Return to Letters from the PilgrimsReturn to The Pilgrimage
"The spirit of the Pilgrimage continues to deepen
through the rocky, dusty, painful path of the past,
step by step,
paying homage,
letting in the truth,
opening the heart,
allowing the anger, the shame,
breathing the courage
and praying the faith
for the beautiful children
of today,
of tomorrow.
This time a Middle Passage of the Heart,
giving birth to a new world
where no one is hunted, despised, written off,
where profit is not king,
and where we all begin to find again
the way to cultivate our better selves."
3/13: FROM A NOTE FROM INGRID TO OUR AFRICAN ORGANIZER
The Pilgrims are all well and are being guided through Ghana on foot by a group of young ghanaian race walkers. Rev. Comfort Quartey- Papafio has been amazing in her organizing efforts. She and I took a two-day trip to greet the Pilgrims at the boarder getting them introduced to their guides headed up by Vincent Asumang an ace race walker who represented Ghana in the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta only to be denied participation because he had not had international recognition. So unfortunate but he will be competing in France this May in the World Cup Competition. This young man is quite impressive. He has mapped out the walking route and has assigned members of the Visco Walkin g club of Ghana to be with the walkers throughout their trekm through Ghana. He is also trying to find someone to accompany the Walk through Togo and Benin. I will pass that info on to those organizers as soon as I know more. I'm going to see Vincent tomorrow at which time he should have news of that possibility.
3/13/ FROM A COMMUNICATAION TO ELAINE
Hi Elaine,
The group arrived in Ghana and were met at the boarder by the race walkers that will be their guides all through Ghana. Kato shonin is ecstatic! Did you receive my e-mail with all the Ghana updates? I had to be away for two days with Comfort (Rev. Comfort Quartey-Papafio) our Christian Council of Ghana organizer to visit all of the stay places between the Côte de'Ivoire coast to the Togo coast. Comfort is amazing and very thorough. The Pilgrims were very tired and a few were very sick ie: fever, diarrhea, headaches etc. Clare-san, Aaron, Emma and Janet. Janet and Aaron were the sickest and were seen by a doctor who prescribed salt tabs disolved in beer! Of course everyone began to feel ill and thought we all had better have a beer-- for medicinal purposes of course. smile. Kato did allow Aaron and Janet to have a can each.
The group is now moving from village to village being hosted by churches. I will be working from Accra and will be staying with Verda who has graciously opened her home and her office where I have been able to e-mail and make copies. However I have not been able to access my e-mail so if you have written to me you must forward everything to her e-mail address and she will bring them home to me. The group will spend six days of reflection at Cape coast visiting Elmina Castle and Cape Coast Castle and one of W. Africa's largest Slave markets close by. I will join them for that time then return to Accra to help with last minute details for when the walkers arrive here. Comfort is trying to get us an audience with the president of Ghana Jerry Rollins and I have a contact at the Univ. of Ghana in the School of Performing Arts who has just headed up a project funded by UNESCO called Transcending Boundaries: The Humanities and Socio- economic Transformation in the African world, The theme was Memory and Vision: Africa and the legacy of slavery. I hope we can get together and plan some nice presentation for the group.
Verda has invited the group to have Easter dinner at her home and I will be the head chef since she hates cooking she will purchase everything we need and yours trully will prepare everything! candied yams and all, maybe Keylime pie if we can find jello mix. smile.
I received your message about Smitty and Regina arriving on the Sortilege! That is great news. I will do what I can from here to secure their visas as well as for Peter and Arthur. But I can't make any promises. I will talk to Comfort on Monday but I think it is going to cost quite a bit of money and as you know the coffers are depleted. We were advised at the Ghanaian embassy in Abidjan to get our visas for Ghana while we were in Cote de' Ivoire because Ghana would not issue visas from here. I will do what I can and let you know ASAP. Can you send me an approximate date of Peter and Arthurs arrival? Also the Sortiledge and at what port.
I met with Charles Diarra, Phyllis Byrd's contact who arrived in Ghana on Wed. We met this morning and he is moving forward to organize in Togo, Benin and Nigeria.
He is going to try to work on visa waivers, a group visa or at least reduced rates. I gave him the group manifest and added the Brazil four's names and passport info to the list. Hopefully he will have good luck.
Love, Ingh
3/17/99: FAX FROM SR. CLARE
Greetings of love from Ghana! Sorory no communication, but as you might guess absolutely no internet can I find ('til Accra maybe) Vincent brought several e-mails from Ingh in Accra, so I've heard about Smitty and Regina and their needing visas Ghana has been a positive and strong experience. Rev. Comfort has really opened the Christian Council's heart and hands. Tremendous hospitality - overwhelming and from the heart. We're also walking a lot more. Spirit within the group pretty gpood - just need to get more consistent walking to make a little more stable spirit. But day-by-day, step-by step.
