5/9/19 (Juapong)
A little over one month ago, my grandmother passed away. She was the heartbeat of our family, so her passing impacted us on so many levels. My ancestry on my mother’s side traces back to Ghana and I was raised hearing traditional stories of African-American history and learning the songs of my grandmother's people. When my grandmother passed away she was nearly 100% blind and I remember how scary it was for her losing connection with the world. She was also an advocate for blindness prevention and I have felt so close to her in these moments as I am here doing similar work.
Ghana has been such a healing experience for me because I have come to the realization that she her spirit is still very much alive.
As I have been here, I have seen her in the wide smiles of the Ghanian mothers and grandmothers. I have felt her touch as I help blind grandmothers get eye assessments and I hold their hand in mine to cover their eye. I hear it in the boisterous laughter of the men and see her in the joyful play of the children.
I feel her hope, when I look into newborn eyes and wonder if she kissed them before God sent them to earth.
Sometimes the women here laugh the way that she did and kiss my face like she did. They giggle as I help them up the stairs and laugh out loud with me when they guess at the answers to their vision testing.
Since coming to Ghana, I have felt that I am now surrounded by my grandmother. Every village I go into, I find her again; or rather, she finds me. Her spirit now lives the lives of her people, and now she helps me restore their vision; now that she is no longer blind. She is free and jumping for joy here—finally at home—and while she is at rest from her infirmities, she is still very much alive and hard at work.