First Lady’s ‘Be Best’ message on Africa tour

MELANIA TRUMP has opened her first big solo international trip as US first lady with a wave, a smile and a baby in her arms, aiming to promote child welfare during a five-day tour of Africa.

She arrived in the West African nation of Ghana after an overnight flight from Washington and quickly made her way to the Greater Accra Regional Hospital.

The first lady saw how babies are weighed – they are placed in sacks that are then hung from a hook attached to a scale.

She also watched a nurse demonstrate how vitamins are administered to babies by mouth and toured the neonatal intensive care unit. Mrs Trump also cradled an infant and declared the baby a “beautiful boy” as she handed him back to his mother. Mothers at the hospital for her visit received gifts of teddy bears nestled in white baby blankets, personally handed out by the first lady, according to her spokeswoman Stephanie Grisham. The items carried the logo of Be Best, the child well-being initiative Mrs Trump launched last May.

With the Africa visit, the first lady aims to take Be Best and its focus on opioid abuse and online behaviour to an international audience. The first lady also had a private tea and gift exchange with her Ghanaian counterpart, Rebecca Akufo-Addo.

They exchanged gifts: a Chippendale silver tray embossed with an image of the White House inside a leather case signed by “First Lady Melania Trump” for Ms Akufo-Addo, and Kente cloth and artefacts for Mrs Trump, according to Ms Grisham.

The first ladies met privately for about half an hour at Jubilee House, Ghana’s presidential palace. The two first met last week in New York at a reception on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, where Mrs Trump spoke about her upcoming trip.