Today I am re-naming my blog. It's not about me at ALL. It's about what I learn, and can hopefully express through this blog. I'm the engine, but not the machine! I'm just passing on what I see around me- nothing more and nothing less.
Humble-Africa: it's about the attitude. It's about humbling yourself: leaving preconceived ideas about Africa behind you when you come. You need to shed your own ideas about what the continent has and what it lacks (but mostly what it lacks) and make yourself ready to learn the lessons that you encounter everyday. It's about taking something positive from your frustrations and moving forward more enlightened and ready for the next challenge that, by all means, is on its way coming. Humility is a very reputable trait. It should not be taken for granted as an attitude to have. I've learned especially from a newcomer's point of view that as a stranger, you must humble yourself. So that's that!
Someone I want to focus on today is my dear first, friend; now, sister, Sarah-Afiyoo. Today is Friday so it's her birth week-day. Friday-born: Afiyoo. I want to honour her by talking about one amazing thing she has shown me this past week...
Afiyoo has a heart for her people. She told me something incredible yesterday that I will never forget as long as I live. It was one of the wisest, most wonderful things I have ever heard. We were having a conversation about travel, and how it can bring more knowledge and more perspective about the country you are from, as well as the country you’re visiting. She expressed to me that if she really wanted to travel, the opportunity would be there, but first she has a responsibility to help people in her own country, before she travels outside to do something. This is Mama-Africa right here. My Ghanaian Mother-Theresa.
Afiyoo dances traditional style dance with a drumming and dancing group here in Madina, Accra. The group travels around the city performing at funerals and other important events, gracing their audiences with traditional dances from different regions in Ghana. The drums will get you a-poppin’ and a-stompin’, trust me!!!
Afiyoo has a heart for children. In Afiyoo's spare time and on her OWN dollar, she visits an orphanage in Teshie, a slightly battered community near a terribly beautiful but littered shoreline. The kids know her there as "Sister-Sarah", the one who comes to see them as often as she can to teach them some traditional dances with one or two of the drummers.
I went along with her and Baan, the leader of the group last time they visited and took pictures, documenting this humble, wonderful event. The kids were crazy-happy to be gathered under a shaded tent, shaking their booties to the rhythm of the drum, and Afiyoo is smiling ear-to-ear like she's just won the lottery! This is what a heart made of gold looks like. Traveling all the way out there to the beachside to teach the kids for a few hours. Time out of her day, money out of her own pocket. Who sees it? Who's watching? Nobody. But this is how she lives. This is everyday in the life of Afiyoo.
This is the sister that is taking me along with her, allowing me to share in the work she does out of the kindness of her heart. Her spirit is free and her heart is open. This is the work she chooses to engage in, these are the souls she wants to invest in.
I want to add some pictures of our time at the orphanage, but they aren't ready to upload, so for now I will tag this post with a shot of Afiyoo in her costume, dancing at a funeral a few weeks ago. See the face. Hear her name. Today, mad respect to Afiyoo, my guide. From the way she lives her life, I have learned a great many things. Much more to come. Today, blessings should reign onto Afiyoo. It's Friday, y'all.
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