Ghanaians hailing from the Pusiga District of the Upper East Region but living in the United States of America, have been called upon indigenes to join hands to uplift the welfare of the people of the district.
This a call from the Association of Pusiga People in the USA (APPUSA), an association that was formed some few years ago by indigenes of Pusiga living in the US but has now been formally inaugurated on October 13, 2018.
Speaking at the inauguration of the association at the La Fortuna Catering House in Fairview, New Jersey, the President of APPUSA, Ms. Hamdiyah Abdulai Enusah, said although people from Pusiga were of varied ethnic, religious and political backgrounds, “Our oneness is from our purpose, as our common goal has been the betterment of Pusiga District.”
She also noted, “We have among us Bimmoba, Bissa (commonly known as Busanga), Fulani, Gurma, Hausa, Kussasi, Mamprusi, Mossi and Yanga. But can you tell? I doubt it. That’s the beauty of unity.”
Ms. Enusah said the association was very keen about helping to develop the district, because “We cannot leave it to the government alone or wait on them to take care of our own.”
She however added that it can only be possible if the people came together and pooled their resources.
“As the common adage goes, if you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together,” she said.
The APPUSA President revealed that over the few years, the association, even with 33 members, had managed to assist the District by donating “127,000 individual boxes of medical gloves to healthcare practitioners to make their daily engagement with patients less risky; 100 benches for health centers to provide some comfort for waiting patients and their families; 3 team jerseys, of 24 each, and soccer balls for recreation and getting the youth to team up, distributed to Kulungugu, Pusiga and Widana; as well as 100 students’ dual desks for schools, and we look forward to doing more.”
The President acknowledged the founders, Dr. Sulleman Osman, Mr. Anthony Atongi, Mr. Imoro Bonsabo, Mr. John Assibi Mbugri, Mr. Suleman Abubakar and Rtd. Gen. Enusah Abdulai, for their perseverance in sustaining the organization. She mentioned that it was not their first attempt at bringing their people together.
In his keynote address, Prof. George Agbango, a Ghanaian professor at Bloomsberg University, Pennsylvania commended the people of Pusiga living in the US for committing themselves towards helping their district to develop and explained how significant such a move was.
“Despite the fact that we came here on our own accord, we still think about the plight of those that we left behind. We think of the clinics and hospitals back home that have no beds or medications. We think about the schools that have no roofs, no books for the school children, no computers or chalk for teachers and yet they take the same national exams with their counterparts from well-endowed schools in the southern regions of Ghana.
“We think about the digital divide between the school children in the south and those in the north. We think about the absence of pipe borne water in most villages. We think about the lack of toilets and latrines,” he expressed.
The professor added how he had in his own way been trying to support his people back home.
He “organized and sent some ten thousand books to the University for Development Studies in Tamale (Ghana). They graciously acknowledged receipt of the books,” he said.
Mayor Ted R. Green of East Orange, an admirer of “Africaness,” was in attendance and swore in the executives: Ms. Hamdiyah Abdulai Enusah (President); Mr. Fatawu Salifu Agoogo (Secretary); Ms. Lariba Akosoba Aguri (Treasurer); Mr. Michael Salifu (Organizing Secretary); Mr. Yakubu Alobge (Welfare Officer).
With him were his wife, Mrs. June Green, Councilman Mustafa Brent, City Clerk Cynthia Brown and Ms. Kim Lemmon, to support the memorable event.
Source: Joana Anane
