Mother Land, Sister City

<v Speaker>Support for this program is made possible by British Airways with service to 194 cities <v Speaker>in 82 countries around the world, including daily nonstop flights to London's Gatwick <v Speaker>Airport from Charlotte Douglas Airport. <v Speaker>[music] <v Speaker>Kumasi, Ghana, land of the friendly and a West African community showcasing strong <v Speaker>values. Hello and welcome to Charlotte's newest sister city, the seventh in all <v Speaker>and first on African soil. <v Speaker>Before arriving to Kamasi, most visitors to this country come through the capital city of <v Speaker>Accra, about a four hour drive from here. <v Speaker>And that's four more than 30 people who call North Carolina home began their journey <v Speaker>to expand international connections. <v Speaker>[music] <v Speaker>It is coastal.

<v Speaker>It is urban and it is Ghana's capital city of Accra. <v Speaker>This African nation was the first on the continent to gain independence from the British <v Speaker>nearly 40 years ago. <v Speaker>Government buildings dominate the busy landscape and a community needing infrastructure <v Speaker>and social improvements. <v Speaker>Two years ago, this emerging democracy received more than 60 million dollars <v Speaker>in USAID support, making it number three on the list of African countries <v Speaker>getting American assistance. <v Speaker>The nation is largely Christian. [organ music] <v Speaker>Loyalty to labor and devotion to duty is not hard to find in local fishing villages. <v Speaker>Signs of progress and prosperity are easily seen. <v Speaker>Ghana is quickly becoming one of the continent's fastest growing financial markets. <v Speaker>On the flip side, one cannot escape the pockets of poverty.

<v Speaker>It is an early Sunday morning at a downtown hotel. <v Speaker>Following a 14 hour trip, delegates from the Carolinas voice optimism <v Speaker>about a new relationship in a land with a deep sense of kinship. <v Speaker>I think if there's anything that is an underpinning of everything is to reestablish the <v Speaker>ties with the Africans here, with those who are part of the diaspora, those of <v Speaker>us in Charlotte, North Carolina and other places. <v Speaker>[music] English is what's publicly spoken here. <v Speaker>But an easy understanding comes through the universal language of music, <v Speaker>rhythm of dance and sound of the drum. <v Speaker>And we wonder where we've got the electric slide [laughter] and the uh, and the uh, what <v Speaker>is it? The pokey chicken. <v Speaker>I think we found it right here. This is professional stuff, though, do not try it at home [laugher]. <v Speaker>While the country of 16 million is a land of great culture, there is a deep

<v Speaker>respect for those who helped shape present day political conditions. <v Speaker>A downtown mausoleum honors the memory of Kwami Nkrumah, the nation's <v Speaker>first president of the independent state and staunch advocate of African unity. <v Speaker>Accra also the final resting place for N.A.A.C.P founder, William <v Speaker>Edward Dubois, who left the U.S. to spend his final years in Africa. <v Speaker>Among the expressions of affection at the civil rights leaders tomb is a simple <v Speaker>offering from North Carolina's best known poet laureate, Maya Angelou. <v Speaker>Historians say Ghana's original territory dates back to 330 B.C. <v Speaker>and was once home to the legendary town of Timbuktu. <v Speaker>Throughout Africa's urban centers like Accra, <v Speaker>a growing number of blacks from the US seek to open channels of understanding. <v Speaker>The acting U.S. ambassador sees it as clarifying values and perceptions <v Speaker>between African-Americans and native Africans.

<v Speaker>We have been in the United States <v Speaker>for almost two centuries now and there are certain things that are <v Speaker>naturally going to become part of our culture as well. <v Speaker>And so there's a real mix. But I think it's important for us to know from the Africans <v Speaker>what it is that perhaps we can relate to and really accept <v Speaker>as part of our heritage. <v Speaker>Views of lush vegetation and small villages along the way <v Speaker>best described the road to Kumasi. <v Speaker>In all of West Africa, this highway is one of Ghana's busiest thoroughfares. <v Speaker>Just under 400,000 live within the city limits. <v Speaker>And the metro area has a population of more than 1 million. <v Speaker>The nation's second largest community bears strong similarities and distinct <v Speaker>differences with this new North Carolina park. <v Speaker>It is called Ghana's Garden City, and jobs here can be hard to come

