Ms. Jean and Ghanaian President Kufor
Yesterday morning Samed and I met at the Goil Restaurant for some breakfast. After taking some Milo, bread and an omlete, we headed to the Ghana Commercial Bank where we were told to meet the media entourage for the Canadian Governor General’s tour of Tamale.
We crowded into a well used SUV, which left Samed and I sitting on an unattached car seat in the back of the vehicle. As we headed towards the Tamale airport, we noticed something strange about the truck. Once going at certain high speed the we began to rock from side to side, forcing the driver to slow down.
While we joked about it amongst the passengers, laughing at the insistence of the driver that it was the road and not the truck, I also prayed. One moment that brought us to laughter was when the vehicle began rocking on an absolutely flat airport road, and one of the journalists perked up and insisted, “now you have to admit that it’s the truck, this road is perfectly flat”. The driver finally conceded by grinning at the comment, which caused us all to erupt with laughter.
The ride to the airport brought me back to July, as that was the last time that I was out there. I flew from Accra to Tamale, and the road leading to Tamale was my first impression of the region. Much of the scenery was similar, but the fields of grasses were much dryer, offering great expanses of brown to the eyes, spotted with trees still sporting green tops.
We arrived at the airport with about fifteen minutes to spare, and made our way to the airports tarmac. The crowd was made up of members of the media, NGO executives, police and military officials, government representatives, a drumming and dance group, and one small girl with a bowl of kola nuts to welcome Her Excellency.
When the plane touched down, the morning was beginning to warm up from the cool touch of the desert like nights we experience at this time of the year. Beneath a clear blue sky, lit by uninhibited sunshine, Ms. Michaelle Jean descended down the steps onto a long red carpet. She took great time to greet and admire all that were set before her.
As I stood back, watching it all, my face was lit by a smile. I have had an admiration of Michaelle Jean for some now for her media career and her transition into such a remarkable political office. I recall an extensive article that I read in The Globe and Mail when she was first appointed to the position, while I watched the ceremonies that solidified her role. The bond between Ms. Jean and her daughter, and the direction of ascension that she has gained from looking at her own personal and family history are what stood out to me.
To see this child of Canada and Haiti take the role of representative of the Queen of England within a country led by the uncompromisingly blue Prime Minister Steven Harper speaks to so many issues of history, hope, and diplomacy, and must require great strength, persistence, patience, and wisdom.
While I wonder what she feels and thinks about Canada’s role in Haiti over the years, her category of political office inspires optimism; though, I would rather see her as Prime Minister.
She continued on to a private reception with the Regional Minister, while the large entourage stood by, ready to move.
After a brief conversation with the government official that had arranged our first ride in that rickety SUV, Samed and I were directed to another vehicle. We got into a comfortable 4x4, which joined a police and military led train of SUV’s, trucks and vans (and an army tank) which sped through the roads, forcing all other traffic to the roadside, raced to the first visit on the day’s agenda.
Entering into the heart of town, we alighted across the street from the gas station where we had breakfast at a place called COLWOD which gives women in Tamale the chance to earn an income from producing traditional cloth. They are encouraged and supported towards eventually opening their own businesses.
After sitting with the women and hearing some of their stories, members of the entourage purchased some items to support the women in their work.
Samed and I contributed to a live report from a cell phone on the visit. Samed was excited, as he had never been part of a live report before.
The next stop was the Gariba Lodge where a luncheon with Canadians working in the country took place. It was here that Samed and I joined a line of people to greet the Governor General. I was able to introduce her to Samed, and to share with her what I was doing in Tamale and that I was unable to travel to Accra for the meeting with JHR. I informed her that I had missed a lot of time due to illness, and she looked very concerned. I put forth that I was now feeling strong, and she nodded in agreement.
While speaking with her, Janey (who is also from JHR), took a few close up photos of our conversation.
After the line of greeting, we headed into the dining room and sat down for a buffet lunch. There was a great buffet of fish, plaintain, beans, fowl, stew, and much more. She spoke with the group and encouraged them to share with the rest of Canada and the world, what we all have been seeing, that counter to the popular notion of the continent, “there is hope in Africa”.
While sitting at my table, I made a few contacts with other Canadians in the region for stories. There were also two members of her staff at the table: her speech writer and her youth advisor. I had a good conversation with each of them. It was enriching to get the perspective of her speech writer who was once a professor of literature. I have a few aspirations which he was able to offer some capsulized mentorship on.
