Ayekooo Na Mi! CEANA Ewehaborbor of Delaware Valley

CEANA has powered itself to be a force linking Ewes in the United States of America, Canada, and the Eweland together. This weekend, September the 3th through the 6th of 2015, the Noviwo Habobo of the Delaware Valley held the Annual Convention in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. At the convention CEANA proved to be on the ascendency as a global organization. On Thursday September the 3th, delegates started trooping in from all over the United States, and Canada. There were invited guests such as chiefs from the Volta Region, thereby, adding Eweland flavor to the occasion. There were Ewes from the Volta Region of Ghana, Togo, and Benin, who live in the United States and Canada, and desirous to continue with the link among themselves, their relatives and their fellow Ewes in Eweland.

It is interesting to know that the acronym CEANA stands for the Council of the Ewe Association of North America. The idea of linking Ewes in the Volta Region, Togo, and Benin started with few individuals who in 1993 in Washington DC under the banner of the Volta Club of Washington DC. The despair of these individuals was that Volta Region did not have the mineral resources as the other regions of Ghana thereby, leaving several young, and older adult unemployed. The solution, to their imagination, was to tie in the Ewes in North America with those in the Eweland for economic, social and other issues with Eweland, in the hope of lending a helping hand one way or the other. Over the years, a lot has been achieved. One of the glaring achievements is that the various associations in the different States of America, and Canada came under the umbrella of CEANA.

Currently, CEANA has developed to become an international movement uniting Ewes in the Volta Region of Ghana, Togo, and Benin. It has become a model for other Ghanaians living in the United States of America and Canada. Now, there are other organizations such as the Ghana Fest, and the like. All of them however follow, the practices and the original model of the Volta Club of Washington DC which started in 1993 and now CEANA.

CEANA, as an umbrella of the various State Associations, has undertaken several projects in the Volta Region of Ghana, Togo, and Benin. There are scholarship, or sponsorship programs that are designed to help Eweviwo in various ways. The association builds schools, and clinics in Ewe communities in the three countries. A recent project that was completed is a clinic in Togo. The clinic provides basic health care and maternity issues for the people within the community. Other projects have been planned for the next few years in the Eweland.

Other groups such as Ghana Fest, which I mentioned above are also doing similar things for their regions and communities. Since CEANA is now over 22 years and is the hallmark and a sample for the other groups, I chose to bring forth their activities of which others are the offshoots. CEANA can truly be described as the father, or the mother, of all Ewe Associations, and a prototype for non-Ewe groups operating in the USA, and Canada. An additional reason for discussing CEANA is that, those living abroad think of where they came from. In Ewe there is a say “koklohor mekpia nu na koklo,” meaning a chicken is not ashamed of its coupe. Always as Ewe Forever Ewe and whether the Kingdom of Eweland is rich or poor, it is where all Ewes abroad came from. CEANA’s ideals, and visions of connecting Eweviwo in the USA, Canada, and Eweland in Africa is being passed on to a new crop of leaders. I have no doubt that in the next few years to come this potent force is going to be unleashed and felt more than it is now in Ghana, Togo, and Benin.

My hope is that there is a CEANA globally linking Ewes across the globe. That vision will be in consonant with the song “Brighten the corner where you are.” Next year’s CEANA’s annual convention is going to be held by the Ewe Alliance of the USA, Inc. in New Jersey starting on September the 1st through the 5th. You are warmly welcomed to be a part of it. Just start making arrangements now because CEANA is a doer not a talker.

Dr. William Yaw Adufutse is from Anfoega in the Volta Region, a professor in Management with specialization in Leadership and Organizational Change at several universities in the USA. My email address is adufu1wy@yahoo.com