3/20/99: ANOTHER FAX FROM SR. CLARE/Cape Coast
Greetings from Cape Coast, Ghana. Between here and Elmina we will be spending one week - a very intense area, so we will be reflecting/praying here to deepen and renew our spirit Kato-shonin, Sato-shonin, and I will fast for 3 days outside Cape Coast Slave Castle. Certainly by the time we get to Accra, folks will be abble to send reports to you to be shared. Sorry we are not able to do better on a more regular basis.
From Kato-shonin and I, a special congratulations to Erika and Hugh on their engage,ment! I see you all now celebrating in your wonderful house. Please pass on my warmest greetings to your parents.
One amazing note in Secondi - we met Glenroy Buchanan and a number of others from Amherst area who were there for a 2-week medical clinic. It was quite wonderful! A real blessing!
I am so sorry I cannot answer your questions about South Africa and other matters of itinerary. I cannot get in touch with Ingrid (broken phone) and I do not have Internet access that I can afford. Ingrid will be here Monday and we will catch up on these important matters and she will e-mail you by Tuesday (hopefully). Love always, Clare
3/23/99 UPDATE FROM INGRID/ARRIVING AT CAPE COAST
Date: 3/23/99 5:22:26 AM Eastern Standard Time
Dearest Elaine,
I want to give you an update on what has been going on.
I am in Cape Coast for a couple of days with the group. We are going to C.C. Castle today Elmina castle tomorrow and to the slave market on Thursday. Raina came to Accra and spent a week with me, she and the entire group had amebic dysentery! Everyone is on the mend and are doing quite well considering the heat, and illness.
I took care of the visas for the Brazil group. Comfort has been wonderful in helping to pull that one off. She provided a letter from her Secretary General of the Christian Council, one from the Dept. of the Interior, and one from me explaining the situation. She sent all of that over by messenger and I hope to have an answer when I return on Friday.
I received an e-mail from the Togo organizers and they are ready for us but want a lot of money I will send you a copy. I guess we will have to re-think that one. Nothing yet from Benin so I will call them today to see what their story is.
I haven't heard from Phyllis in over a week. I know she has been hsving a hard time communicating as Nairobi has blackouts quite often and cant access her e-mail…
I'll be in touch again soon Elaine-san. I have to go to meet Kato-shonin at the castle. He and Clare-san and Sato-shonin are ending their 3 day fast and we are going to visit the castle.
Oh I forgot, Hiro-san made it just fine. We met his flight and he stayed at Verdas with us and he and I took the bus to Cape coast together yesterday.Also, if you have my briefcase can you fax me a copy of the Gospel Requiem to Verda.
3/19/99 EXCITING POSSIBILITIES FOR BENIN! FLASH ALERT FROM DR. PETER SUTHERLAND of LSU
Dear Elaine and Phyllis
Thank you, Elaine, for putting me on your list for receiving copies of the updates. It's very exciting to hear their voices from the road. Thank you also for the copy of Phyllis's preeliminary itinerary. I have a very important comment to make about that. I hope it is not too late already.
1) Phyllis's preliminary itinerary for Africa makes no mention of the most important place for the history of slavery on west Africa's former Slave Coast -- Whydah (Ouidah in French) in Benin (formerly Dahomey), the place from which most of the slaves sent from Africa to the Americas were transported. The only places mentioned for the Benin segment of the walk are Grand Popo, Cotonou and Porto Novo. Whydah is the most important place for the pilgrims to go in Benin. It is located between Grand Popo and Cotonou, and the palace of the Chief Priest of Vodou, Daagbo Hounon, is there. I have been in contact with my friend Martine de Souza, the Director of the Whydah Museum to ask her if she can receive the pilgrims and organize their reception by Daagbo Hounon. I hope you don't mind that I sent her a copy of Phyllis's preliminary itinerary. Her answer was a very positive "Yes!" Now she wants to know what she must do. This is a translation of the fax I just received from her (in French) today.
"I shall certainly receive the pilgrimage group. I shall be at Ouidah to receive them. So, tell me exactly what I can do. Tell me if I shall be with them for the ten days. How do you want me to organize things? It is very important for my work [i.e. at the museum]. I told you in my last letter that it would give me great pleasure [I never received this letter]. I shall get together with Daagbo and I shall organize a ceremony of purification for them. Tell me by fax what I must do."
Elaine and Phyllis. the Pilgrimas must make contact with Daagbo Hounon. As I have already told you, Elaine and Ingrid and Sister Claire in New Orleans, and as I mentioned to Phyllis in my first e-mail to her, Daagbo Hounon, for the last six years at the Whydah Festival of the 10th January, has been publically sending prayers to the African ancestors of the diaspora who were transported to the Americas form Whydah, calling on them to return in spirit-form to their home in Whydah -- together with their living brothers. This is precisely what the pilgrimage is/has been doing, i.e gathering up the spirits of the ancestors along their way and bringing them back to Africa. We must allow adequate time for Daagbo to receive them in Whydah as the physical manifestation to his transatlantic prayers.
