Oregon daily emerald., May 21, 1980, Section B, Page 4 and 5, Image 16

Hometoum
Blues
for
Bakari
Homesickness is a trait as common to the
student psyche as exam anxiety and the
occasional hangover. Inevitably, whether
once a day or once a month, that hollow
corner of the stomach groans with hunger for
one glimpse of the folks back home. For
some, family is as close as Portland.
But for Grace Bakari, her family is a
half-world and total culture away in Kumasi,
Ghana. Which is a very abrupt change from
her current home — a room in one of the
University’s dormitories, which she has
occupied since April. For Bakari, a 400-meter
specialist for the Oregon track team, Kumasi,
her real home, is an unparalleled paradise.
They call Kumasi the Garden City,
because all around are "flowers and
gardens” and other forms of greenery. Settled
in the northern part o* Ghana, it is the
country's second-largest city, next to the
coastal capital of Accra. It is the cultural
center of Ghana - “a junction,” says Bakari
with a wide smile. And the main expression of
culture in Kumasi? “Music! It is full of music!”
What kind of music? The answer is surprising.
“Disco!,” she says, taking a roll on the grass
in front of the 15th Street tennis courts,
obviously embarrassed at being interviewed.
She went to discos all the time in Kumasi. No,
she hasn’t gone to any discos here.
"Music expresses my inner feelings,” she
says, shifting her position on the grass for
what seems like the millionth time. “It’s
inborn.”
For those who have seen her on the
track, her running seems inborn, too.
Although Bakari is only 5-4 and 105 pounds,
she seems to glide across the track with
gazelle-like strides. She brings to mind the
fluid motion that Kenyan half-miler and
Olympic medalist Mike Boit made popular in
the mid-70s.
Her face betrays no strain or emotion as
she runs; she looks the same at the start as
she does at the finish. And at the tape, Bakari
is usually first across or seconds behind. Her
season best in the 400 this year is 53.7, a
half-second slower than her personal mark. A
53-second 400 would place her among the
top performers at the AIAW meet.
“I like the track, the competition, the
spectators,” she says. “And the losers — if
you are losing, they cheer you up.”
Oregon track has been good to Grace
Bakari. She's happy with the people she's met
through athletics and the experiences she's
had through life on the team.
But Bakari's experiences off the track
have been less than encouraging to a
26-year-old woman who is very far from home.
The problems began when she first
arrived from Ghana in April. Actually, she
wasn’t even here yet. Bakari was stuck at
Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport, and
the customs officers wanted to know what she
was doing in the United States with only a
one-way visa. Because of poor
communication channels betvyeen Eugene
and Kumasi, Oregon coach Td™ Heinonen
had no idea that Bakari was coming.
“I tried to call in London, but the lines
didn’t go through,” she says She convinced
them to call Heinonen at home. "They
wouldn’t let me talk (on the phone) because
they thought I might deceive them.” A
suprised Heinonen convinced the officer that
Bakari was on the way to Oregon for good
reason. She was picked up by teammate Eryn
Forbes’ father in Portland.
Then came the paperwork. "She’s had a
lot of hassles filling out forms," says
Heinonen. “There were months worth of
forms, and she had to complete them the first
two weeks of the (spring) term while she was
competing.”
Then came the food. Many dorm
residents complain about the victuals they
receive. Bakari’s system did more than
complain — it rebelled. The food was "too
sweet,” she says. She was more accustomed
to fresh fruits and vegatables - especially
yams — from the marketplace. The
vacuum-packed, freeze-dried stuff offered in
the dormitories gave Bakari stomach cramps.
She began to lose weight, and with only 105
pounds to spare, there’s not much to lose.
"We’re doing everything we can to make
her comfortable,” says Heinonen. Both Bakari
and Heinonen agree that if she could live
off-campus and prepare her own food, the
situation would improve immediately.
Then came assimilation into the campus
community. Bakari and a friend who came
from Ghana three years ago say the populace
in Eugene is much more withdrawn than in
Ghana. "African culture brings one together,”
says the friend. “Here, it is one for himself or
for his family.”
“I want to talk to someone," says Bakari,
“but there is no one to talk to."
"You don’t have to have money to enjoy
yourself (in Ghana),” chips in the friend. "If
you have no money, somebody will take care
of you. Next time, you’ll take care of them.”
Back home, Bakari is part of a family of
one father, three wives and a total of 21
children. They live in a compound along with
several other families. As is the case with
other parts of the world, the Muslim religion
that Bakari grew up with is facing transition
through Western influences. She was not
allowed to wear "anything like that” in public,
pointing to a girl clad in short-shorts and tank
top. But she was allowed to wear pants
around the house.
In stark contrast to Bakari’s Muslim
background, long vertical scars in each cheek
mark her as a member of the royal Gonja
tribe. She received the scars during
childhood, along with another mark on her left
cheek for medicinal protection. Her father is a
chief, her uncle a sub-chief. As a result,
Bakari and her family are treated with
“dignity” among her peers.
Asked if there were any problems with her
family about being 26 and unmarried, she
smiles and says, "My parents once said that if
I didn’t get a boyfriend, they would give me
one. But I was npt interested in that. I wanted
to run.”
And run she did, although during her ten
years of prep education, "I wasn’t allowed to
run in school because I was too tiny.” As the
years went by, she competed with the Ghana
national team in several African and
international competitions. Last year, she
traveled to Canada for the World Cup Games.
There she met Boit, who is attending the
University as a grad student.
Boit told her about Oregon and its
program, but she had already heard quite a bit
back home. "They talk about it (the
University) in Ghana. They say, That great
school.' ’’
But right now Bakari is not sure whether
it’s great or not. “Back home my parents need
me.” She actually expresses fears of death if
she continues to eat the food she’s offered
here. “I’m afraid to die over something that I
could change (control).” The problem is that
she has no ticket home. Her only chance this
summer is if the Ghana Olympic Committee
pays her way to Moscow.
Heinonen isn't very worried about Bakari.
He understands homesickness when he sees
it, and believes time will provide the best
medication. He says Boit (while attending
college at Eastern New Mexico) and Oregon’s
Alberto Salazar both had their tickets ready to
go home early in their collegiate careers, but
they both got over it.
"It’ll just take some time,” says Heinonen.
"She was being pulled in a lot of directions all
at once — new school, new term, cold winter,
no money...
"Everything is getting better now.”
Story by Jody Murray
Photos by Steve Dykes
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