When Mary Nana Adwoa Lewis moved to St. Croix 17 years ago from her native Ghana, West Africa, she brought a bit of Africa with her. She knows how to create traditional African dishes, dance African dances and sew traditional African clothing.
However, when she came, she didn’t imagine she would end up using her traditional African skills on St. Croix to create her own business. But that is what happened as she has created African "Kraal" Fashions.
As a child she imagined herself as an "air hostess" flight attendant. She started dance at the age of 6 and studied African, modern and contemporary dance at the University of Ghana. She taught dance at Caribbean Dance School for 12 years and taught elementary school at Free Will Baptist Church.
She moved to the territory with her husband, Lawrence Lewis. She met Lewis, a St. Kitts native, in Africa while he was working for the National Council of Churches in the sub-Saharan region He is a former V.I. agriculture commissioner and is currently assistant to the vice provost at the University of the Virgin Islands.
"I always like to portray the African culture with Ghanian food, clothing and dance," Lewis says. "The food and dance are an ancestral tradition."
There are a number of people in the territory whose ancestors are from Ghana, she says.
Generations have handed down traditional recipes, and in her case her grandmother and mother taught her how to prepare the dishes.
She cooks up huge pots of stews and soups for the World Food Day held annually at UVI.
Traditional dishes she makes are ono tuo and peanut butter soup, which consists of rice, peanut butter and fish and banku, and okra stew, made up of cornmeal, fish, okra and leaves, spinach, eggplant, chives, onions and seasonings. She says banku is like the local fungi. She serves a sweet little atwomo similar to a deep fried crunchy mini johnny cake.
She and her husband grow most of the stew ingredients in their garden. She thinks they grow the best watermelons on St. Croix, which they provide for local school-lunch programs.
She also sews traditional African clothing for men, women and children. She uses cotton in vivid African prints. Lewis does special orders and cute little girls’ dresses in pastel-printed seersucker. She holds a fashion show yearly during Black History Month at the St. Croix Career and Technical Education Center
At the vendors’ market at the pier in Frederiksted Saturday, Lewis wore a bright, lime-green, print-caftan-like "buba" and head scarf. When cruise ships call, she sells clothing and semi-precious beaded jewelry set up in a permanent little pavilion. She sells chocolates from Ghana and more. She also sells her goods from her home.
Someday she would like to organize and take tour groups to her native Ghana. She is the local African Association Organization secretary. To stay in shape, she still takes African dance lessons at Claude O. Marko School. She really enjoys time spent in her garden, and wishes she had more time there.
"I’m so blessed," Lewis says. "I want to give back to the village and school where I’m from that brought me so far."
