Ms. Phyllis Randall, Chair-At-Large of the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors, has revealed that many African-Americans not getting the opportunity to visit Africa anxiously want soil as souvenirs.
Ms. Randell revealed this when she led a 10-member delegation from Loudoun County to Ghana as part of a sister-city relation with the Tema Metropolitan Assembly (TMA).
She said so many African-Americans in America just wanted to visit the continent as their ancestral home but were not getting the chance to do so.
The Chair-At-Large, who could not hide her excitement to be in Ghana, said: ‘And I will tell you, when I ask people what I should bring back to them, the majority of them say bring me back some soil from Africa; they wanted soil to feel a part of Africa.’
According to her, her husband, who would not allow her to visit Ghana alone, told him upon arrival that ‘the moment I step foot in Africa, I have fulfilled a life-time dream.’
Meanwhile, the TMA and Loudoun County have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on the premises of the TMA to commence their lifelong sister-city relations.
The ceremony saw a colourful cultural display of some indigenous Ghanaian dances and songs, while a female pupil of the TMA Day Care Centre dressed in beautiful Kente cloth, gold traditional slippers, and beads on the neck, head, ankle, and knee handed over a bouquet of flowers to the leader of the delegation.
Members of the delegation, as part of the Ghanaian hospitality, were presented with Kente sashes and other gifts, which they reciprocated with a flag of Loudoun County and other gifts.
Source: Ghana News Agency