BCA-USA MIRROR
SECRETARY GENERAL’S REPORT (2018-2022) By Valeria Awah-Ngafor Secretary General, BCA-USA
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hank you to all our members who continue to pay their dues and donate to various BCA projects. Your commitment and support has enabled BCA-USA to grow into 1000+ members. A profound thanks to all members who play a key role in moving BCA-USA forward by volunteering to serve locally, nationally and/or in committees. In my final year as Secretary General, I am delighted to present here a summary of highlights and challenges from the past four years. In May 2019, we hosted our first convention as a new executive team in Minnesota. As we prepared for the convention, the executive came together and agreed to raise funds at the convention and use the towards humanitarian relief efforts in Bali given how the crisis was taking its toll on the community. This idea was taken to NEC and I must say to our surprise it was a very contentious vote. NEC however, voted to proceed with the idea, but this was thwarted by the Board of Directors (BOD). Despite the decision of the BOD against this initiative, four BCA members decided to donate their convention VIIP diamond packages towards the relief efforts. On January 26th 2020, we held our first quarterly town hall conference call which was a resounding success. The format used gave every member a chance to express herself/himself. This gave us a great insight on the pulse of the association. Throughout 2020, we continued with our monthly meetings while grappling with the decision to cancel or postpone the convention. Under the advice of the then chair of the Constitution and Election Committee (CEC), Ma Lenyonga Fomunung, NEC voted to allow the president to nominate a 9-member Constitution and Interpretation Committee (CIC) to advice on the way forward. The committee was approved by NEC and the BOD.
Valeria Awah-Ngafor, SG
The CIC met, deliberated and recommended that the current executive should stay for another year until it was feasible to vote a new executive. This was definitely unprecedented. The members of the Executive agreed to stay and run the affairs of the association.
Committee Highlights
Between 2018 and 2021, the Education committee under the leadership of Ni Colins Doh organized, screened, and awarded more than $6000 in scholarships to our high school graduates. Many college-bound students will be receiving scholarship awards this year. When the country went on Lock down because of the pandemic, the association wasn’t on lock down. The Publication Committee under the illustrious leadership of Ma Lilian Fokwang a.k.a. Ma Nyem continuously kept the entire BCA informed through the monthly newsletter. As the pandemic ravaged lives, the Health Committee under the leadership of Ni Nubia Kaba took steps to inform members and raise awareness by disseminating memos on all BCA fora to help members minimize exposure and prevent the spread of the disease. In 2020, with funding of $10,000 from BCA-USA, the Health Committee also oversaw a BCA-USA.ORG
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