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WEST AFRICAN COLLABORATIVE
Front page design
Third Annual
Flags of the various West African Countries
West African
The UN definition of Western African countries includes 15 countries, excluding Cameroon. With the exception of Mauritania all the countries are members of ECOWAS. ECOWAS, is the Economic Community of West African states, which includes
Cultural & Family
Cape Verdes Islands
Day
Program design and layout by Hector Nanka Bruce
SPECIAL THANKS M.C
Senegal
Mauritania
Cameroon
Nigeria
The Gambia
Niger
Mali
Benin
Guinea-Bissau
Togo
Monica Abrahams Music & Soccer Game Coordination by Moussa Diawara Brooklyn Youth Council Brooklyn Center Police Department
Guinea Sierra Leone
WEST AFRICAN COLLABORATIVE Center for Families 3333 North Fourth Street Minneapolis MN 55412 612.276.1571
Liberia
Ivory Coast
Burkina Faso Ghana
Saturday, July 31. 2010 2 p.m. - 8 p.m.
Center For Families
Center for Families
West African Collaborative The West African Collaborative is made up of representatives from 6 West African countries and 9 emerging West African organizations, and it engages an additional 15 West African organizations. It works to reduce social isolation and diminish historic hostility, while building understanding between its various member groups. The West African Collaborative’s mission is to bring West African communities and organizations together to collaborate, build capacity, and address shared needs and visions. This will be done by increasing the ability of West African organizations to create and deliver sustainable, maximum impact services to Minneapolis’s West African community. The Center for Families assists this mission by providing strategic direction to the West African Collaborative and aligning the Collaborative’s efforts with the infrastructure necessary to move that work forward. Initially the Center for Families’ acted like the hub of a wheel, facilitating and guiding all interactions between the various groups. The groups represented the wheel’s spokes, extending from the central hub. As time progressed, we realized that the reduction of social isolation and a decrease of historical hostility could best be accomplished if groups and individuals were empowered to become the decision makers in the process, creating meaningful interactions with one another for their mutual benefit. This move, from the wheel and spoke model toward a spider web perspective, has proved most useful. Instead of staff acting as direct facilitators between the various groups, they now function in support roles within a decentralized model, and the West African groups and individuals work directly with one another for their mutual benefit.
Partner Agencies Hennepin County
A Hennepin County worker is on site at the Center for Families on Thursdays from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. to conduct application and recertification interviews for food and emergency assistance for families and single adults. The Hennepin County staff also provides application forms for the Minnesota health care programs. Staff may be able to respond to questions and troubleshoot issues for persons with an active Hennepin County assistance case.
McKinley Community
The McKinley Community is committed to improving the quality of life in our neighborhood. We are dedicated to the empowerment of all McKinley residents and the creation of successful partnerships with local businesses, organizations, and government agencies to effect positive change. We, as a community, will unite to cooperatively resolve our problems, celebrate our successes, and value our diversity.
NAACP Minneapolis Branch and NAACP Minnesota and Dakota
The NAACP works to ensure the political, educational, social and economic equality of rights of all persons and to eliminate racial hatred and racial discrimination.
Alive! Ministries
Alive! Ministries works to enrich marriages and reduce divorce in the Minneapolis area through education, training, coaching and reconciling.
Full name: Republic of Cameroon Population: 19.5 million (UN, 2009) Capital: Yaounde Area: 475,442 sq km (183,568 sq miles) Major languages: French, English, languages of Bantu, Semi-Bantu and Sudanic groups Major religions: Christianity, Islam, indigenous beliefs
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Center for Families
Program
Partner Agencies Goodwill Easter Seals
Goodwill/Easter Seals offers a variety of job training services for adults (including ex-offenders) and youth through the Center for Families, including information sessions on industry-specific job training in automotive, banking, construction, and retail. Additionally, Goodwill/Easter Seals offers individual job counseling including assessment, resume writing, interviewing skills, tracking job leads, and job placement. It also offers support, follow-up and career advancement services once a participant is employed.
