Had I known that my last conversation with Prof. Allison Howell (1951-2023) when I was briefly in Sydney, Australia in Q1 of 2023 would be my last, I bet I would’ve tried harder to see her in-person and not just be satisfied by our WhatsApp exchanges.
Receiving a copy of this ‘beauRiful’ compilation of her self-captured photos of approximately 30 different kinds of birds she sighted where she lived in Oyarifa (on the eastern outskirts of Accra, Ghana) has evoked all kinds of emotions. No, she was not a trained zoologist or ornithologist but her paradigm of creation care was fundamental, undergirding her formal training in Anthropology (Sydney), Environmental #Geography (Toronto) and Divinity (Edinburgh).
I was simultaneously sad and glad to be present at Allison’s funeral in Accra. She had requested to be flown back to Ghana, from Australia, to be buried among the people she served for 40 years, Ghanaians in general and the Kasena tribe of northern Ghana in particular.
These birds were largely attracted to and found in/around a green park in Kuottam Estates, Palm Valley, in Oyarifa which she had turned from a waste land, literally a rubbish dump, into an oasis of “rest and hope and peace.”
Earlier this week, I shared about last week’s Crystal Ball Africa panel conversations addressing “Are there green pastures at home?” Well, it seems it had to take an Australian to come all the way from ‘down under’ to show us one of such pastures. In Madam Howell’s own words, “…this area was just rubble and grass. People had thrown rubble, building waste and things like that into the area and I felt something better could be created.” Today, that lush green area with seats and swings and a little pond has been graciously named “Allison’s Greens” by the residents association. In fact, only two weekends ago it was the venue of a children’s party we dropped our nine-year old at.
It might interest you to note that although she was the transformer-in-chief, Allison never wanted her name on it! In fact, according to Alex Asiedu, a resident, “Allison came up with the idea of the park. Warm, resilient and self-effacing, she was able to convince the owners not to develop the strip of land on which it sits and did not give up until they gave in. Generous and humble, she single-handedly relieved the funds to develop it, and still resisted having her name on it. But the community, grateful for her foresight and generosity, would not have it any other way.” Yes, the learned prof lived for Soli Deo Gloria—God’s glory alone
Back to the beginning, the ornithology. The beauRiful bird on the book cover is a Senegal Coucal (Centropus senegalensis). The one score and ten birds in the collection range from the greenish Rose-ringed Parakeet through the Purple Swamp Hen (Porphyrio porphyrio) and Green-backed Heron (Butorides striata) to the mainly yellow Little Bee Eater (Merops pusillus).
Don’t just seek greener pastures elsewhere, make some! Right where you are. You never know just who might flock there.
