West African

In Ghana, "tubom" means "let's play." Tuesday night's crowd at the Maryland City Branch Library in Laurel needed no translation. From the opening calls of "Tubom!" by West African performance duo Anansegromma, more than 60 people intuitively responded with rhythmic hand claps and enthusiastic knee slaps. Kofi Dennis and Kwame Ansah-Brew, both native Ghanaians, led their spirited "Tubom Tubom: African Dance, Drum, Story and Games" presentation for 45 minutes in the library's meeting room.

Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport will lose its flights to Africa in May, when North American Airlines cuts service to Lagos, Nigeria, and Accra, Ghana. It is the latest blow to BWI's efforts to bolster its international service, after Icelandair's pullout last month. It also means the large West African immigrant population in the Baltimore-Washington region will now have to travel further for flights to their home countries. Rising fuel costs, coupled with competition from routes Delta Air Lines recently launched from New York to West Africa, have forced North American Airlines to shut down all commercial service, company spokesman Steve Forsyth said.

Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport will lose its flights to Africa in May, when North American Airlines cuts service to Lagos, Nigeria, and Accra, Ghana. It is the latest blow to BWI's efforts to bolster its international service, after Icelandair's pullout last month. It also means the large West African immigrant population in the Baltimore-Washington region will now have to travel further for flights to their home countries. Rising fuel costs, coupled with competition from routes Delta Air Lines recently launched from New York to West Africa, have forced North American Airlines to shut down all commercial service, company spokesman Steve Forsyth said.

In Ghana, "tubom" means "let's play." Tuesday night's crowd at the Maryland City Branch Library in Laurel needed no translation. From the opening calls of "Tubom!" by West African performance duo Anansegromma, more than 60 people intuitively responded with rhythmic hand claps and enthusiastic knee slaps. Kofi Dennis and Kwame Ansah-Brew, both native Ghanaians, led their spirited "Tubom Tubom: African Dance, Drum, Story and Games" presentation for 45 minutes in the library's meeting room.

A LEADING REBEL group's declaration of a cease-fire yesterday seemingly offers one last chance for Liberia. This truce, after days of fierce shelling, is a godsend that should be used to prevent that West African country from further self-destruction. Two things must now follow in short order to make the announced cease-fire stick: An international peacekeeping force -- mostly from neighboring West African countries but under the auspices of the United Nations and the United States -- must be quickly landed in Liberia to supervise the truce.

Yesterday, the Americans arrived in Liberia but in small numbers. A helicopter took seven Marines to Monrovia, the capital of the West African country that seems intent on tearing itself apart. The Marines were sent to prepare the way for humanitarian aid to be distributed to thousands of refugees who are desperate for food and medicine. More than 1,000 civilians have been killed in two months of fighting, which has forced hundreds of thousands of civilians to flee to the capital and caused critical shortages of food, water and medicine.

In the Mandingo culture of West Africa, KanKouran is the spirit who guides adolescent boys through the ceremony of initiation into manhood.KanKouran West African Dance Company of Washington, which performs this weekend at the Baltimore Museum of Art, is the performing arm of an organization that helps young African-Americans realize their African heritage.It was founded in 1983 by Assane Konte and Abdou Kounta, both of Dakar, Senegal, who met as members of the Ballet Africaine de Diebel Guee.

February is Black History Month, a time for celebration of the contributions and rich history of African-Americans. By studying stories that originated in Africa, we better understand its culture and the ancestors who told them. African folk tales are fun to read, but also contain valuable lessons. Because not everything is stated explicitly, your child will learn to go beyond the actual words in the story to interpret the meaning. As you read, stop occasionally at a critical point and ask your child, "What do you think will happen next?"

An end to Liberia's four-year civil war may be in sight. Peace-keeping armies of Liberia's West African neighbors have begun disarming some 60,000 rebel rabble who have been raping and pillaging the countryside but are now gathering in designated areas under the eyes of United Nations observers. A five-member government representing the main political-guerrilla factions began operations, the sticking points mediated by former President Canaan Banana of Zimbabwe.These measures -- actually negotiated last July and just now being implemented -- postpone the question of who will wield power.

In his native Ghana, Dr. Kwaku Ofori-Ansa always knew that kente cloth had a special significance."It was always around, but not something to be seen on a daily basis. It used to be for very, very special occasions," says Dr. Ofori-Ansa, who lives in Hyattsville. The professor of African art at Howard University is writing a book on the historical significance of kente cloth.Kente cloth and the vibrant prints based on its patterns are everywhere: in African-American churches as narrow columns of colorful fabric cascading over the shoulders of chorus members; on crowded urban streets in the vivid hues of pedestrians' hats; nTC as blossoms of light on drab, rainy days when brightly colored umbrellas are unfurled.

