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Elizabeth the first African queen from Wimbledon
Ellen Widdup07.01.09
A GRANDMOTHER who left her family, friends and London home to start a children's centre in Ghana has been crowned queen by tribal chiefs.
Liz Busch, who was born and grew up in Merton Park, Wimbledon, became the first white woman in Hohoe, in the mountainous Volta Region, to receive the honour. She can now join the town elders to make key decisions.
The 58-year-old was newly-divorced with three grown-up children and a young granddaughter when she moved to the country in 2006. She decided to start a life there after completing a six-week volunteer outreach project in the nearby town of Santrokofi.
"I was so touched by the people I met and so desperate to help the children that I knew it was the place for me.
"Since I moved, I have set up four children's centres and we help teach the children to read and write, encourage them to play games, draw and generally enjoy their childhood.
"When the elders gathered to tell me they had decided to make me queen for services rendered to the children of their community, I was speechless.
"It's a little embarrassing because now people stop and bow before me in the street. I am hoping the formality of it will wear off eventually and I will just be the same old Liz." Her Kids' Corner centres are all in Hohoe and serve a community of 150,000. The centres are funded chiefly by Mrs Busch, whose ex-husband pays her a £700-a-month divorce settlement. The "crowning" ceremony took place on 27 December and involved members of the Ewe tribe decorating Mrs Busch with a blue sash and a "certificate of recognition" for her work.