<v Speaker>by. <v Speaker>Unemployment surges into double digits while in North Carolina's Queen <v Speaker>City, the figure is less than 5 percent. <v Speaker>Many here walk to work with their livelihoods literally on their heads <v Speaker>and babies on their backs. <v Speaker>The picture may improve since the national government is privatizing many state <v Speaker>run enterprises. <v Speaker>They climate here in Ghana now is, yes, condusive. <v Speaker>Kumasi's mayor, Lieutenant Colonel Emmanuel Oethre, feels the environment is just ripe <v Speaker>for foreign investment. <v Speaker>The people here are determined people. <v Speaker>They are industrials. They can take anything from nowhere and build it <v Speaker>into something. So what you have to do is just start with these people for whatever you <v Speaker>will find them and believe that you'll get somewhere. <v Speaker>Recent commerce figures indicate U.S. <v Speaker>companies on average do more than 200 million dollars with the business in this country <v Speaker>each year. <v Speaker>Gold and cocoa are the two main products sent abroad.

<v Speaker>[sound of hammering] Both regions' economies are fueled in part by the same kind of <v Speaker>trade. Like the Tar Heel State, timber and exports <v Speaker>of wood products are big business here. <v Speaker>So big that Ghana has its own market for handmade furniture. <v Speaker>Textiles are another common interest shared with the Carolinas. <v Speaker>[cars honking] Beeping car horns are common. Wailing police sirens are not. <v Speaker>Peace can be found in the streets. <v Speaker>Kumasi averaged less than two murders a month for all of last year, while Charlotte <v Speaker>recorded eighty seven homicides in 1994. <v Speaker>Still, social conditions here are in need of improvement. <v Speaker>Returning to these surroundings in some ways is a bittersweet hometown homecoming <v Speaker>for Simon Osei Agyemang. <v Speaker>He is a vise president with NationsBank and chairman of the Charlotte Kumasi's Sister

<v Speaker>Cities Task Force. <v Speaker>So sometime, uh - I am very much disturbed to <v Speaker>see that we are not as developed as we should compared <v Speaker>to, uh, Charlotte. <v Speaker>Making it here can be hard. <v Speaker>This is my firstborn. <v Speaker>What's her name? <v Speaker>[muffled speaking] On Kumasi's outskirts <v Speaker>?Janti Ofori? runs a convenient stand supporting two children, a wife, a mother <v Speaker>and a sister. <v Speaker>Sometimes from Monday to Friday. <v Speaker>Every place empty. <v Speaker>I have maybe 40,000 or 30,000 or 45,000

<v Speaker>The thousands of Ghana Cedis he speaks of translates to more than just <v Speaker>150 dollars a week, putting his wages well over the national average, <v Speaker>where the per capita income here is roughly 3,000 U.S. <v Speaker>dollars a year. <v Speaker>We are just so excited that our young people are looking <v Speaker>forward to our pairing and our twinning and our being <v Speaker>together as one. <v Speaker>Answering the call of a continent often brings reply's of commitment. <v Speaker>This is the continent that is opening up to America I think at this point. <v Speaker>Charlotte Mayor Richard Vinroot. So this one has a special relationship, obviously, <v Speaker>because this is our first African sister city and it's the first sister <v Speaker>city, I think, in which our African-American citizens really feel like they're going <v Speaker>home. We've gone home to a lot of Germans and to a lot of French and to a lot of other <v Speaker>people. But this is coming home for a large part percentage of our population who <v Speaker>are having their first experience with what probably is their homeland.

<v Speaker>A courtship of cities involves finding the right matches. <v Speaker>What we need to do is to find those people who are interested in being involved with <v Speaker>Kumasi and match them up with people in Kumasi that have the same interest and then <v Speaker>let them do what it is they want to do to keep things rolling. <v Speaker>[music] <v Speaker>Native dancing set the mood. [music] <v Speaker>And drumming sounded the beat. <v Speaker>The day of the deal had a tone all its own. <v Speaker>The signing event, a diplomatic studded occasion. <v Speaker>Dignitaries from the U.S. and German embassies, the Peace Corps and <v Speaker>Ashanti Kingdom all taking the stage and <v Speaker>what Kumasi leaders call a twinning agreement with the city of Charlotte. <v Speaker>Father of all human beings, we <v Speaker>thank you for such a great opportunity given to us this day.

