The Ghanaian community in Sydney, Australia, have marked a Thanksgiving and Remembrance Day to give thanks to God, Australia and Ghana for bringing them this far in life’s long journey.

The event which, according to the organisers, will become an annual commemoration on the community’s social calendar from this year was attended by Ghanaians and their friends.

The convenor of the event, Wofa Yaw Osei 0Adomako, said the idea occurred to him when he reflected on the upliftment God had granted members of the Ghanaian community in Australia.

“I’ve been in this country for about 20 years, and I can see with my own naked eyes the goodness God has bestowed on each one of us”, Wofa Yaw told the gathering.

“If there’s one good thing I like about America, it’d the fact that Americans devote a whole day to thank God for his blessings and mercies; and it’s a tradition that dates back centuries”.

Several religious leaders in the community were present at the event, and some of them offered prayers and delivered short sermons on the need to give thanks to God and to others through whose sweat many Ghanaians had become what they were.

Charity funds were raised for community members who had fallen on hard times as a result of illness or bereavement.

Community leader Nana Osafo Kantanka, who chaired the function, was full of praise for community members who heeded the call to worship and to donate their time and money for less fortunate compatriots.

The gathering also paid their respects to Mrs Mary Gibbons, the first known Ghanaian to live in Australia, who passed away a few weeks ago aged 89.

Mrs Gibbons arrived in Australia in 1956 with her Australian husband who was an academic at the University College of the Gold Coast, now University of Ghana.

Dela Dokli was MC for the social event which was held at the Guilford Leagues Club.