Brando Akoto, who passed away in late October was the most generous person I've ever met--and his generosity continues to resonate.
Before I knew Brando well, I made the mistake of answering honestly a couple of questions he posed before we traveled to Ghana together: how did my laptop function in Ghana, and what did I eat while in Ghana? I told him that my laptop was getting up there in years but worked fine and that I was pretty flexible about eating in Ghana but liked to take along a couple of packages of granola bars for emergencies.
A few weeks later he gave me not one but two laptops he had reconditioned, and while we were in Ghana about a hundred pounds of granola bars magically appeared.
When it came to giving, Brando was anything but temperate. If he cooked for you, there was enough to feed ten, not one. If you asked for five minutes of his time, he would give you an hour. He made me realize that people were capable of much more love and generosity than I had thought possible.
So I should not have been surprised a couple of weeks ago when Lilly, his wife, dropped off a check for Yo Ghana! for a very large amount, by far the biggest donation we have ever received. It was, she explained, a love give from Brando.
We miss you so very, very much, dear friend. But you shape and enrich our lives every day.
RSS Feed