My First Rotary Meeting in Ghana

Two events in the past week have given me an introduction to the Rotary in Ghana. On Saturday, I received a call from my host counselor, Dr. Gyabaa, inviting me to his home near Accra. An hour later, I was drinking a Guiness Malta and being plied with heaps of jollof rice in the Gyabaa home. I met Dr. Gyabaa’s wife and two of his five children. By rather unbelievable coincidence, one of Dr. Gyabaa’s sons had applied to Furman, though he ultimately decided to attend college in Ghana. Dr. Gyabaa’s hospitality was very much appreciated.

On Monday, I joined Dr. Gyabaa at the Labaadi Beach Hotel for my first Rotary club meeting in Ghana. Unfortunately, due to the aforementioned traffic, I only arrived for the last twenty minutes of the meeting, so a more comprehensive account of the praxis and practice of the Ghanaian Rotary will have to wait until next time. Dr. Gyabaa has shared with me a few details about his club, however. It is the first and largest club in Ghana. Chartered in 1958 just a year after independence, the club still boasts an active and involved membership fifty years later. I was deeply disappointed to have missed the speaker at this Monday’s meeting. The gentleman was associated with an organization involved in supervising the upcoming presidential elections. I suppose they’ll just have to bring me back to Labaadi Beach for another lunch and another speaker. I never said that being a Rotary scholar was challenging all of the time.