Final Reflections from the Director

Now that we are all home safe and sound, I thought I would add a few words of reflection on our visit (even if nobody is listening anymore).

First and foremost, a HUGE thanks to the army of people who worked so hard for so many months to make this all possible.  Dale Hillier and Benoni Sowah in University Relations; Elder and Sister Warner and their cohorts in the Africa West Area Public Affairs; BYU-Idaho administration, the Department of Music, the Eliza R. Snow Society and others too numerous to mention.  Finally, our families, who had to make sacrifices to send us and hold down the fort (and the children) in our absences.  We love and thank ALL of you for letting us have this experience!

I lie awake wondering sometimes if we accomplished all that we were sent to do.  I ask almost everyone involved, and most speak encouragingly of the positive feelings they believe we created for the Church among the Ghanaian public and for the University among the members of the Church.  I pray that it's true.  I believe it is.  I hope that our visit will have long-lasting effects that help to move the Kingdom forward in Ghana and, perhaps, prepare the way for a future visit by another BYU group.  We certainly benefited greatly from the visit of BYU Singers more than a decade ago; maybe another group will benefit equally from  the legacy of our visit this time.

Ghana was a challenging trip.  Some days were just hard.  We had illness, challenging communications, long travel.  Concert halls were different from what we are accustomed to.  Our audiences were almost uniformly large and appreciative, though they showed their appreciation differently than we expected.  I think we were not really ready to come home after only two weeks.  Another week would have been OK.  

I feel we have unfinished business in Ghana.  One of the most important things we may have done was to build a bridge with the BYU-Idaho Pathway program in Accra.  The choir we auditioned and sang with wants to continue their work, with our help.  They will benefit from our mentoring, from repertoire we might send them, and from our continued support and encouragement.  We are hatching plans to help them, and perhaps, other Pathway sites to have a choral experience with us.  Stay tuned for further developments!

Finally, a few pictures that weren't on the students' cameras but deserve a look.  

Accra Temple

Fondly, BroK

National Theater performance



With BYU-Idaho Collegiate Singers-Ghana cohort

At Cape Coast University.  Audiences come late to shows in Ghana!

African Sunrise, Elmina Beach

Performance with Winneba Youth Choir

At Osu Children's Home