YOU ARE INVITED

RECYCLE GHANA

Holy Family University Gallery

9801 Frankford Ave.

Philadelphia , PA

USA

I will be at the opening on Feb. 22 6-8 p.m. and would enjoy meeting you.

The work in this show was created by children in Ghana who come to Aba House where they learn that there are no limits to creativity. The children make paper from sugarcane leaves and then books, calendars,cards and other products from the paper.

All proceeds from sales are used to pay school related expenses.

Summer newsletter 2008

As I write this President Kufour is receiving a 21 gun salute in Washington, DC. Last Feb. his friend George Bush visited Ghana. I was in Ghana then and am in the States now. I wonder if they're timing thier visits with mine.

Aba House is quiet now. In July we had a full house of tourists, teachers, artists and assorted visitors. One of our visitors was a BBC reporter who was impressed with our program. Another visitor, a teacher, wrote a blog: surdnaghana.blogspot.com

In August our volunteer from Australia returned and we got down to some serious book and papermaking. We also had a volunteer from Swarthmore College help for a few weeks.
The Aba House kids came everyday, a few very early to sweep the yard. Dividing into groups, more or less by age, they made tons of paper, blank books, calendars, diaries and greeting cards.
The kids are always enthusiastic, but the incentive this time was preparing for their first NYC show. They are very proud of themselves and rightly so.
The show will be at the Phoenix Gallery in November, 2008. We are working on an invitation and will be sending it soon. If you're in the NY area, please come and say hello.

One of our volunteers will be selling our books in Hawaii next month at the Friends of Dard Hunter Conference.

We have been invited to participate in a world wide paper map to be assembled in Taiwan. There are 30 countries represented. Guess which one we represent....I'll write more about this project in a followup post.

We had a very generous donation of 3 computers, so in our next session we'll do some creative writing and illustrating.

There are times when I scratch my mind, as a Ghanaian once said to me, about customs in Ghana. There really is no rhyme or reason to some of them. Now a Ghanaian has writen a book that doesn't necessarily explain them, but it makes for amusing reading. The book is "The Imported Ghanaian" and her blog is http://tigb.blogspot.com

We are working on our plans for 2009, so be in touch if you want to come to Ghana. We are also considering a trip to FESPAC, a film festival in Burkina Faso at the end of Feb. Interested?

We like to hear from people and are always open to collaborations.

I'll close for now with my favorite quote: Trust in God, but tie your camel well.

Aba

PAPERMAKING VOLUNTEER

Kathy Kwosika was our volunteer papermaker in Feb./March and this is a comment from her:

5 WEEKS IN GHANA: Aba House has been a fantastic experience of life in Ghana/Nungua-style.
Aba has created a wonderful vision and a creative center that connects Ghanaians with people from all around the world. During my 5 week stay I worked with local children as well as with Aba, Ruth, Leslie and Talk True. Together we made lots of beautiful paper, primarily from the leaves of the sugarcane plant, which was growing right in the front yard!

I also learned about adinkra stamp printing from David, a visiting adinkra artist. We watched the children print out papers using the warm, thick traditional brown/black ink and the ancient symbols carved into pieces of calabash.

Our papers were then used by some of the children to make beautiful handmade books. Sales of these books support the purchase of shoes and school supplies for the children who worked on this project at Aba House. Shoe shopping was an amazing experience for these Western eyes to behold, but the children beamed with pride when their shoes were finally selected.

Another fiber experience will take place this coming rainy season when Talk True plants the kenaf seeds brought to us by Kwesi Segu early in my stay at Aba House. I'm anxious to hear how this fiber works for Aba House papermaking once these plants are harvested.

Cheers to the ongoing creativity and dedication of all who live and work at Aba House!