By Nadine Khtikian's count, Americans can do their part to end poverty in west Africa just by donating a pair of used sneakers. It may seem an odd approach, but since January, Khtikian has been collecting athletic shoes from around Baltimore with the aim of shipping thousands of sneakers to Ghana, where they will be refurbished and sold. Half of the proceeds will go toward training a needy farm family in environmentally sound agricultural techniques. At $3 each, 500 pairs of shoes will pay for a water pump, a well, a bicycle, chickens, assorted trees and additional items.

Two small bundles of rusted nails and a pierced white disc might seem ordinary at first glance, but to archaeologist Mark P. Leone and his team of students from the University of Maryland, College Park, they represent a major discovery. The items were part of an African-American hoodoo cache concealed in the hearth of a Georgian mansion in Annapolis that was unearthed this summer. And to Leone, the striking part is that they are not that old. They date from the early 20th century, a time when ancient folk practices like hoodoo were thought to have all but vanished.

As the harried mother of a newborn, frustrated in her search for a ready-made sauce to use in making the West African dishes of her native Cameroon, Julie Ndjee decided that she would have to create one. After many months of research followed by trial and error, the Elkridge resident hit on a recipe that worked. Now she travels the Baltimore-Washington region promoting Neilly's Ultimate Seasonings, a slow-cooked blend of tomatoes, onions and spices named for her daughter. More than 20 specialty shops stock her sauce, and Ndjee said that with other shops picking up her product and restaurants using it in their dishes, she expects to reach $1 million in sales this year, far surpassing last year's estimate of $160,000.

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IVORY COAST'S name is a misnomer. Although its state emblem depicts an elephant's head, hardly any of those majestic tusked animals are left there. Instead, cocoa is the West African country's claim to fame. It's the world's leading grower of beans that give chocolate its delicious flavor. That distinction, too, is in danger of disappearing. A rekindled rebellion has disrupted this year's harvesting, curtailing output and sending world cocoa prices to new highs. Ivory Coast used to be West Africa's wealthiest and most stable country.

THE LONG-OVERDUE resignation and exit of President Charles Taylor offers a short window of opportunity for Liberia to regain stability and peace. The United States and the rest of the international community should use it to prevent the West African country from sliding into a new nightmare of suffering. Any hesitation at this point will only aggravate a dangerous power vacuum. Fourteen years of constant turmoil have torn apart Liberia's social fabric. Key institutions are in a shambles.

THE BUSH administration certainly never considered including the war-racked West African country of Liberia on the itinerary of President Bush's five-nation tour of Africa that began Tuesday. The tour is meant to accentuate the positive in relatively successful Botswana, Senegal and Uganda and the regional powerhouses, Nigeria and South Africa. But Liberia was thrust high onto the agenda after rebels reached the capital, Monrovia, last month, and an estimated 1,000 civilians were killed in ensuing battles.

Big Joe Town, Liberia. -- The young boys, materializing from the surrounding jungle, approach "Checkpoint Charlie" outside Big Joe Town with some hesitation. Standing on this rainy spot on the railroad tracks are big men with bigger guns.A teen-age rebel, followed by a dozen others like him in ragged clothes, stops short of the white flag. He raises his hand and utters a "hello" to the West African peacekeepers whom he and his "men" have been fighting for nine months.This rendezvous in rebel territory, about 50 miles southwest of Monrovia, is aimed at negotiating the safe passage of a train carrying relief supplies to tens of thousands of malnourished civilians caught behind guerrilla lines.

Yesterday, the Americans arrived in Liberia but in small numbers. A helicopter took seven Marines to Monrovia, the capital of the West African country that seems intent on tearing itself apart. The Marines were sent to prepare the way for humanitarian aid to be distributed to thousands of refugees who are desperate for food and medicine. More than 1,000 civilians have been killed in two months of fighting, which has forced hundreds of thousands of civilians to flee to the capital and caused critical shortages of food, water and medicine.

A LEADING REBEL group's declaration of a cease-fire yesterday seemingly offers one last chance for Liberia. This truce, after days of fierce shelling, is a godsend that should be used to prevent that West African country from further self-destruction. Two things must now follow in short order to make the announced cease-fire stick: An international peacekeeping force -- mostly from neighboring West African countries but under the auspices of the United Nations and the United States -- must be quickly landed in Liberia to supervise the truce.