These traditional funeral rites also play a major role in reinforcing and building community feeling. The Ewe council also offers other services. Timpo has matched tribal children with adult mentors working in their areas of interest. Tribe members are investigating group health insurance. And thanks partly to these informal supports, the Ewe almost entirely avoid government aid.
Welfare dependence receives open scorn.
We want to depend on ourselves. This sentiment goes beyond eschewing welfare. Unlike black Americans and professionals in Ghana itself, very few Ghanaian immigrants seek upward mobility through government jobs, with the exception of a smattering of public school teachers. The self-reliance of the Ewe is partly a matter of demographics. Chicago's Ewe community of about 500 counts three physicians, three or four people with doctorates, and a healthy sprinkling of others with advanced degrees.