US First Lady Arrives in Ghana on First Leg of Solo Africa Trip U.S. First Lady Melania Trump landed under cloudy skies in Accra, Ghana, on Oct. 2, the first stop in her extended solo trip to Africa. Before greeting officials, the first lady accepted a bouquet of flowers wrapped in a kente cloth from Lillian Naa Adai Sai, an 8-year-old girl who looked starstruck. Trump then greeted Rebecca Akufo-Addo, the first lady of Ghana, at the foot of a red carpet rolled out on the tarmac. Before departing the airport, the two first ladies watched an arrival ceremony that featured tribal dancers and children waving Ghanaian and American flags. When asked about the first lady’s trip to Africa, President Donald Trump said he watched her walk down from the plane in Africa. “It was beautiful and, saying hello to the kids, she is really doing a great job as first lady,” Trump said. The first lady’s trip to Africa is her first solo journey; she usually accompanies the president on trips. She will return to Washington by the end of the week. Melania Trump announced her trip during a speech at the U.N. General Assembly in New York on Sept. 26. “Since becoming first lady, I have had the privilege of speaking with many of the spouses of world leaders,” she said. “Our discussions are always united by the universal desire to provide children with the support and tools necessary to grow up happy, healthy, and responsible adults.” All four countries that the first lady will visit receive funds from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). She highlighted what the United States is doing for each nation in her speech announcing the trip. “There are many programs across the country that are doing great things for children, and I believe we can replicate many of these programs overseas. This is why I am pleased to be working closely with USAID as I prepare for my first major international trip to Africa,” the first lady said. Hospital The first ladies first stopped at the Greater Accra Regional Hospital. At an outdoor seating area where about 10 mothers sat, Trump picked up a chubby-cheeked baby and made faces at him, to the delight of the assembled mothers and hospital officials. The first lady then helped pass out baskets donated by the White House. “Congratulations,” the first lady said, as she handed a blanket and teddy bear to a mother breastfeeding her child. Trump then watched as health officials weighed babies in sacks hanging from a pulley as part of routine wellness checks. Local women have to pay the equivalent of $2 per sack, so the White House donated a bundle of them to the hospital. “Healthy boy,” she said approvingly, as one 6-month-old baby dangled on the pulley in front of her. The first lady then visited a newly constructed wing of the hospital to visit babies in the neonatal intensive care unit. Jubilee House The two first ladies than traveled to Jubilee House, Ghana’s presidential palace, for a private meeting. The pair exchanged gifts. Trump brought a silver Chippendale tray etched with an image of the White House. The tray was carried in a leather case bearing the first lady’s signature. In return, Trump received a kente cloth, a Ghanaian fabric distinguished by its multicolored strips of cotton or silk, and an artifact. The two first ladies met for the first time at the U.N. General Assembly last week. The pair spent about half an hour inside the Jubilee House having tea before Trump departed to her hotel. ‘Be Best’ Campaign Trump has made the well-being of children the focus of her work as first lady and plans to bring this message to Africa on her trip. Her campaign, called “Be Best,” focuses on issues including social media use and opioid abuse. Trump’s stops will focus on nutrition for women and children, health care for mothers and newborns, early childhood education, wildlife conservation, and tourism. The first lady will also highlight the role Washington plays in helping each country, according to the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), which helped to coordinate the trip. Previous first ladies have had similar policy initiatives geared toward youth, such as Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Move” campaign to fight childhood obesity and Nancy Reagan’s “Say No to Drugs.” Aid USAID and the U.S. State Department provided more than $8 billion in assistance to 47 countries in sub-Saharan Africa in 2015. The aid goes towards preventing conflict and violent extremism, supporting democracy, and combating poverty and disease. Tourism Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, Ghana’s minister of information, expected the first lady’s visit to be a boon for the country’s tourism industry. “We expect that the visit will also aid us in the various efforts that we are making to promote a number of tourism sites in the country. All in all, her visit is to aid us in boosting tourism as well as strengthen Ghana-US ties,” Nkrumah told Revelare Online.<doc-sep>This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. ©2021 FOX News Network, LLC. All rights reserved. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Market data provided by Factset. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Legal Statement. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper.<doc-sep>
ACCRA (Reuters) - Melania Trump cuddled a baby, handed out teddy bears and beamed smiles on her first day in Africa on Tuesday, kicking off a four-country visit and receiving a warm welcome on a continent her husband once referred to derisively. The U.S. first lady touched down at mid-morning in Ghana’s capital, Accra, where she was greeted by her counterpart, Ghana’s first lady Rebecca Akufo-Addo, and a young girl who offered her flowers. A welcoming ceremony of drums and dancing by men and women dressed in traditional attire followed. Trump clapped her hands for the performers and waved at a group of schoolchildren who had gathered for her at the airport. The trip is Trump’s first major solo outing abroad as first lady. She has accompanied President Donald Trump on foreign visits, but she chose Africa for her first multi-nation trip alone. She will visit Kenya, Malawi and Egypt before returning to the United States at the end of the week. Her immediate predecessor Michelle Obama also made a solo trip to the continent when her husband was president, visiting South Africa and Botswana. Trump’s trip did not generate the same fanfare. “I did not know she’s in town until I heard about it on the radio a few minutes ago,” Cynthia Brobbey, a saleswoman at a popular retail shop near the airport told Reuters, three hours after the first lady’s arrival in Accra. Slideshow ( 8 images ) But she received a warm response at a local hospital, where she cooed over children, distributed stuffed animals and held a baby in her arms. She later joined Akufo-Addo for tea. Trump has focused on children as her signature issue and plans to promote child wellbeing during her four-country tour. President Trump has been quoted as saying immigrants from Africa came from “shithole countries”. He denied making the remark. He recently weighed in on South Africa’s efforts to fix racial disparity in land ownership, saying on Twitter he had asked Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to study the country’s “farm seizures” and the “killing of farmers”.