Selorm Dogbey ’22 Jamie Ayepah ’22
THE BONDS OF FRIENDSHIP From Ghana To Xavier, The Ayepah And Dogbey Families Have Remained Committed To Each Other
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hen Selorm Dogbey ’22 turned 16 earlier this year, he surprised his parents. Instead of rushing to get his learners permit, he did the opposite of most kids his age. He waited. If his best friend Jamie Ayepah ’22, who turned 16 three months later, was unable to drive, Dogbey was not going to drive either. “Selorm was not going to leave his friend alone on the bus as he drives to school,” Selorm’s mom Pia Dogbey said. “That’s how close they are.” Although the decision might have caught his parents off guard, Selorm was just doing what his parents would have done. He was standing by his friend. Growing up, Selorm and Jamie have seen firsthand the power of friendship in their own parents’ relationship. Since the moment they met at medical school in Ghana as students to this past year Selorm participates in an Open House event at Xavier working to help stop the spread of COVID-19 as doctors in New Haven and Waterbury, Pia and Rupert Dogbey, and Michael and Rina Ayepah, have been there for each other. From Ghana to New Haven. From medical students to doctors. From college friends to loving parents. The Ayepahs and the Dogbeys have been united in the same shared path. And whatever they have taken on, they have taken it on together. “Their relationship has kind of changed our whole definition of friendship,” Selorm said. “If you ask a lot of people, they’ll probably say friends come and go – that’s kind of a common notion. But seeing how their friendship has lasted through continents, it has shown us that you stick with your friends.” Now more than 28 years after they first met at the University of Ghana in Accra, chasing their dreams of becoming doctors, the Ayepahs and Dogbeys are more than just friends.
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They are family. Whether it is holidays together, or simple tasks like carpooling back and forth to Xavier, the two families are constantly supporting one another. “No matter how far you move from home, having something that is always constant in your life becomes like a north pole, it helps you find your focus,” Rupert said. “I’m grateful for this friendship we have with the Ayepahs.” As a young mom, Pia joked that trips to the pediatrician were always a challenge when it came time to properly identify her children. “We would go to the pediatrician and they would say how many children do you have and as I was saying two, Selorm would start saying four (Selasie is the Dogbeys youngest son and the Ayepahs have a daughter, Traci),” Pia said. “The pediatrician would look at us and try and figure out who was lying.” Throughout their lives this has been a common theme. Both Jamie and Selorm refer to each other’s parents as their aunts and uncles. “We raised our kids like they are siblings and sometimes they go out to school and tell people they are siblings,” Rupert said. “It has been like that for so long.” At Xavier, each has found their way as strong students and positive teammates – Selorm is a member of the soccer and track and field teams, Jamie a part of the Robotics team. But they are always there for each other, meeting up to help each other with school, or to talk through anything happening in their lives. “It is very rare to have the relationship Jamie and I have where you grow up with someone that is not related to you,” Selorm said. “As I have always said, Jamie is like a brother to me.” Their parents share a similar bond.
Jamie is a member of the Xavier Robotics team
