We Need Stories

Perhaps the thing that makes us human are the  stories that each of us has inside. I have always thought that the gift of storytelling belongs to writers and the very old. The reality is, we are all storytellers from the earliest days of our lives. Everyone has a story inside them, even those confined or restrained by society and circumstances beyond their control..

Ms. Gertrude Oforiwa Fefoame, who is visually impaired, and who led a workshop on the second day of the WTIG`s first session of 2023 shared her life story that gave me the courage to also share mine with my fellow cohort members.

My story details the way I found courage in the midst of failure, thanks to my mother's faith and emotional  support. I have struggled with low self esteem because I was traumatized by my parents divorce. However, my mother's faith and her unrelenting support for me created the foundation for my turn around. Until one day, when I was demoted from Grade 6 to grade 4 after taking an exam which I failed woefully. I felt so ashamed and embarrassed that I didn't want to go to school again. But guess what? That was where I found courage with the help of the mother who whispered in my ears, “Dela don't worry, you will know it one day"

I didn’t realize the impact that made on me until I started working with students. Now, as a teacher and leader in my community, I have come to believe in my intuitive response and the unconditional love of a mother. As the saying goes "There is nothing as powerful as mother's love, and nothing as healing as a child`s soul."

Today, my mother is 70 years old and I want to take this opportunity to appreciate and honor her for believing in me.

By Samuel Delali Awutey, Computing and Creative Arts Teacher for Grades 7-9, The Doryumu Methodist Basic School, Shai Osudoku District, Greater Accra, and The Witness Tree Institute of Ghana.

Namo okɛ ba (Who Did You Come With)

I adored my father.  His name was Ernest Payne Carter. He was a big man; his nickname in the neighborhood was “Heavy”.  I remember walking with him outside and only being able to wrap my hand around his pinky finger because his hands were so large.  As a little girl, my father was bigger than life.  He took up every nook and cranny of space and I was here for it!  Ernest Payne Carter was a complicated man.  I know now that he faced many challenges: he grew up in the segregated South, made his way up North, got a job in a factory where he worked until retirement, married my mom, and together they had five children. I also know that sometimes the challenges that he faced externally showed up in many ways at home.  The older he got, the less he would come out of his bedroom.  We would have Thanksgiving dinners, Christmas dinners, and birthday parties, but unless it was work-related my dad would not leave his room.  Not to greet people, not to get a plate (we would bring them to him), and when his mother died, we all headed to the funeral while my Dad stayed in his bedroom.  I say all of this not to paint a disparaging picture of my father.  He was loved, and he loved. 

 In 1999, I had planned a trip to Ghana and Senegal with a group of Black professionals.  The previous year, we had taken a trip to South Africa that was quite transformative for me.  I was looking forward to seeing what would unlock for me in this new space.  A few weeks before the trip, my father unexpectedly passed away. The trip to Ghana and Senegal was quickly canceled, and life changed.  In the days leading up to my father’s funeral, I remember going into his closet and just sitting on the floor, smelling his clothes not ever wanting to forget that feeling of being surrounded by him, of him taking up every nook and cranny of space as he did when I was little.  

When I was accepted into the WTIG program, it of course brought back memories of my first attempt to come to Ghana.  I didn’t know it would take 24 years, but here I am, joy-filled with a perpetual smile on my face. Meeting the elders yesterday, presenting my father, Ernest Payne Carter as the ancestor I chose to bring with me, made my heart so happy.  My daddy, who sat in his room for so many years, came along on this trip.   

To the entire WTIG community, I am so grateful for this opportunity to connect, restore, uplift, and build.  To my father, Ernest Payne Carter, I say, “I love you and we are home.”

-Denise CarterMataboge, Grade four Teacher, Neighborhood Charter School Harlem, New York

Gracious Space

Akwaaba is the Twi word for welcome. Ghana welcomes its visitors with open arms, handshakes, smiles, and hugs at the airport. Ghanaian people immediately create a sense of gracious space. Being back in Ghana, this time as part of the Witness Tree team, is a result of years of hard work and preparation in launching the fifth cohort and the first of two 2023 cohorts. To be part of the Witness Tree is realizing the vision that founder, Tete Cobblah, and the board have created through intentional conversations, trust building, collaboration, and cross cultural understanding.

Yesterday, we had an orientation meeting with the Ghanaian teachers who participated in a conversation about identity, cultural perceptions, stereotypes, and history’s critical role in shaping the American perspective. This conversation was the first of many built around the power of reflection and participation. An important principle underlying all of the work is the concept of gracious space. This term was created by the Center for Ethical Leadership in Seattle. Tete explains that allowing for gracious space is about leaning into discomfort and being guided by humility. As we acknowledged the advantages and privilege of Americans and how that stems directly from the past slave trade and its legacy, we allow for space. Another way of defining this is “I give you room to grow.”  Gracious space is giving of yourself without expecting anything back. This concept is practiced through sensitivity and understanding as we navigate differences in languages, nationalities, gender, race and age. 

I can already feel the excitement and possibilities as our cohort gets to know each other. We are all teachers who are working hard to create gracious space in our classrooms everyday. As we launch our program, may we give each other the gift of space to learn, accept mistakes and stay humble.

-Elise Mott, gr. 6-10 Humanities teacher, Head of service Learning, New England Innovation Academy, Marlborough Massachusetts