<v Speaker>The opportunity as a long term arrangement, transcending language <v Speaker>and geography. <v Speaker>Be therefore resolved that in the spirit of international unity <v Speaker>the cities of - both cities commit themselves to a long and enduring friendship <v Speaker>as evidence in education, business, culture, <v Speaker>medicine, athletics and other activities where the human spirit <v Speaker>of good faith and cooperation shall exist. <v Speaker>The formalities took a matter of moments with a quick stroke of the pen <v Speaker>and simple handshake sealing the agreement. <v Speaker>[music] <v Speaker>I can tell you ?inaudible? I think every sister city that we have <v Speaker>a relationship with and the largest delegation to ever attended

<v Speaker>a sister city event is the group that came with us today. <v Speaker>[applause] <v Speaker>And we too have the same kind of exciting about the potential of this relationship. <v Speaker>Kumasi's chief executive calls it a relationship to build upon. <v Speaker>I believe that today will mark a time where this relationship <v Speaker>will bring unto our people something beyond ?torches?, something <v Speaker>beyond education, something beyond people's diversities, <v Speaker>something concrete <v Speaker>Which will bring relief and complete comfort to all our people <v Speaker>on this ?world, I say? you are welcome. <v Speaker>Thank you. [applause] <v Speaker>Regal images of Africa's coastal castles are as stunning as a vacation <v Speaker>postcard. <v Speaker>I'm just delighted that we are able to reestablish that connection

<v Speaker>with our forefathers. <v Speaker>Sounds of the surf <v Speaker>normally calm the emotions. <v Speaker>But against the backdrop of past European royalty, the churning waters <v Speaker>agitate feelings of anxiety. <v Speaker>We know something about the past and we - the present and we can <v Speaker>work toward the future. <v Speaker>Before the signs of black people for sale arrived in the new world came the <v Speaker>hindering symbols of shame. <v Speaker>Precious metals were not the only commodities of value bartered and sold <v Speaker>along Africa's Gold Coast. <v Speaker>It's really the story of mankind's inhumanity to mankind. <v Speaker>So I think it has a message for everyone. <v Speaker>He was a just man. He was a good man. <v Speaker>He was an honorable man. <v Speaker>Wounds are still tender for man's inhumanity that started in the 17th century. <v Speaker>Still, hundreds of years later, haunting reminders of the <v Speaker>slave trade influenced modern day heritage. <v Speaker>I'm glad to be here because once again, it just brings back a lot of that missing past

<v Speaker>that uh, up to this point that you really didn't didn't know a whole lot about or could <v Speaker>really appreciate. You have to be here to appreciate what happened. <v Speaker>It is witnessed here and the way humans were caged like untamed animals ss <v Speaker>they existed through the shackles of confinement, corralled in cells <v Speaker>of segregation. <v Speaker>So the female salves were held here. May we please <v Speaker>enter the female dungeon and have a feel of the place. <v Speaker>And shoved through tight wall openings onto waiting ships at a place commonly <v Speaker>referred to as the point of no return. <v Speaker>Makes you think for how far - how hard we've had to fare, where we've come from and how <v Speaker>appreciative we should be with what we have now and keep fighting, keep struggling <v Speaker>to go forward. <v Speaker>A snapshot provides a documented moment for the Baker family on a day <v Speaker>when many in this group carry heavy hearts. <v Speaker>Very heart wrenching to be here and to see the conditions that

<v Speaker>our people lived in. <v Speaker>See how other folks kill and capture and to not - to <v Speaker>give them the opportunity to live the life as they were used to <v Speaker>living. <v Speaker>This castle along Africa's Gold Coast was the final holding and departure <v Speaker>point for hundreds of thousands of slaves headed to the new world. <v Speaker>Through the tours, tears and tales comes closure and a sense <v Speaker>of understanding from a painful past. <v Speaker>[shouting] <v Speaker>Closure comes in the Swahili word of togetherness. <v Speaker>Before - before! <v Speaker>Jesse Owens won four gold medals at the Berlin Olympics. <v Speaker>Closure comes in calling to mind the efforts of fallen historical figures. <v Speaker>[singing] Closure also comes as melodies of freedom ring behind the walls <v Speaker>and into the tunnels that for too long knew captivity.

