At their November 16, 2002 Retreat the Gilbert Sister Cities Board of Directors unanimously approved the addition of a new partner-the Village of Guabuliga, Ghana, Africa. The partnership is officially called a Friendship City. This designation, while not officially recognized by Sister Cities International (SCI) as a full fledged sister city relationship, is one conceived by SCI to allow two communities to work on developing a relationship while building local support and program ideas. The Friendship City designation will not stop us from having a very meaningful partnership. It is even possible that Guabuliga and Gilbert could become officially linked with the sister city designation. What makes this relationship unique is that the Chief (Maasu) of Guabuliga, Sule Issufu, used to live in Gilbert with his family. He recently moved back to govern Guabuliga. His story is very interesting and we didn't want to miss this opportunity to partner with someone who has made it his life's work to help people understand his culture and promote global understanding and peaceful coexistence for present and future generations. After all, that is what the sister cities program is all about.

See images of Guabuliga

The Village of Guabuliga, Ghana, Africa

Guabuliga is situated in the Northeast corner of Ghana with a population of 2,000 people. It is one of many villages making up the Mamprusi traditional area. The Mamprusi people number a quarter of a million. Their native language is Mamprusi and the national language of Ghana is English. The area is about 20 square miles and the economy is based on agriculture. Their crops are cotton, corn, peanuts, rice, shea nuts, yams, black eyed peas, etc. They also have cattle, sheep, goats and chickens. There is one elementary school with about 100 pupils.

This relationship is different from our first two partnerships in that there isn't a focus on economic development but, rather, on helping a small village with some very important needs.

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