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Simonne Dyer turned heads at the Hibiscus Coast Garden Club last month, when she arrived for their meeting in her royal African regalia, complete with umbrella and linquist stick.
As guest speaker at the club’s annual meeting and show on April 16, Simonne’s colourful costume, made from multiple strips of handwoven fabric sewn together, got club members in the mood for the story she had come to share with them.
Simonne, who lives in Red Beach and is the current Greypower Hibiscus Coast president, described for the club members how she came to be given the title of Queen Mother of the Ga tribe in the Tema district of Ghana, West Africa.
The honour was bestowed by a local chief in 1992 when she was in Ghana working on a Christian Mission hospital ship. As well as providing much-needed surgery for local people, the mission also raised funds to open a women-only operation room in Ghana to help reduce the number of women and their babies who were dying in childbirth from lack of medical facilities.
Simonne said that she was given the honour of Queen Mother of Development because she reminded the chief of an old woman who had previously died and the chief believed “she was of the same spirit”. Simonne was the director of the Mercy Ship and she says the chief was also hoping for a great deal of help in his district.
Simonne gained the title of Naa Dede Santone 1, becoming one of a group of Queen Mothers, whose role is to care for the health and wellbeing of the women and children of the tribe. The title is hereditary, so will eventually pass down to Simonne’s granddaughter.
Currently she has a project on in East Timor working to raise the standard of living in the village of Laulora under the name of the Heta Trust. This project began in 2000 and has rebuilt homes, provided fresh water sources, installed toilets, held hygiene classes and renovated schools. The Trust also runs a sponsorship programme for children. Simonne says with minimal administrative costs and no paid Trust members, over 90 percent of the sponsorship money goes directly into the work in East Timor.