With love and prayers that this extraordinary transatlantic coincidence/synchronicity (?) can still be made to happen as it must.
Peter Sutherland
3/26/99: LETTER FROM INGRID
CAPE COAST AND ELIMNA CASTLE
Date: 3/26/99 10:52:32 AM Eastern Standard Time
Elaine -
I spoke with Phyllis last night and she is checking on the Togo mix up for me. Did you get my forward of the message from Togo about the $2,000 fee for a 2 day stay? Comfort says she has a contact in Togo that she thinks can help in the same way that Ghana has. The race walker Vincent Asumang is helping with the walking route for Togo to Nigeria! and has walkers to serve as guides as in Ghana!
The pilgrims are all back in good health, I spent 3 days with them in Cape Coast I e-mailed you from there on Tuesday did you get that one? From your last message it sounds as if you didn't receive it.
While in Cape Coast the group also went to Elmina castle and once again entered through the door of no return only this time they had to climb a ladder as the door which is very tiny and is at least 20 ft from the ground. We formed a prayer circle including many local people and chanted as African-Americans and Africans scaled the wall and entered the door the rest of us processed around the building and joined them inside and held a very soulful ceremony. It was very moving.
They have left Cape Coast and are moving closer to Accra they will arrive on Wednesday (3/30/99). We are planning a full schedule for them. It is good to have Leora here to assist.
As for the visas I will pick them up on Monday as they would not allow me to only get the 2 for Smitty and Regina because I had initially applied for 4! so another letter had to be drafted and they will hand over the visas on Monday morning. The group will be on their way to Togo when they arrive in Tema so I will try to arrange for someone from the Christian Council to meet them with the visas and transport them to the group. They will be 2 villages away from Tema so it shouldn't be to difficult to orchestrate.
The message from Peter Sutherland ( about Benin) is fabulous! Elaine can you please send a message to Martine de Souza on behalf of the Pilgrimage and fax her any info she needs and also let her know we are very excited about being received by her and Daagbo Hounon! Tell her that Leora and I will be in touch very soon. Leora and I are composing a letter to fax to her. Also tell Rev. Alford that I would like for him to contact his Benin contact and let us know how we can be in touch. I think Benin is going to be most profound.
I'm really enjoying organizing Africa. It was scary at first but it is getting more and more exciting. I had a meeting with Myrna while I was in Cape Coast and she is going to go ahead with me to S. Africa. I had planned to go after the group left Accra but now I don't want to miss Benin! Anyway we have to look for money to get the two of us there so we probably wouldn't be ready by 4/5 anyway. But we will have to go soon after Benin to pull everything off. Are there any funds coming in from anywhere?
I'm goin to close now . please let me know when you get this and I'll check in again soon.
Love, Ingh
3/26/99: UPDATE FROM LEORA REFLECTION ON CAPE COAST/ PLANS FOR SEDER
Elaine,
Thank you so much for sending me all the updates.it has been really helpful. I have received everything. Also, I was able to read and print some of the emails on the road when I happened to stumble on an office, and no one else was able to find access. (I only had time to read, and couldn't respond) so, your e-mails kept us all glued together, because we hadn't heard from Ingrid yet, and the info you sent was super important. Thanks for all the Smitty and Regina updates, wonderful to read.
I have just arrived in Accra, one week ahead of the rest of the group. I came early to begin with advanced organizing for Togo and Benin. We had an intense week in Cape coast, visiting the castles of Cape coast and Elmina. Enough healing work is needed in those places to drive a white girl mad. It has been really tough for me in the past little while to keep on facing the SHIT that whiteness represents, and what these people have done. i know that this is part if the fight, and as rough as it gets, I am determined to continue...but sometimes, I think my head and heart will explode. It is good that I am getting somewhat of a break from the rest of the group and am finally getting to meet Verda! She and Ingrid are filling my belly with good foods and good rest. Also, being away from the larger group is good, because then I get to miss them.
Mira and I are organizing Passover Seder on April first. We have asked everyone to contribute poems, anecdotes, stories apropo to the night's theme: Passsageways to Freedom. We will combine the group's input with some traditional Jewish rituals. I am really looking forward to this, and am hoping to find matzah in this African city.
I am sending you much much love,and many thanks for holding it all together on your end. Knowing you are fighting, my sister, helps me to fight, as well. I hope to hear from you soon.
Cheers, LEORA
Return to Letters from the Pilgrims
Return to The Pilgrimage