Episcopal Community Services
Episcopal Community Services, in partnership with the Center for Families, provides comprehensive, individualized services that focus on West African immigrants, new Americans, and other individuals and families who are committed to achieving self-sufficiency, enhancing their strengths and connecting with their community. Comprehensive case management addresses issues in the areas of housing, employment, family life, transportation and much more.
Neighborhood Involvement Program
2:00 pm to 2:30 pm
Arrivals/ Sign in
2:30 pm to 3:00 pm
Networking
3:00 am to 3:30 pm
Welcome / Opening Remarks Rebecca Johnson
3:30 pm to 6:00 pm
Cultural Display
4:00 pm to 5:00 pm
Cultural Show Sierra Leone Youth
5:00 pm to 6:00 pm
Participants Countries
The Neighborhood Involvement Program (N.I.P.) offers medical and dental services to the uninsured, affordable mental health services, educational programs for youth, and chores assistance for seniors. The Center for Families provides a home for N.I.P. staff working in mental health services and in youth and senior programs.
6:00 pm to 7:00 pm
Way to Grow
7:00 pm to 8:00 pm
Way to Grow holds “Pre-School Pals” on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays to prepare young children for school and holds pre-natal and teen parenting classes for multi-cultural families.
Health Empowerment Resource (HER) Center
HER Center is a clinic and resource center that provides comprehensive health services to women and girls, ages 12 and older with a special focus on African immigrants and African Americans.
Fashion Show & Dancing
Cultural Show Titambe West African Drumming and Dance Ensemble
Soccer Match & Closing Ceremony
Full name:
Republic of The Gambia
Population: 1.7 million (UN, 2009) Capital:
Banjul
Area:
11,295 sq km (4,361 sq miles)
Major languages: English (official), Mandinka, Wolof, Fula Major religions: Islam, Christianity
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Sponsors
Greater Minneapolis Council of Churches
The Greater Minneapolis Council of Churches (GMCC) operates a successful family of social service programs and recruit support across denominational lines to help families remain self-reliant. GMCC unites people of faith to serve people in need, Family of Programs: •
Center for Families
•
Community Justice Project
•
Compassion Capital Fund/Church and Community Initiatives
•
Discover Learning Centers/Supplemental Educational Services
•
Division of Indian Work (DIW) Healing Spirit
The West African Community Gambian Association of Minnesota Ghanaian Association of Minnesota
Minnesota Institute for Nigerian development Sierra Leone Community of Minnesota
Malian Association of Minnesota
Togolese Community in Minnesota
African Health Action Corporation
African Health Action Corporation (AHA) mission is to provide culturally adapted preventive health education, service and referral, focusing on HIV/AIDS, Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STD) , viral Hepatitis, Diabetes, and Cardio Vascular diseases to the African community in Minnesota
State Council on Black Minnesotans
The State Council on Black Minnesotans addresses the needs for people of African heritage to fully and effectively participate in and equitably benefit from the political, social and economic resources, policies and procedures of this state
Minnesota African African American Tobacco Education Network
Health Services Strengthening Family Circles Youth Leadership Development Program
Engage the African-African American community throughout Minnesota to reduce the disease that tobacco causes to people of African descent.
Planned Parenthood of Minnesota
•
HandyWorks
•
Metro Paint-A-Thon
•
Minnesota FoodShare
•
Parent Support and Early Childhood Initiatives
•
Project Persevere
Full name:
•
Urban Immersion Service Retreats
Population: 6.6 million (UN, 2009)
Providing trusted community health care. Informing and educating the community. Leading the reproductive health and rights movement. Advancing global health.
