Ex-President 2006-2007

 

EX-PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE

Good evening ladies, gentlemen, children and distinguished guests. I would like to extend my welcome to all members of the Gambian Association of Minnesota, current and past committee members, including our current Vice President Lamin Dibba and past president Lang Dibba. I want to also recognize and extend a special thank you to our fellow compatriotes from other African countries who have joined us tonight, as well as other gambian from across the US who have traveled very far to join us tonight. Welcome.This evening marks a great moment for all Gambians in its one of a kind celebration of community, leadership and involvement. Tonight’s celebration is a commemoration of the past and passing on of the torch, as we thank the past executive committee and introduce to you the new executive committee of the Gambian Association of Minnesota. The Gambian Association has been around since 19____ and has grown tremendously over the years and has seen through many members and leaders, some of whom have long left Minnesota. I remember when this association was comprised of only 10 members. Today the association sits with over 400 members. This type of growth does not happen accidently, nor foolishly, but with the tribute of our past leaders. At this moment I would like to sincerely thank all of the executive committee members who have worked tirelessly to grow this organization and put on parties, summer picnics, fund-raisers, concerts, women’s day and so on. I would like to extend a special thank you to our past presidents Mr. Morro Ceesay, Yusupha Jallow, Alagie Gassama and Doudou Jome for their tremendous work and efforts. I would like to extend a special thanks to Mr. Lamine Dibba also known as Lang, for his eight years of service and his dedication to this organization. Lang has spent endless days and nights to ensure success in all he did. I, Dawda Sowe, as the incoming president, vow to uphold these same principles, values and continue to grow this organization. As your new president, my vision is clear, my motives are genuine and my commitment is inexhaustible. As a committee, we will join to create humanity and commitment to community. Part of creating a healthy environment, is creating trust. As new members of the executive committee, we strive to uphold a high level of dignity and transparency in all we do. We want to develop trust and open communication among the executive committee as well as the members at large. I plan to ensure that the active participation of the women in our community is well recognized, as they truly are the central unit of our circle. Gambian women have been unwavering, supportive and very much behind the scenes over the years, and though we have always appreciated all of their hard work and their presence, and have always extended our “Thank yous”, I believe that this is not enough. Over the years, very few women have held official positions in the association, however, as time changes, so do our ways, and I am proud to say that as of now, we have _____ women who hold key positions it the executive committee, and with time we truly hope that these numbers will increase. Ours sisters are strong, committed and always willing to share their talents. We need to work together, hand in hand in order to be successful. I am committed to bringing together all Gambians with disregard to our ethnic background, cultural and religious differences, gender, and political affiliation. As we all know, Gambia and Gambians have all suffered the stigma of ethnic separation, but if you take a brief moment to look at the person sitting next to you you will realize our similarities, and recognize that our differences constitute a very minute segment of our individualities. We must dismantle the stigma of separate ethnic groups. We have all come to the United States for our own respective reasons, and therefore, must find ways to reach our individual goals. One of the ways of doing so is by letting go of such negative aspects in our lives and rely on each other for strength, advice and support. We are all one, and in order to raise children who will grow to believe that we are all one and treat other with love and respect, we ourselves, must begin to work hard to create an environment filled with peace, harmony and mutual understanding. We must strengthen our relationships with each other, therefore, paving the way for the new generation that will come after us. As a new committee, we have identified our children as tomorrow’s elders. and looking around the room, I’m happy to see a lot of boys and girls, teenagers, and young men and women, eager to be the next committee members. We as the adults must foster a space for their achievements and support them in their endeavors, as well as serve as role models to them. I’m sure we have all been touched by the children’s performance today, coordinated by Maram Sanneh and Aminata Bah, and would love to see many more of its kind. We, in fact have planned a series of activities specifically tailored for children, and I am asking each and every one of you to join us in making this children’s weekend a successful one by ensuring we volunteer to bring our children to the programs and also help with donations in kind and in cash for this event. The Koranic group will also launch a Gamou or religious conference on July 8th, 2006, so please let us join hands to make this a successful one as well. I would also like to mention the Gambian soccer team, under the leadership of Sulayman Njie and Dembo Fatty. Our goal is to collaborate with the soccer team, with the hopes of inviting them to be an entity of the Gambian Association, as we are all one. We must realize that support of one another builds community, therefore, as members of the Gambian community, we must support the Gambian Association by paying our membership dues, to ensure ongoing and stronger programming. We must also create a space for communication. We have worked hard to create a website, www. mingam.org and have provided an email address for each Gambian so that we may stay connected. I would like to thank our brother Falilou Diabby, owner of the Brooklyn Park UPS Store for donating to the association with a voice mail box so that all members may contact us with any questions, suggestions, announcements, news and so forth. The voice mail number is 612-787-7088. At each table you will find contact information sheets for you to keep. I would like to reiterate that this new committee is dedicated and hard working and committed to building a strong community. We want to create an involved and intentional community and in order for this to be achieved, we must all be active, present, attend events and stand together at all times. We must realize that we need to work together now before it’s too late. We must show put our efforts through actions, bring forth our ideas in order to be successful. I want to assure each and every one of you that we will reach out to everybody with hopes of strengthening our relationships with each other. I thank you all again for your presence here tonight, and I hope everyone will enjoy tonight’s festivities.