Memories from Aburi Girls (1992-1994)

The chorus of Phil Thompson’s “My Worship” is a reflection of Ewurafua’s life. Ewurafua was love and light. It’s hard to refer to her in the past tense. Ewurafua. What can we say about our dear friend?

The three of us met in the sixth form when we were all new to Aburi Girls. Ewurafua happened to be sitting next to Evelyn and Frances at the back of the 6th form classroom. Being the chattiest of the three, Frances struck up a conversation.We became fast friends and soon became known as “the three musketeers.” All three of us were petite, loved to laugh, had fun and loved the LORD. Though we were split up into Aberdeen (Frances) Baradale (Ewurafua) and Edinburgh (Evelyn) houses, we were inseparable.

Throughout the two years, we went everywhere and did everything together. Once a week we would select a day to pray and fast together. Ewurafua always encouraged us to keep the hunger under control and focus on the task of intimacy with Christ. At the end of the day, we rejoiced in gracious prayer together as we would break the fast.

We remember all our talks of marriage and of our children becoming friends with each other. We even made three separate lists of qualities we would like in our future husbands. The three lists all turned out almost identical! We met each other’s family members when they came to visit - meeting Ewurafua’s parents and brother “Rob” (Ekow) who was also a heartthrob of one of us girls 😊! We made fun of each other. Ewurafua was a big tease. She came up with “I miss the bus” in reference to a male friend of ours who liked one of us.

We shared happy times and not-so-happy times. School was tough in the boarding house, but with the encouragement we had from each other, we developed a close-knit bond. It seems as though our last day of high school was just yesterday, and we were running through the halls hand-in-hand in celebration.

Decades later, Ewurafua’s visits to the United States were always joyful times. It was like no time had passed at all and our friendship was just as strong from where we left off. The most memorable one was at Evelyn’s in Philadelphia where we spent a couple of days catching up on each other’s lives.

After several unanswered calls to Ewurafua, we reached Ewurafua’s mom who shared that Ewurafua had lost her speech. We were planning to send a care package but unfortunately, death beat us to it and took our dear best friend from us!

How can we bid you goodbye? Ewurafua, it’s hard for us to come to terms with this void you have created in our hearts. Ewurafua, we think about you always and still talk about you. You will never, ever be forgotten.

Ewurafua, we think about you always and still talk about you. You will never, ever be forgotten.

We are comforted that the LORD GOD who knows all things has the need for an Angel to sing praises to His holy name. Blessed be the name of the LORD. Ewurafua, our darling sister and friend, rest in blessed peace.