Pepsi Cola Togolese Republic
Capital:
Lome
Area:
56,785 sq km (21,925 sq miles)
Major languages: French (official), local languages Major religions: Indigenous beliefs, Christianity, Islam
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West African Collaborative
Center For Families The Center for Families welcomes all families, especially the growing number of immigrant families from Liberia, Nigeria, Ghana, Cameroon, Togo, Sierra Leone, Guinea, Gambia, and other West African countries. It helps our new neighbors make their way and their home in our community. The center respects each family’s experience and offers services including job training, health screenings and referrals, mental health services, parent-child play groups to prepare preschoolers for learning, housing assistance, and much more. Built by the Greater Minneapolis Council of Churches (GMCC), the center is a unique collaboration of public- and private-sector partners all helping Twin Cities families succeed. Below is a list of program service provided by GMCC in the center: Discover Learning Centers helps students learn to read. It does this in
partnership with local congregations and community-based organizations, and the students come from schools that have not met state targets for adequately increasing student achievement.
Goals 1. Empower members of the West African communities in Minneapolis to work directly together on areas of common concern for their mutual benefit. 2. Build and enhance the relationship between West African community leaders and the Center for Families. 3. Collect and assess input from the West African community to determine and implement best practices in outreach, awareness and service.
Discover
Parenting supports faith-based and community-based organizations providing early childhood development and parent education services to the community. Families Forward brings extended family members, teachers, pastors,
neighbors, social workers, etc. together to develop a plan to support lowincome families facing challenges: from early childhood issues to adults with frail elderly parents.
Church and Community Initiatives provides technical assistance and
training to grass-roots groups to build their capacity to provide effective, outcome-based services to low-income families.
Project Persevere reconnects parents -— cut off from monthly government assistance — with job counselors and benefits. When a parent loses the family’s public assistance, the children lose housing, meals, and the stability of familiar daycare and schools.
Program Incubator provides an entrepreneurial culture for developing new
initiatives which unite people of faith to serve people in need.
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Full name:
Republic of Sierra Leone
Population: 5.7 million (UN, 2009) Capital:
Freetown
Area:
71,740 sq km (27,699 sq miles)
Major languages: English, Krio (Creole language derived from English) and a range of African languages Major religions: Islam, Christianity Page 10
Remarks by the President
West African Countries Gambia Gambian Association in Minnesota
www. mingam.org
Wuyeh Sanneh . President.
612.276.1571 ext # 239
Ghana GhanAM. Ghanaian Association of Minnesota
www.ghanam.org
Kwao Amegashie . President.
612.276.1571 ext # 257
Mali Malian Association of Minnesota 612.750.1851
Moussa Diawara . President. Nigeria Minnesota Institute for Nigerian Development
www.mindmn. org
Richard Oni . President.
612.276.1571 ext # 266
Sierra Leone 612.276.1571 ext # 254
Togo Togolese Community in Minnesota 612.276.1571 ext # 256
Messan Ajar Quevi . President.
West African Collaborative On behalf of the Center for Families and the West African Collaborative (WAC), I would like to welcome you all to this third annual West African Cultural and Family Day Celebration. WAC was created to bring families in West African communities together to get to know each other, to celebrate our common heritage and our diversity, and to develop sustainable relationships that would help integrate immigrants and their families into the great American society. The Center for Families (CFF), a program of the Greater Minneapolis Council of Churches, initiated and currently serves as the patron for WAC. The CFF provides physical facilities and helps in coordinating services, meetings and developing the strategic vision for the organization. As we celebrate this event getting us together, I would like to thank the participating West African communities and our sponsors for making this day possible. We invite you to share this day with our families and friends and hope that we can build lasting relationships within the West African communities and with the greater American community. Thanks and please have fun! Mrs. Rebecca Johnson,
Sierra Leone Community of Minnesota Jonathan Rose . President.
