Change My Name

The wonderful people of Abeadze welcomed our group on Tuesday. This is the town of Nana Ewusi and Rev. Monika. Because Nana had to be in the Volta Region representing the Eastern region with the Council of Elders, he instructed an under Chief to attend to us. This was a very formal day for us. As soon as we disembarked, we were greeted by young dancers and drummers who escorted us to the meeting place.

Afterwards, we went to the palace for our official greeting by the chief. It was quite an experience for our group to see how Kofi acted as our linguist. Custom dictates that we be welcomed by the Chief and offered a drink. Afterwards, we had to explain our mission. Once the formalities we out of the way, we went back to the gathering area where we had a short drumming and dancing lesson. Our supervising chief is a good dancer so he explained the hand movements and then asked us to demonstrate that we had learned the lessons. They seemed to really enjoy our awkward moves. We were guided to a very important shrine in the town and given a history lesson. This area has a very important history that Rev. Monika fears will be lost. We were on our way to

the slave path near the river when the storm blew in. We dashed to someone’s home where we waited for the big rains to pass. Afterwards, the naming ceremony occurred. This was the most special part of the day. Each of us was inducted into a clan, given our day names and family names. They made the ceremony

as authentic as is possible

. You could see the respect and awe on the face of each group member as the old man went through the ritual of ‘birthing’ them into the royal family of Abeadze. I know this will not be forgotten anytime soon. My name is henceforth, Donna Abena (Tuesday-born) Ewusiwah Cox.