As the Witness Tree Institute closes its 2024 program, I would like to spend these few minutes thanking all our supporters and Congratulations to the Witness Tree Institute’s Cohort of 2024! You lived up to the true meaning of the Adinkra symbol you chose to guide you during your inspiring two-week session in Ghana. Your choice of the Adinkra symbol -Ese ne Tekerama, symbolizing the necessary coexistence of tongue and teeth, set the stage for the character of your kinetic and erudite cohort. Even before you set foot on the soil of Ghana, you began living it. My initial impression of all of you proved prescient. Memma mo nyinaa mo, mo, mo! At the close of what has been a dynamic program, I would like to say farewell and good luck to all members of Cohort 2024, and to dedicate my blog entry to the memory of our friend Michael Salvatore who passed away in February 2024. As I may have said to you at the beginning of the program, “We do not walk alone.” We began the program with a prayer to our ancestors and loved ones who have passed into the spirit world. As leaders of the 2024 program, we brought the spirit of our friend Mike Salvatore with us on this journey. Mike was a talented musician and educator who spent most of his life teaching music and playing the piano and organ at church. His first gig was at the age of 13 in a church in Utica, New York. He had a mission in life, and for over 40 years he was a music teacher and a church musician until his passing.
When he passed away at a tender age, sympathizers, friends and family were encouraged to donate towards the Witness Tree Institute’s scholarship fund. Mike was always interested in the work of WTIG and encouraged us to continue to share love, learning through music.
In the above photo Mike (middle) is seen singing at a concert celebrating the legacy of Martin Luther King, with the faculty choir of his beloved Fenn school, in Concord, MA. Liz and I brought his spirit with us on this journey of learning and growth. We invoked Mike’s youthful spirit, his sense of humor, fun-loving dedication to music, his faith and his love of life often. Even from the land of the spirits, Mike continued to make a difference. Thanks to donations in memory of Mike, and the generosity of his family and church, WTIG was able to offer some financial assistance to half of our participants. What Mike’s life taught us at the Witness Tree Institute is that finding purpose in life is a path to understanding it. Despite its moments of nothingness, incredibility, hardships and confusion, life is an amazing gift of beauty and wonder. Purpose is when yo realize why you exist at all. We are grateful for the life of Mike and devoted educators like him.
During this summer’s WTIG program, we all practiced Gracious Space, exploring non-judgment, curiosity, courage, understanding, imparity and forgiveness. Throughout our various workshops, seminars and visits to schools, we experienced big-hearted giving from our instructors and hosts. Over the years, the Witness Tree Institute has developed connections and partnerships with schools like Boston University, the University of Ghana, Carroll School, Accra College of Education, and prominent individuals like Professor Kofi Asare Opoku, Professor Pashington Obeng, Agya Koo Nimo and Dr. Elsa Wiehe. We have also created and maintained relationships with Ghanaian communities while supporting their local schools. The Witness Tree Institute continues to support these local schools including Nyigbenya D/A Basic School, Nyigbenya D/A Basic School and Kpohe D/A Basic School. It has been our practice to visit these schools during program, and to donate gifts that aid learning and well-being. This year WTIG, with help from members of the cohort, schools, individuals and a company like Staples, Acton, donated IT equipment, feminine products, books, stationary etc.
One of the most memorable moments which moved me deeply was the elaborate welcome from Ms. Cecilia Laweh and Mr. Clement Gbortimah and the students and faculty of the Kpohe D/A Basic and Nyigbenya D/A Basic schools when we visited them. The Cohort was met with dancing and singing from cheerful and excited students and teachers. We were feted and given access to classrooms, games, lessons and discussing pedagogy with teachers and students. We couldn’t have imagined a more rewarding day! At the welcoming assembly at Kpohe D/A Basic School, WTIG Cohort 2024 was joined in singing Ghana Nyigba, a patriotic song we had learned in a few days, by the Kpohe student choir. As the two groups stood side by side singing, I was struck by the beautiful diversity and the richness that was wrought from this unity. It was both moving and inspiring.
A big thank you to our WTIG Board and Council for their undying support and counsel. The WTIG team on the ground in Ghana and in the USA, to all participants, companies and friends who donated books, stationery to schools and students in Ghana, we thank you. Special thanks also to all our dynamic instructors in Ghana who poured out their hearts into the work of learning, we are truly grateful. Without supporters like you, our families and friends like Mike and his family who believe in professional development for educators but also the importance of teachers and global education, some of the incredibly talented and dedicated teachers of the WTIG cohort of 2024 would not have been able to attend the institute—and have an experience that will certainly make a difference in their communities.
Finally, to my dear co-leader Liz Updike Cobblah, and my good friends, Elise Mott, David Duane, Rosalie Norris, Dela Awutey, Elizabeth Aikins and Kwasi Ntim Agyei on the WTIG team of 2024, together we make the strongest team ever. I, and generations of students, are indebted to you.
I’ll close with the ending of a song that the 2024 Witness Tree Institute cohort sang during a tropical downpour which resulted in the canceling of a mini durbar with the King of Aburi, Otoobuo Nana Kwasi, and granted us a more intimate meeting with the King. This meeting at the King’s palace capped the two-week experience of Witness Tree Institute 2024.
The song ends with the words, “I cannot thank you enough for what you have done for me.”
Tete Cobblah is a retired educator and the founder and Director of The Witness Tree Institute of Ghana.