Uncommon Women with Common Histories: The MHC Connection

It's interesting now that I think about it, but I have never wanted for housing. There has always been someone out there who has been willing to open up their home (and heart) to me when I was in dire need. And with each person I encounter, I get the sense that indeed, our paths are to some degree, already chartered, and that the 'meeting' had in fact been on the drawing board a gazillion years before we even happened upon this life.

Once again, I have come upon a unique living situation. And just as was the case in summer 08 when I stayed with a wonderful MHC alumna and her family, I am realizing that the MHC network and connection is a very special one. I won't mention any names, but this lady is indeed a phenomenal woman. It's been exactly a week since I joined her in her beautiful house, and I've already learned a lot about Mount Holyoke, U.S. History, African History etc. And although we are from two entirely different eras, there have been a number of instances where I could have sworn she was talking about my era.

Like most MHC women, she was one of the first to chart her own course in life - hers being African Studies at MHC. She then went on to work with the Peace Corps in Sierra Leone, and given the time period (the 60s), it was definitely a brave feat. So we were talking tonight, and she mentioned how she and her fellow peace corps colleagues had some time to themselves one weekend and being girls, they were trying to pretty themselves up. While the 'white' girls were busy trying to curl their hair and get tanned, the 'black' girls were trying to bleach/ lighten their skin tone and straighten their hair. And then...then, they had an 'aha' moment where they realized that it was really unnecessary for them to try to change who they are. Here were the black girls, who were trying to be like the white girls, who were trying to be like the black girls...and vice-versa.

After my hostess finished her story, I just stared at her and said "It's funny to think that the same situation is still true today." Guess it brings another dimension to "history repeats itself," huh? And then you wonder, how long are we going to deny who we are and miss out on ourselves while we're busy ourselves trying to be something we're not?

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Photo Source: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v40/mexicomarti/DiverseWomen.jpg

Review of 'The Perfect Picture' & the Ghanaian Movie Industry

The Ghana-Naija movie industry saga. That's always a tough one where I'm concerned. On the one hand is my allegiance to Ghana - my motherland, homeland and basically where most of my formative years were spent. On the other hand is my undeniable connection to Nigeria - my birthland and the land of my ancestors. Even though I barely remember that much about Nigeria, I do joke about when I will "finally return to my birthland." Maybe it's this umbilical connection, that makes me slightly biased towards Nollywood when it comes to the Ghana-Naija movie saga. Truth be told, I barely paid Ghanaian movies enough mind when I was growing up. I was more likely to watch a Nigerian movie instead, and even then, I was picky. Ramsey Noah or Genevive Nnaji had to be part of the cast. Why this bias towards Naija movies? It's simple really; their acting was generally better. These days, I'm more willing to watch anything Ghana-related. For one thing, the surges of homesi...

Lifestylz GH Interview: Sangu Delle

As part of Lifestylz GH’s interview series, we bring you our premier interview with Sangu Delle. Profile: Sangu Delle Sangu Delle is a senior at Harvard University. He was born and raised in Ghana, and is the youngest of five children in a bi-religious family (his father is Catholic while his mum is Muslim). He attended Christ the King Catholic School (CTK) and went on to study at the Ghana International School (GIS) until his O-Levels when he transferred to the Peddie School (a college preparatory school in NJ) on scholarship. His areas of concentration in academics are Economics and African studies, with a particular focus on development. Aspirations To be involved in the development of Ghana and Africa at large in some capacity. In the past, he was more involved in non-profit and development work, but has increasingly become active in entrepreneurial and business ventures; a testament to his belief that there should be “less foundations and more entrepreneurs” in Africa. In his own ...

Interview: Maame Sampah, Emmanuel Lamptey, REACH Ghana

Circumspect interviews Maame Sampah and Emmanuel Lamptey, Executive Board Members of the Representatives for Equal Access to Community Healthcare (REACH) Ghana to find out how they got started, what projects they're currently working on, and what they're looking forward to. -- Circumspect: Tell us about yourselves. Maame Sampah (M.S.): I’m currently a graduate student. I’m with an HIV group right now, and so I basically do HIV research. Before then, I did undergrad in biochemistry and French at Grinnell College. I’m doing grad school at [Johns] Hopkins now. I went through the Ghana education system - Wesley Girls, Bishop Bowers before then. I can give you the name of my nursery school. And yeah, so here I am. I’m going to be in school for a while, and basically I’m going to end up in a career in clinical and research medicine. I have a huge family, I have four siblings. My parents both live in Ghana. My siblings however are kind of scattered in the U.K and here [U.S.] an...

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