By Rita McInerney

They had friendliness in common, the young volunteer and the people he came to help. The place was Ghana, a republic on the west coast of Africa.

Kevin Federspiel shared his talent and compassion. The Ghanaians were generous in this hospitality, glad to have this blond American share their lives.

When he arrived in Ghana in December, 1992, Kevin, a volunteer with the Society of African Missions (SMA), had no idea just what his work would be.

“The SMA idea is to be flexible and open. They knew my background and that I possibly might be interested in teaching,” he said.

He studied at Berry College in Rome, Ga., where he received a degree in accounting in 1987 and a master’s in business in 1989. Before becoming an SMA volunteer he worked with an Atlanta certified public accountant and with an ad agency.

His interest in Africa developed when soccer players from that continent enrolled at Berry. A soccer player since he was six or seven, Kevin made friends with them and learned about their lives.

Traveling to Ghana with him were a newly ordained SMA priest and two young women volunteers. They stayed, after arrival, in one of the congregation’s regional houses in Winneba and for one month focused on getting to know the people. It was mostly, Kevin explained, “walking around and talking to them.”

In Winneba he witnessed the Ghanaians hospitality to Liberian refugees. They fed and sheltered about 5,000 people who had fled the fear and deprivation caused by the bloody civil strife in that neighbor country.

Ahead of him, over the next 18 months, were to be numerous situations, many pleasant, some debilitating that would allow him to know many Ghanaians. He grew to appreciate their ability to be happy and God-centered despite their lack of worldly goods.

In January 1993, the group started language school in Abetifi, a town of about 5,000 people. Their assignment was to learn Twi (pronounced tree), the most commonly used among 75 dialects spoken by the Ghanaians. Kevin’s eight-month language course was halted when he came down with typhoid and giardia. He spent two months in a hospital run by Catholic sisters. While living with a Ghanaian family he had flunked the water vigilance test.

“Our water came from a stream.” In one instance before he became ill he knew “it hadn’t been boiled for ten minutes at least.” Prolonged boiling of water used in cooking is imperative since people were washing themselves, clothes and other articles in the streams.

After he completed language school his expertise in business came to the attention of Bishop Peter Kwasi Sarpong of the Kumasi Diocese. He went to work in the diocesan business center, training employees in bookkeeping, budgeting and record keeping. The bishop also instructed him to audit the parishes. Some pastors “felt threatened” by this Kevin recalled.

Another task was to help the employees, laborers and volunteers improve their job performances at a hospital in the village of Agroyesum, about 40 miles from Kumasi over a paved road that was more potholes then paving. The 200-patient facility was one of four Catholic hospitals in the Kumasi diocese.

International aid agencies help support such diocesan institutions and require an account of funds contributed.

Three priests in the Agroyesum parish serve Catholics in 62 outstations (small villages). This is typical of the country.

There is no chance for people in Ghana to save money; their small earnings provide only a meager existence. Kevin helped one friend, Drame Oumar, a struggling Muslim tailor, increase his small business. He bought him a second sewing machine needed for detail work. Oumar’s work increased, he hired a helper and even brought in an apprentice to learn tailoring. The tailor still works long hours, but life is a little easier for his father, wife and two children.

“You have to rejoice in one little bright spot, Kevin said.

In his eyes, Ghana isn’t a land of unlimited opportunity for its people. In the villages, livelihoods are eked out by those who farm or trade at the market, selling fish, vegetables, plantain, canned milk and other staples.

Living in Abetifi made Kevin see that “the women do everything.” They’re workers in the fields, including one woman 85 years old, and cook over small stoves fueled by sawdust. Preparing the simple meal can be “an all day event.”

Males are not often around, he observed, but the women are beginning to express themselves in favor of monogamous marriage.

Coming back to the U.S. earlier this summer was a culture shock. Kevin, 30, admits. While he was living in a “totally different culture,” he had a chance to learn his own culture. Now, he sees it from an outsider’s viewpoint.

He is hoping to return to Ghana in the fall and would like to teach in a high school and coach soccer. Before that, he is looking forward to a reunion with his sister, Kathy, who returns Oct. 3 after serving as an occupational therapist in American Samoa. He has four brothers. He is the son of Lois Federspiel, a member of All Saints parish, Dunwoody, and Jerry Federspiel of Jacksonville, Fla.

The Society of African Missions works mainly in Africa. Its priests and lay volunteers evangelize through the “witness of life” in education, social welfare, care for refugees, human development and numerous other areas. For more information write Theresa Hicks, SMA, 256 North Manor Circle, Takoma Park, Md., 20912.