Audio

                   GANTA UNITED METHODIST MISSION SCHOOL ODE

                                    We Hail Thee, Ganta Mission

1.   

We hail thee, Ganta Mission, our alma mater's name.

We proudly sing your praises, for what we've gleaned from thee.

The knowledge and the skills that you taught us loud and clear,

are strongly anchored deeply within our hearts and minds.

2

We're proud of our foundation, forever grateful be,

your children of tomorrow prepared to lead the way.

Through many of life's pathways, we'll blaze the rugged way,

to make the crooked places as straight as they should be.

3

Now bless your sons and daughters; we pledge our loyalty.

With tributes and our duties as guardians of your trust.

When we have gone from these walls committed to your cause,

give us the strength to labor for all humanity.

Words: Nya Kwiawon Taryor, Sr.

Class of 1963

Copyright (c) 2006

                                                              Tune: Lancashire, Henry T. Smart, 1835

The song goes with the tune of 

"Lead on O, King Eternal, The Day of March has Come.

________________________________________________________________________

                              GANTA UNITED METHODIST MISSION 

                                      SCHOOL ODE INFORMATION

           After doing a research on the work of Dr. George Way Harley and his wife Winifred J. Harley, who established the Ganta Methodist Mission Station in Liberia in 1926, the Rev. Dr. Nya Kwiawon Taryor, Sr., is said to have been inspired by the work of the Harleys so much, so that he decided to write a short history of the school and also compose a School Ode.

          (We Hail Thee Ganta Mission) for the Ganta United Methodist Mission School, which he himself had attended from 1957 to 1963—grade 2 to grade 8, when he graduated. The school history and the school ode can be found on the internet page cited above. 

          The original tune for the Ode that Dr. Taryor composed was never introduced with the lyric. Instead, he decided to use the tune of “Lead On, O King Eternal, The day of march has come” by Henry T. Smart, 1835. The reason for not introducing the original tune was due to the fact that the second annual meeting of the Alumni Association for which he was writing the song was to take place within a few days after the song was composed; leaving insufficient time for the members of the Alumni Association to learn the new tune. 

           In addition, he figured that since “Lead On, O King Eternal” was the last hymn the Harleys sang at their church during their departing ceremony for Liberia from Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, to start their missionary duties in Africa, the tune of “Lead On, O King Eternal” would be suited for the School Ode. Furthermore, the song would be easy to learn because almost all students from Ganta United Methodist Mission School were familiar with the hymn, “Lead On, O King Eternal.” 

          The School Ode was then approved and adopted by GUMMSAA-USA [Ganta United Methodist Mission School Alumni Association-USA] and also approved by the students and faculty of the school and the Ganta Mission Board of Directors under the leadership of Herbert Zigbo, Mission Superintendent and John Gbalia, then Principal of Ganta United Methodist Mission School in 2006.