<v Speaker>[singing] <v Speaker>The Negro national anthem, Lift Every Voice and Sing, adds a new <v Speaker>dimension to an afternoon of reflection. <v Speaker>[music] Several miles down the beats from Elmina Castle <v Speaker>more answers arrive on this stage during a day of soul searching. <v Speaker>Danger approaches from the sea. <v Speaker>Danger approaches from the see. Here at Cape Coast Castle the story is <v Speaker>pretty much the same. <v Speaker>Candles brighten the dungeon, helping visitors sort through emotions. <v Speaker>[muffled speaking] The flickering <v Speaker>flames also pay tribute to departed ancestors.

<v Speaker>It's hard to stand on the very coast and look out over the water <v Speaker>where so many African Americans <v Speaker>originated and know that our people, our forefathers were <v Speaker>sold at this very location and not feel a lot of emotion. <v Speaker>And uh, hopefully we gather strength from that and, uh, know <v Speaker>that, uh, despite, uh, that history, we've survived and <v Speaker>prospered and, uh, uh, the struggle continues. <v Speaker>People have been fighting a lot, you know, to help us out. <v Speaker>Words of appreciation from a grateful African president. <v Speaker>Ghana's commander in chief, Jerry Rawlings, entertaining Congressman Mel Watt <v Speaker>and members of the congressional staff. <v Speaker>Your visit to United States was extremely important. <v Speaker>Stately surroundings at times the norm for this American group.

<v Speaker>His name is Otumfuo Opoku Ware II, best known in <v Speaker>these parts as the Asantehene, ruler of the Ashanti Kingdom. <v Speaker>Affectionately, he is addressed as Nana. <v Speaker>The visit to his home coincided with this leader's silver jubilee. <v Speaker>On the very same day that the 20 year agreement was signed, North Carolina <v Speaker>got its own Ashanti leader. <v Speaker>And our forefathers originated here in Ghana. <v Speaker>The congressman bears a new title and a slight name change in Kumasi <v Speaker>being honored as ?Nana Quey Ku Watt? I'm still pinching myself <v Speaker>and my jaw's all

<v Speaker>aching because I've smiled too much. <v Speaker>One day later, kings and chiefs alike <v Speaker>from across the continent showing support for stability on the throne. <v Speaker>More than 100,000 paying tribute to the Asantehene and <v Speaker>his royal family during this 25th anniversary celebration. <v Speaker>Open a fashion magazine or browse through a book of patterns. <v Speaker>And these days, it's hard to escape Africa's colors of culture. <v Speaker>It is one of the world's hottest fabrics, and the kente cloth is fast becoming <v Speaker>a major export helping Ghana's economy. <v Speaker>Demand for the woven goods means more jobs here. <v Speaker>For decades on this continent, kente has been in vogue. <v Speaker>It is mainly produced in Kumasi's bedroom community of Bonwire.

<v Speaker>Locally, the pieces are sold in the villages and worn by tribal <v Speaker>elders. <v Speaker>Even Ghana's president, Jerry Rawlings, was draped in the colors during the celebration <v Speaker>of the Asantehene's 25th anniversary. <v Speaker>Kente in America is so unique. No, I think it is moving in U.S <v Speaker>everywhere from state to state, and it's moving from generation <v Speaker>to generation. It has happened to this village and the country, you say, and it creates <v Speaker>more tourism. <v Speaker>The pitch is an aggressive one. No visitor is ever left alone. <v Speaker>Cloths are traded right on the street and even <v Speaker>outside of tour buses. <v Speaker>Set and play. <v Speaker>The jobs are done by individuals. <v Speaker>It is not provided by the government. <v Speaker>We buy their foreign materials and we know - matarialize and make the kente. <v Speaker>The popularity of this fabric puts the profit at risk with imitations <v Speaker>being made and marketed off the African continent.

<v Speaker>It is a similar battle of competition that's been fought in the Carolina textile <v Speaker>belt, and tribal leaders are hoping for international <v Speaker>help. <v Speaker>A United Nations development program is trying to make an export production to ?establish <v Speaker>Bonwire as an export production village.? <v Speaker>So if that export production village is able to establish then <v Speaker>people in North Carolina and North Dakota and everywhere may have permission <v Speaker>because they business for ?our? <v Speaker>Community and American to. <v Speaker>I also want to present him to what we call a key to the city. <v Speaker>Following the presentations, [drumming] <v Speaker>and after the dances, the real work of a new relationship begins. <v Speaker>We've seen that you - are free loving people. <v Speaker>And to like, to always be with you in touch, to be in unity <v Speaker>amongst ourselves and then to help each other and everything that you do.

