Queen mother in journey for funds

...W. Africa Church hosts event to raise money for Ghana water pump

BRIDGEPORT, Connecticut -- Water took on a whole new meaning Monday night at Messiah Baptist Church. Queen Mother Nana Serwaa Amponsah II, ruler of 6,000 people in the village of Pakyi No. 2 in Ghana, West Africa, journeyed to the church for a fund-raiser to install a water pump in her village.

To cook and drink, villagers use river water that animals relieve and bathe themselves in, said Jean C. Hanna, president and founder of Bridgeport's Eaton Community Services Inc., which arranged the event. Its theme was "Water is Life."

Clean water is the first step, Hanna said.

Dirty water and lack of sanitation spreads easily curable diseases, such as cholera. But many victims there die because there are no hospitals.

"These are our children. Let's help them," Hanna said.

The queen mother addressed the few dozen audience members through a speech read by a translator.

The village's religion is Christian.

Her people are held in "mental bondage" by a lack of schools and poverty, she said, comparing it to physical slavery.

"[God] has put you in the position to deliver the children of Africa from mental bondage," she said. "Your technology and talent is what God needs to transform Africa."

A single hand pump costs $7,500, several speakers said.

A brief collection period garnered several thousand dollars, and still more people wanted to contribute as the evening wore on.

The descriptions of the African village touched audience member Andre Baker, 38, of Bridgeport, who visited there three years ago.

"I've been out there. I know the need they're speaking of," he said.

Albert Cooper, 31, of Bridgeport, said he drank some contaminated water and got sick during a trip to Africa six weeks ago.

"It's a good cause. Water is essential to anybody. It's essential to people's livelihood," he said.

The event drew the support of community leaders such as state Rep. Ernest Newton II, D-Bridgeport, state Sen. Alvin Penn, D-Bridgeport, and Mayor Joseph P. Ganim.