A cultural emissary has new aim

When Beatrice Kwaa arrived in America 14 years ago, she had one goal: to start her own business. She had the experience of running a shop in her native Ghana, but she didn't know how to start from scratch in a foreign country, so she did what most people do when they need information.

She called 411.

''I said 'I want to start my own business, but I don't know how,' and the woman at the other side of the line laughed," recalls Kwaa (pronounced ''kuaa"). The operator gave her the number of several nonprofits specializing in small business. Her next call was to a business counselor, who helped her to create Africana Arts and Crafts, a store that sells imported African sculptures, clothing, and jewelry.

For the last 10 years Kwaa, a tall woman with brown eyes and long braided hair with red tips, has used her business in Somerville to promote her culture among New England's black community. But now, slow sales, lack of a bank loan, and a recurring illness are forcing her to close.

Ebony masks with big red eyes are displayed on the walls of the store, while dozens of traditional African garments fill the stands. ''There used to be more, but we are not importing any more" she said.

When Kwaa, who says she is ''around 50 years old," started the store in the Assembly Square Mall in 1994, she imported merchandise from Ghana, Togo, and Nigeria three times a year, selling most of it between Christmas and February, Black History Month. Her success was noticed by the mall's director, who she said offered her a bigger space in the center of the mall for the same rent.

As part of her business strategy, Kwaa visited churches and schools to promote her business and talk about African history and culture. She sees herself as a cultural ambassador of her people.

''Her business is not just for selling. She establishes relationships with her customers," said Sister Elizabeth Metebaghafoh, a Nigerian missionary who met Kwaa when she started her business.

''What she is doing is a way for people here to see our culture, a way to share her African heritage with the American people."

For six years her store thrived in the mall, she says. But when the beleaguered shopping center changed owners in 1998, she was among the smaller retailers given two years to leave, to make way for bigger stores. Diagnosed with breast cancer, she canceled her relocation plans to take care of her illness.

When she felt stronger she re-opened in December 2003 at her current location three blocks from the Porter Square T station. She had lost many of her customers, and her new location did not attract many new ones.

Now, failure to get a bank loan, and a recurrence of her breast cancer, are forcing her to close this week, she said. She plans to sell through her website, www.africanacrafts.com, and says she hopes to find another location for the store after treatment. Meanwhile, she has another project in mind.

''I want to establish some sort of cultural exchange between kids in Boston and Ghana," said Kwaa. She has no idea yet of how to start. But she knows that if she needs help, she just has to pick up the phone.