On April 16, Mayor Tim Kelly will engage in a virtual signing with Accra, Ghana’s Mayor Elizabeth Sackey of a document making Chattanooga and Accra official Sister Cities. Accra, Ghana’s capital, will be our first African Sister City, and members of the Sister City Association of Chattanooga are excited to make this our eighth partnership.
Most of the credit for this is due to the efforts of Kanika Wellington-Jones and Bea Kennebrew, who have made multiple trips to Accra and developed relationships with a number of people there. They have initiated an art exchange, promoted several business projects, hosted a Ghanaian cooking class for Chattanoogans, facilitated cross-cultural zoom meetings, and connected with several Accra artisans to sell their wares here.
We are most grateful to Kanika and Bea for bringing Accra to our attention and for their tenacity in promoting the Sister City possibility to our city government. Moreover, we appreciate Mayor Kelly’s and his staff’s support in this endeavor. We look forward to receiving a Ghanaian delegation in Chattanooga soon and hope to take groups to Ghana in the near future.
Other projects are in the works, and the hope is to promote friendships and create greater understanding between residents of our two municipalities.
Karen Claypool
President, Sister City Association of Chattanooga
* * *
My great-nephew's paternal grandfather is from Accra, Ghana. A couple years or so ago the entire family traveled to Ghana to celebrate their great-granny's 90+ birthday.
From Ghana to Ethiopia and beyond, that invisible thread still connects us all, no matter our station or status in life.
Brenda Washington