By Ariel Worthy
The Birmingham Times
The people of Ghana were so welcoming and kind to the Birmingham Sister Cities Ghana Committee during a summer visit that the committee wants to thank them in a grand way: by building a library in the village of Apaaso, Ghana.
On Jan. 13, The Ghana Committee of the Birmingham Sister Cities Commission will have a Drums of Apaaso gala on Jan. 13 at Birmingham Southern College to help towards the construction of the library.
The committee in June 2017 visited the African cities of Winneba and the village of Apaaso.
So far, the committee has donated $15,000 as seed money, said Dr. Paul Amamoo, a member of the committee and a Ghana native.
With that money, the village broke ground for the library on September 11 and the foundation and pillars have already been built, he said. The committee also wants the library to double as a community center for the village, as well as a place of education for children and adults.
“The library would be on the first floor, and then the top floor would be the community center,” Amamoo said. “As funds become available, they could finish it up. I’m hoping that this fundraiser will help. If we raise $250,000 we could have the library completed within a year.”
The committee is looking to fill the library with books for “kindergarteners to adults,” as well as computers, tablets and wi-fi for access to the internet.
“We want the library to be a community,” said Dr. Clifton Latting, a committee member. “We want books on health, books on cooking, books on various aspects of the community that would be an asset to the people in this village.”
The fundraising gala will present Ghana to Birmingham, said Latting, who is co-chair for the gala.
“We’re going to have Ghanaian dishes and food,” he said. “The tradition is for children to bring in officials and committee members while drums are playing, so children will lead us in, Ghanaian dancing, sharing pictures of Apaaso. We want people to have experience of what Ghana is really like. Know the meaning of the dance, the drum.”
A silent auction will also take place at the gala. Art works from Ghana, and other African countries, and Haiti will be up for auction. All proceeds will go towards the library.
In the village of Apaaso, many children walk for miles to attend school. Their dedication for an education is inspiring, said Altomease Latting, member of the Ghana Committee.
“You have children who sit in desks that are falling apart,” she said. “But they keep their uniforms clean. They take pride in having an education.”
Ghanaians take education seriously, said Amamoo, who is from Accra, Ghana’s capital.
“A mother might get up in the morning and walk for miles to get a child to school and walk back home because they know this is important,” said Amamoo, who is a pediatrician. “They make time and walk their child to school. They might not have transportation but education that important.”
However, some families cannot afford to send their children to school.
“Sometimes in small villages like (Apaaso) the difference in a child being able to eat that day might depend on them walking to the street corner and selling plantains or bananas or peanuts, whatever to be able to eat that day,” he said. “But there’s been a push to make sure that all the children go to school. Education is really very encouraged. If you keep your child at home and not go to school, you can get in trouble.”
The committee plans to have classes and workshops in the newly built library.
“The children are all on board for the library,” Amamoo said. “We have a general contractor who is overseeing all of [the project], but it’s the community that is building it. All we’re doing is supplying is the materials. It’s providing jobs for the village because people in the community are building the library. Children and students are helping, volunteering in any way they can help.”
For tickets and information about the gala, call Clifton Latting at 205-902-3390 or go to www.birmingham365.org/event/drums-of-apaaso-gala/
