'Please be my friend," said a desperate 17-year old black girl to each white woman leaving the huge Roman Catholic cathedral in Accra, Ghana on the west coast of Africa that Sunday morning in 1964. I was that girl and what happened to me before and since is an amazing true story that even I find it hard to believe today. But it did unfold exactly as I relate it to you here. At times I think you will feel my helplessness and hope.my pain and pleasure.the cruelty that some men and women can mask.my failings and my faith that sustained me then and guide me now.and the unselfish kindness and generosity of so many good people who came to my rescue during the darkest day of my life. Most of all, it celebrates my finest accomplishment and greatest gift - the birth and grow to adulthood of my ten healthy children here and in Africa. Maybe it will indeed serve as a source of inspiration for you. I certainly hope so.