Continuing after lunch in the entourage, we once again sped through the city, and headed out to Golinga village. The road eventually turned to dirt, and with the train of heavy veichles, stirred up a nearly blinding cloud of dust along the dry road.
Assembled were hundreds of men, women and children of all ages and statuses within the community. They presented her with numerous dances which told stories of the history of the region. Samed explained a number of the meanings to me.
While we waited for the entrance of the invited dignitaries, I observed the environment that surrounded the village. I could see an energetic aura to the scenery before me that seemed to say that nature itself was pleased with the people living there.
When being welcomed by the Regional Minister, he said, “I want to put on record our gratitude, not just that you agreed to come to the Northern Region, but that you have come to a community that most visitors have never seen, and may never see”.
Before the ceremony started though, Ms. Jean took time to meet with all of the women of the community. Fresh from that meeting, she spoke before the crowd. I was seated in a row of chairs behind her, but I was close enough to see her eyes. I could see the emotions rise in her being. Her composure along with her words stirred years of my own experiences and echoed sentiments that are also in the great depths of myself.
She shared with the audience many of the concerns, experiences and aspirations that the women shared with her. It was not a speech. She was speaking with the people, that by living their lives the best way they could, were a part of a life changing pinnacle in her life.
Ms. Jean at Elmina Castle, gazing out, "The Door of No Return"
I recall the first time that I stepped on the continent. It was in August of 2001, on the most western shore of Africa, Dakar, Senegal and I was with then girlfriend. I had read of many experiences of a first visit. Alex Haley spoke of the making of Roots, and his travels in Ghana. Hip Hop artists Dead Prez recounted landing in South Africa and exiting the plane barefoot in respect for their steps on land that is sacred. One American man whose name I can’t recall wrote a book titled Sangoma, and also detailed this experience. In an interview with Nas, I remember the tone of longing to visit this place that holds so much of his history. Like Dead Prez, Monique and I stepped off the plane barefoot.
For Ms. Jean, this was her first time on the continent. She traveled from Algeria, to Mali, then down to Ghana. Today, she is in South Africa and she will finish in Morocco.
Arriving in Ghana, the primary issues that people were discussing is that she was dancing to the drumming that met her at the airport, and that she was the first woman of African descent to hold such a position.
I could see that her time here was a journey of deeply personal epiphany; it seemed to renew fundamental principles and aspirations that she holds and that she is driven by, while birthing new commitments and offering revelation.
Ms. Jean spoke to the women in front of the whole community, remarking upon their towering courage, telling them, “don’t be too humble”, as their bravery was inspiring. She pledged a continued commitment to them, and such communities across the country. She commended them on the progress they had made, but noted that “it is only a start”.
As she closed, she presented the community with a large number of children’s books including one about sandcastles and one about hockey, which she explained is a well-loved sport back in Canada.
Passing around the courtyard where the onlookers were assembled she danced amidst a circle of drummers to which one of the communities elders began to place money on her forehead, which I have seen at weddings and funerals. Breaking protocol, she scooped up the money from the ground and handed it to some children that were standing near her.
When we rejoined the entourage, the children could be seen with their hands full over empty plastic water bottles, and began to move again stirring up another cloud of dust and headed back to the airport.
Once again on the airport tarmac, another drumming and dance performance was offered. Amusingly, I was about ten feet from entering the airplane as a Ghanaian military official asked me to follow him, then requested that I get on the plane. When I realized the mistake, I let him know that I would be staying in Tamale. When other military officials attempted to chase away a line of children standing beside the airplane entrance, one shocked member of the Canadian entourage stepped between them and the children and insisted that they leave them alone. Ms. Jean took her time savouring her last moments in Tamale.
When the plane left, I stood near the airport grounds observing the shimmering grasses in front of me, and the row of trees in the distance. After a short wait, those left of the media entered a van that joined a police escorted line of vehicles. I gazed out the window at the setting sun. I was delighted by the fiery purple and red sun that cut through the dusty haze typical of the hamatan twighlight. I sat in thought, and it seemed as if I could see Ms. Jean sitting on the airplane viewing the very same sight. It seemed like this marvelous sunset was confirmation of all that had happened that day. It was a special conclusion to a day that changed a life. I could sense a great inner treasure set before the eyes of her understanding.
A great personal treasure was also set before the eyes of my own understanding. Lessons, confirmations, testimonies, wisdom, growth, and direction. All this, and glory to God, there are many more steps to be taken. I am learning to live as God would have me live.
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