of the
Full name:
The Federal Republic of Nigeria
Population:
154.7 million (UN, 2009)
Capital:
Abuja
Area:
923,768 sq km (356,669 sq miles)
Major languages: English (official), Yoruba, Ibo, Hausa Major religions: Islam, Christianity, indigenous beliefs
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West African Collaborative Event Planning Group Rebecca Johnson
President
Sierra Leone
Moussa Diawara
Vice-President
Mali
Monica Abrahams
Secretary
Ghana
Messan Ajar Quevi
Treasurer
Togo
Edmund Ocansey
Program Director, Center for Families, GMCC
Hector Nanka Bruce
Member, Board of Directors, GMCC
Emmanuel Ablorh
Member
Ghana
Allan Ige Kola Adediran Member
Nigeria
Kwami Ahelegbe
Member
Ghana
Kwao Amegashie
Member
Ghana
Micheal Amoako
Member
Ghana
Yeameh Brewer
Member
Liberia
Koffi Gbeve
Member
Togo
Austin Ithiekwe
Member
Nigeria
Annas Nartey
Member
Ghana
Richard Oni
Member
Nigeria
Jonathan Rose
Member
Sierra Leone
Gladstone Sabah
Member
Togo
Natt D. Shaajilia
Member
Liberia
Remarks by the Executive Director of the
Center for Families Greetings! We are thrilled to have you participate in the third annual West African Cultural Awareness and Family Day at the Center for Families. The West African Collaborative is a welcome partner with all of us at the Center for Families. We are glad that the Collaborative continues to develop and that its individual country members have begun to work so well together – supporting each other’s work and taking on joint activities such as the Family Day. We also invite you to learn more about the other partner organizations here at the Center for Families, so that you can spread the word about the services available here—such as assistance in finding a good job and support in securing appropriate and affordable housing. We hope you’ll come again soon. Mrs. Sara Nelson-Pallmeyer Executive Director Center for Families.
Full name:
The Republic of Mali
Population:
13 million (UN, 2009)
Capital:
Bamako
Area:
1.25 million sq km (482,077 sq miles)
Major languages: French, Bambara, Berber, Arabic Major religions: Islam, indigenous beliefs
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Center for Families Collaborating Partners
African Challenges Corporation Afrifest Foundation All Peoples Congress (of Sierra Leone), MN Chapter Anioma Cultural Association in Minnesota Anywaa Community Association in North America Bassa Dorkpah/UNIBOA MN Chapter Bong Kwatekeh Association II of Minnesota Bridge Builders 4 Life Build to Blend Capstone Experience, Inc. Center for Reflection & Action on Human Rights Community Access for New Immigrants and African Refugees Congolese Community of Minnesota Crimson & Cream Foundation Eftin Fellowship Missionary Baptist Church Gambian Association of Minnesota Ghanaian Association of Minnesota Guinea Association of Minnesota Halfway House for African Immigrants Recovering from Drug & Alcohol Addiction Ijebu Descendants Association (IDA) L’Afrique Soccer League Liberian Youth Network Minneapolis Public Schools Minnesota Interfaith Power & Light Minnesota Institute for Nigerian Development (MIND) Minnesota Mandingo Association Productive Women of Minnesota Senegalese Association of Minnesota Sickle Cell Disease Advocates of MN Sierra Leone Community in Minnesota The Akwaaba Group, Inc. Togolese Community in Minnesota Umoja Society Umunne West African Mutual Aid Association Page 11
Remarks by the President of the
Greater Minneapolis Council of Churches Welcome to the West African Cultural and Family Day! Since it opened its doors in 2006, the Center for Families of the Greater Minneapolis Council of Churches has had a special focus on serving West Africans. Through the West African Collaborative, virtual office partnerships, and many other ways, the Center for Families has become your home base, and we at the Greater Minneapolis Council of Churches could not be more pleased. Have a wonderful day of fun and festivities! Your heritage and culture are worth celebrating! (The Rev. Dr.) Gary B. Reierson, President and CEO Greater Minneapolis Council of Churches
Full name:
Republic of Ghana
Population:
23.8 million (UN, 2009)
Capital:
Accra
Area:
238,533 sq km (92,098 sq miles)
Major languages: English, African languages including Akan, Ewe Major religions: Christianity, indigenous beliefs, Islam Page 4