It might be in the eruption of applause the moment the plane touches down in Accra, or the steamy air that envelopes you outside the enclosure of the plane. It could be the simple “You are welcome” greeting of the immigration officer or the helpful porter. Things happen in Ghana that tell you you are welcome to be here.
The offering and drinking of water on arriving at somebody’s house is a gesture of peace, trust and good intention that is established before the stated “mission” of the visitor. So, welcoming is both giving and receiving. For a returning Ghanaian, like Tete, a welcome might be a favorite dish of food delivered by a friend or a sister. For my brother-in-law, returning from the middle of Missouri, he felt welcomed by being part of the human hustle and bustle in the airport and being surrounded by the familiar voices, gestures and expressions of so many Ghanaian people at the arrival hall. Later, a large family gathering to celebrate the life of my mother-in-law, a family matriarch who died in 2019 at age 91, was a welcoming home and a collective welcoming of siblings, cousins, aunts, uncles, nephews and nieces.
Familiar food, drink and language; spontaneous singing and dancing were also welcoming factors. The ancestors are ever present and invited to share libation at gatherings and decision-making moments because the well-being of the living matters to them. Visitors are welcomed with gracious gestures, and foreign visitors are thanked for making the journey to Ghana, the most welcoming place you may ever know, a place that cherishes and honors human beings in communion with other human beings. Witness Tree participants of Cohort 2 have just arrived from the US and from parts of Ghana. They have been given water and told Akwaaba! Today we will all set off in a bus together for Cape Coast and other places ready to welcome what Ghana has to teach!
Elizabeth Cobblah, Maynard Massachusetts, retired art teacher Fenn School