Dasebre Kwebu Ewsie Vll welcomes Central Press

By Lisa Bogler

To bid farewell to Felix Schmermer and Lisa Bogler, two Central Press volunteers, Dasebre Kwebu Ewsie Vll welcomes the journalists in his palace in Abeadze and invites them to lunch in his house.

At the Palace

Driving into Abeadze, hometown of Dasebre Kwebu Ewsie Vll, we were impressed by the development and potential we could see. This reflects the sense of unity of the people and the good leadership of the community’s chief who is also President of Central Regional House of Chiefs.

Despite his tight schedule, Dasebre Kwebu Ewsie Vll welcomed us, the volunteers, Kwamina Bamfo-Agyei and Victor Savage, also board member of Central Press, in his palace. In his role as board chairman of Central Press he takes the opportunity to bid farewell to us volunteers, who are leaving Central Press soon.

The palace is kept in its traditional way, pictures hang on the wall of former chiefs. In the room where we were received, more men were sitting. They were introduced to us as sub-chiefs of other communities who also came to visit the king. Dasebre Kwebu Ewsie Vll himself was sitting on the middle seat on the highest chair as the tradition tells, but he was dressed in casual clothes.

Tradition is one of the topics we talked about at this occasion. The chief takes culture very seriously. It is what makes Ghana Ghana, he said. “It’s dying, but we don’t have to allow it to die.” Without culture, something is missing and insecurity is created. The children, sadly, do not want to learn about their culture anymore. It is even harder for them to read Fanti than to read English. However, culture is important and the chief works hard to preserve the culture in his area.

According to him and to what we could see on our way, the area is doing well. Most of the people are farmers. The plant citrus and cassava and they have some cocoa farms. The predominant plant, however, is palm. The community is even named because of this, as Abeadze means palm, as Dasebre Kwebu Ewsie Vll explained.

Presentation of certificates

After the meeting in the palace, we were asked to move to the chief’s residence and feel at home. It is a neat, bright building, suitable for the President of Central Regional House of Chiefs. We really felt comfortable and impressed and enjoyed the food that was served, rice and chicken, although the chief himself could not join us for the lunch. He came back when we had finished to present certificates to the volunteer journalists.

The certificates state appreciation “for successfully assisting the paper in its publication of  gathering of news items in the Central Region”. After three, two months respectively with Central Press, it is now time for us to leave Central Press and head back to our home country Germany to start studies at the university. We experienced a lot with Central Press, witnessed interesting events and learned about exciting stories. Whatever we did for the newspaper, Central Press and many more in Central Region also did much for us. We will keep it all as good memories and hopefully come back one day.

As Dasebre Kwebu Ewsie Vll thanked us for our work, we also expressed our appreciation for his friendly welcome. Medaase.