On September 29, 2007, the Ghanaian community in Columbus (OH) will celebrate the rich heritage of the Kente cloth in a colorful gala dubbed the Kente Dance. In addition to providing an evening of Ghanaian dance and entertainment for the Central Ohio community the organizers have tied the celebrations to a humanitarian cause of raising funds to support the leading teaching hospital in their homeland.
The Talking Drums Productions, the lead organizers of the event, explained that it intends to make fund-raising for the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital an on-going effort because they believe every person can make a difference.
Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital is spoken of highly by many Ghanaians in Central Ohio as a leading healthcare institution which has over the last decade spiraled downward into an institution needing medical attention of its own. This hospital, according to several Ghanaians in the area, is one of Ghana and West Africa’s leading hospitals but to the patients who lay on the floors in the corridors of these hospitals, they visit the hospital because there is nowhere else to go.
Listening to stories about how the majority of Ghanaians have to suffer the painful bargain of a Cash-and-Carry healthcare delivery system makes you want to ask if this is not another of Africa’s insurmountable problems. But to Mrs. Stella Kessie Asare (owner of Skinthetics – Skin Care by Stella) and the principal organizer of the event, the enormity of the problem is an opportunity for all and every Ghanaian to do something to change the situation.
Her husband, Nicholas Asare, Pastor of Christ International Community Church, puts it this way. “My father used to say that the only way to eat an elephant is to cut it into little pieces.” According to Pastor Asare, who is also one of the principals of The Talking Drums Project, the focus now is on helping the hospital’s Children’s Ward.
In collaboration with AGOO Magazine, a leading West African lifestyle publication, Talking Drums Productions will mark the first anniversary of the launch of the AGOO Magazine in Ohio, crown the first Miss AGOO Ohio, and a organize a prize raffle. The Sankofa Kete Group from Cincinnati, and Columbus’ Haboobo Group will be featured. A constellation of Ghanaian DJs, namely Casty, Alonzo, Cougar, and Saforo, will keep the music flowing. The organizers promise other pleasant surprises.
I don’t have a kente cloth but I’m going to find one. I have to find a date and guess where I am going. I am going to dance the night away to some Ghanaian highlife music. And to borrow from Pastor Asare’s vocabulary, hopefully I get to “cut my piece of the elephant”. I may have to invest in a Kente tuxedo since I will be wearing it at least once a year from when I get it.
It is heart-warming to find other Ghanaians who have escaped the hardships of their motherland raising funds to support the poor across the ocean. In moments like this, I really wish I were a millionaire. But I am sure those days will come when my check will be enough to change the look of the Children’s Ward.
So on Saturday, September 29, 2007, I hope when I show up at the Grand Valley Dale Ball Room I am not mistaken for the millionaire that I am yet to be. At the very least I look forward to having a good time.
Inquiries regarding this event may be forwarded to 614-895-8993 or TalkingDrums07@gmail.com