<v Speaker>That help may arrive in erasing traditional stereotypes <v Speaker>associated with this continent. <v Speaker>Starvation in Somalia, war in Rwanda, ebola <v Speaker>in Zaire are the initial images coming to mind when many people think <v Speaker>about Africa. <v Speaker>Make no mistake, technical assistance and friendly advice are needed here, <v Speaker>but those suggesting change and self sufficiency say it's best to go <v Speaker>slow. <v Speaker>There are areas where we can say, look, this is how we do something. <v Speaker>This has worked for us. Let's try it and see if it will work. <v Speaker>We don't have to go in and say, 'you have to do it this way.' But they need to know <v Speaker>that there are other ways and we have to show them those other ways. <v Speaker>But one thing I like is the enthusiasm that people <v Speaker>of Charlotte are to share what they have with you know the city of Kumasi. <v Speaker>Fred Effilfie is a public service administrator in Kumasi's local government.

<v Speaker>Kumasi is a city which is developing, still developing and Charlotte is <v Speaker>ahead of Kumasi. Walk or drive through the streets of downtown Kumasi and <v Speaker>it's easy to see that folks here already know something about North Carolina's largest <v Speaker>metropolitan area. The doors of dialogue were open more than a year ago, <v Speaker>and the bonds of friendship are expected to last long after the delegates go home. <v Speaker>We can't let this visit be the end. <v Speaker>This is only the beginning. This is only the introduction of one city to <v Speaker>another. <v Speaker>It takes two to tango. Like we say here, the left washes the right <v Speaker>hand and the right washes the left hand. <v Speaker>So I think there's something here, something good here you can take back home, just like <v Speaker>there's something good we can take from you. <v Speaker>For Kumasi the partnership may bring improved roads, better utility <v Speaker>systems, and more direct social services. <v Speaker>[music] For the Charlotte visitors benefits may come <v Speaker>in greater ethnic awareness and potentially lucrative business relationships.

<v Speaker>Current stock offerings from the Social Security Bank are advertised at less <v Speaker>than a buck a share, and last year, people on the country's <v Speaker>investment market reaped an average return between 40 and <v Speaker>70 percent. <v Speaker>There's some real attainable kinds of goals. We have business people in Ghana who need <v Speaker>thirty thousand dollars to make something happen and people in North Carolina who may <v Speaker>have $30,000 that they want to invest in Ghana. <v Speaker>So it would be easier now to make these kinds of things work out. <v Speaker>Some came to focus on this nation's upcoming generation, its <v Speaker>children, because those are the future people of a community and to <v Speaker>see that they're eager to learn is really what will bring their development up. <v Speaker>So, uh, to make a difference <v Speaker>I felt that it might be good to kind of look and consider adopting one <v Speaker>of the schools. <v Speaker>It is the second group from North Carolina on this continent in less than a year. <v Speaker>During 1994, Gov.

<v Speaker>Jim Hunt headed a group of Tar Heel business and government leaders to South Africa. <v Speaker>Meanwhile, in Ghana, both mayors Vinroot and Oethre hope <v Speaker>the willingness to work expands from two cities to two nations. <v Speaker>I hope to see our children coming here in the summertime and playing and their children <v Speaker>coming to Charlotte. That's how we're going to learn at that age to grow up in a world <v Speaker>which has changed dramatically, which is much closer and smaller than any of us ever <v Speaker>envision. <v Speaker>I see a growth and warmth in friendship which will bring our people <v Speaker>closer together. I see that relationship built beyond cities. <v Speaker>I see it grow into a nationwide thing. <v Speaker>Just over 30 years ago, Charlotte signed its first sister cities agreement with <v Speaker>Arequipa, Peru as a means of promoting goodwill. <v Speaker>More than three decades later, that same spirit of cooperation prevails <v Speaker>as many native North Carolinians reestablish ties with the <v Speaker>native land. [music]

<v Speaker>I'm Steve Krump in Kumasi, Ghana. <v Speaker>Thanks so much for joining us. [singing and music]