Melania Trump has arrived in Ghana (shown there in above photo) to begin her first major solo international trip as first lady of the United States — and the people of Ghana seemed to be thrilled to welcome her to their West African nation.
The first lady landed in the capital of Accra Tuesday morning after departing Washington, D.C., on Monday, as NBC News reported, and was welcomed with dancing, drumming, and excited schoolchildren waving mini U.S. and Ghanaian flags.
Mrs. Trump accepted a bouquet of flowers from an eight-year-old girl before walking along a red carpet into an airport lounge for a brief meeting with Rebecca Akufo-Addo, Ghana’s first lady.
She spent Tuesday morning visiting Ridge Hospital, noted NBC News, and the first lady greeted mothers and babies and passed out teddy bears and blankets.
She looked on as a baby was weighed, reported NBC, and later picked up another baby, cooing to him, making faces and kissing him, to the delight of those around her (see video below).
Trump had tea with Akufo-Addo behind closed doors at Jubilee Palace, reported CNN. She reportedly presented her hostess with a Chippendale tray etched with an image of the White House, and in turn received a kente cloth and traditional Ghanian artifact as a gift.
Mrs. Trump also paid a visit to the United States Embassy later in the day, and returned to her hotel late Tuesday afternoon, said CNN.
“While [Melania] Trump’s staff is keeping tight-lipped about specific details for security purposes,” noted CNN, the first lady is expected to “make stops at local schools and hospitals, visiting with children,” and enjoy “regional cultural experiences.”
Stephanie Grisham, Mrs. Trump’s communications director, said the trip is primarily a diplomatic and humanitarian visit.
“Mrs. Trump has always envisioned her first international trip would be [to] Africa,” she told CNN. “So we’ve known that we would be doing this since the very beginning.”
The first lady will also visit Malawi, Kenya and Egypt on her trip, according to the Associated Press and U.S. News & World Report.
The trip, which reportedly will focus on health care and education, falls in line with the first lady’s domestic goals, identified in her Be Best initiative.
“I feel strongly that as adults, we can and should be best at educating our children about the importance of a healthy and balanced life,” the first lady said.
“As a mother and as first lady, it concerns me that in today’s fast-paced and ever-connected world, children can be less prepared to express or manage their emotions and oftentimes turn to forms of destructive or addictive behavior such as bullying, drug addiction, or even suicide,” she said during a Rose Garden event back in May, when she announced the initiative.
“I feel strongly that as adults, we can and should be best at educating our children about the importance of a healthy and balanced life,” the first lady said.
She called it “an awareness campaign, dedicated to the most valuable and fragile among us — our children.”
See the video below:
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