Our Soul of Somanya Ghana Project Manager, Arkuh Bernard Tettey, is also the secretary and one of the co-founders of the organization. He runs the day-to-day operations in Ghana, which is no small feat, since Ghana is not an easy place in which to do business according to Western standards. He is basically responsible for all decision-making in matters Ghanaian, since Melody frequently gets bogged down in cross-cultural confusion and has finally learned to take his advice about pretty much everything. The other responsibilities he has undertaken include (but are not limited to) hiring and supervising our work force, helping with their training, quality control, local marketing, keeping track of where the cedis and pesois are going from day to day, negotiating bead and jewelry prices, buying and tracking supplies, making sure we have all the right licenses and documentation, handling local public relations, keeping our place of business clean and in good repair, clearing the surrounding land of fast-recurring brush, and letting Melody whine by telephone on his distant shoulder when she gets stressed out about money.
He's a little busy.
Bernard is a Ghanaian citizen and a resident of Somanya-Krobo. We hope to get him over to the U.S. to work on a degree in business at some point, but right now we can't spare him from the project.
Contact Bernard at: soulofsomanya@gmail.com 02-129-7032 or 027-323-5744 P.O. Box SA 319 Somanya-Krobo Eastern Region, Ghana
Melody MacDuffee, a.k.a. Manye Dede Adanki Banahene III (she was made a queen mother by Manye Mamiya of Somanya-Krobo in November of 2007), is the Executive Director and other co-founder of Soul of Somanya. She's the one who takes care of all the money worries, including raising, allocating, disbursing and gratefully accepting funds both great and small. She is also responsible for marketing Soul of Somanya products throughout the Western world, as well as keeping the books, maintaining accountability, handling the promotional and public relations stuff, and making all the decisions in matters American, since Bernard has yet to experience first-hand the unique joys of doing business in the West. A beader from way back, Melody is also the one who does the bulk of the training.
Though she more or less sort of sometimes lives in Mobile, Alabama, Melody is becoming increasingly aware that, while her feet are most often on American soil, a big chunk of her heart lives 5,500 miles away in a little town called Somanya-Krobo. She can hardly wait for her body to rejoin it.
Contact her at:
soulofsomanya@gmail.com 251-342-9076 6200 Airport Blvd. #99 Mobile, AL 36608
Helen Sigler accompanied Melody on her last trip to Ghana to help out with the teaching and whatever else might arise along the way. Here she is high-fiving Bismark, the youngest member of our crew. Helen divides her time between Mobile, Alabama, Atlanta, Georgia and Asheville, North Carolina, but she's pretty sure that part of her heart will forever remain in Ghana.
The Current Soul of Somanya Crew
Ben Rose with Bismark Grace
Alex
Florence Janet
Isaac Theresa Solomon
Soul of Somanya's beautiful place of business...and of living...in Somanya-Krobo
Domelivo, the world's most useless guard dog, at a moment of unusual fierceness
pretty much everything. The other responsibilities he has undertaken include (but are not limited to) hiring and supervising our work force, helping with their training, quality control, local marketing, keeping track of where the cedis and pesois are going from day to day, negotiating bead and jewelry prices, buying and tracking supplies, making sure we have all the right licenses and documentation, handling local public relations, keeping our place of business clean and in good repair, clearing the surrounding land of fast-recurring brush, and letting Melody whine by telephone on his distant shoulder when she gets stressed out about money. 
Melody MacDuffee, a.k.a. Manye Dede Adanki Banahene III (she was made a queen mother by Manye Mamiya of Somanya-Krobo in November of 2007), is the Executive Director and other co-founder of Soul of Somanya. She's the one who takes care of all the money worries, including raising, allocating, disbursing and gratefully accepting funds both great and small. She is also responsible for marketing Soul of Somanya products throughout the Western world, as well as keeping the books, maintaining accountability, handling the promotional and public relations stuff, and making all the decisions in matters American, since Bernard has yet to experience first-hand the unique joys of doing business in the West. A beader from way back, Melody is also the one who does the bulk of the training. 
Grace
Theresa
Solomon
