t find too many people hanging out on the corner, doing nothing, like we have here. I didn’t see anybody’s pants falling down, anybody smoking cigarettes, or too many people who looked like they had been drinking.”
The Ghanaians’ resourcefulness extended to using their own cars as taxis for tourists.
“Like Addie says, they’re always doing something,” says Lowe. “We went out to eat, and they waited for us to get through eating. I guess the driver figured he had a fare if he waited, even thought we were in there for a couple of hours. Time means nothing to them, they’re very patient people.”
The acceptance of African Americans was an eye-opener for Lowe and Hunt, who bonded with their tour driver, a man named Yaw.
“When I first met him, he put his arms around me and said, ‘Welcome back home,’” says Hunt. “That really touched my heart. He said, ‘You’re safe now.’”
Hunt describes how Yaw put to rest her apprehension about the Africans’ acceptance of African Americans.
“We were at that particular plane where we could speak freely with each other, about three or four days after we had been together,” she says. “I was trying to find out from Yaw what Africans thought about American blacks. I've heard people say that Africans are not friendly to American blacks when they visit our country, so that’s one of the reasons I asked Yaw what did the Africans really think of us.
 “I told him that black Americans have gone through so many changes in the past 15 to 20 years here in America. We’ve called ourselves Negroes, blacks, African Americans.
We did come from Africa. I told Yaw that we considered ourselves African Americans. He gave me a look that was like – (laughs) – ‘That’s alright.’ And truthfully, all black people came from Africa.”
Learning about the origins of slavery proved to be a valuable, yet heartwrenching experience for the trio, who visited Elmina Castle and Cape Coast Castle, facilities that the slave ships left the country from. They learned that the conditions of slaves who were dispatched to different countries by British and European traders were not much different from the conditions they faced at the hands of American traders in the rural South.
“It upset me a lot,” says Lowe. “I had to get a hold of myself with it. If you’ve never been to [places like the castles] there to see how it was, you can’t really judge [how it will affect you].”
The trip was also full of happier surprises, both for the returning Hamilton and her newcomer companions. They were impressed by the progress that the developing region had made, with unexpected amenities such as Internet cafes, roadways, up-to-date cars, and bridges.
“When I was there, there was no electricity, and they have that now,” notes Hamilton. “In Accra, the capitol city, there are more businesses, and we saw some beautiful homes. I was amazed, because a lot of changes took place in 10 years.”
But what impressed the group the most was the warm reception that they all received. Hamilton was designated as a Queenmother, a traditional African title bestowed upon wise and nurturing women of the community.
“I noticed that when Patricia went back, everybody that knew her years ago, just loved her,” says Hunt. “You could tell she was a very fair person to them, and that she was deeply touched by their friendship, and they were by hers. That was really something to acknowledge and see, that they really loved Patricia and were so glad to see her come back to Africa.”
Hamilton, who bonded with the women of the village she lived in, has stayed in touch with them through the years, and sponsors a quilt project that helps to subsidize their income. While bringing her African American friends to the motherland, she says that for her too, that “to get back to Africa was to go home. The Queenmother yelled my name out when she saw me coming through the door, and she and I literally ran to each other. To be with her again was very, very special.”
- Joanie Harmon
Photos above, top to bottom: Addie Hunt, day distribution supervisor, Instructional Media Services, Patricia Hamilton, coordinator of the
CSUDH Institute of the Study of Cultural Diversity and Internationalization, and Maxine Lowe, clerk, Mail Services, experienced adventure and bonding in Ghana.
Hamilton with Under the Trees chief CK and his wife, Queenmother Valerie, who gave Hamilton the African name of Akosua (Sunday born). Photo by Maxine Lowe
The group visited the University of Ghana, and explored the Africana Studies department. Photo by Maxine Lowe
A sign at the Methodist Sunday school in Under the Trees welcomes "Mama Patricia" and her friends from the United States. Photo by Maxine Lowe |
