Northern Chapter Report

Patrick Nyuga Tita,

President, Northern Chapter

The Northern Chapter is made up of Minnesota, Wisconsin, North Dakota, and South Dakota. Membership continues to grow steadily as seen from the increase of 76 registered members in 2021 to 84 as of April 2022. This number is likely to increase as some are still registering and planning to attend the 2022 BCA USA Annual Convention in Herndon, Virginia.

There are two important meeting groups in Minnesota that make up the Northern Chapter. These are Ndâ Ntɔd Minnesota led by Ma Mary Babaya and Ndâ Kòŋni Minnesota led by Ma Bridget Fosam.

The Northern Chapter is still well pleased with their memorable performance during the 2019 BCA- USA Annual Convention. A double pride was ours as we hosted the National Convention which was a resounding success and secured the first position in the BCA cultural dance competition. Please watch the video on YouTube and you will love to be part of this association.

As with everywhere else, the pandemic restrained most of our planned physical activities. The Chapter however, when possible, organized a final farewell and life celebration for some family members who passed in Cameroon and elsewhere. A few of these can be seen from the wake and final farewell of Ni Patrick Nyuga Tita our distinguished Kǎ Màmfòn organized by the Chapter last year.

The Chapter is always very supportive of members who have events like graduations, weddings, christening, milestone birthdays and much more.

The Chapter is currently supporting one of our own (Dr. Sam Dinga) who structured a charitable organization (Mah Kah Foundation). This charitable organization has built an orphanage in Douala, Cameroon which was opened in January this

year. Much more support is still needed to run the orphanage.

One initiative implemented during the pandemic was to invite speakers to Zoom meetings. In a quest for growth and knowledge of the cultural structure of Bali, Ndâ Ntɔd, one of our meeting groups invited Ni Kehbuma Langmia and Ni Jude Fokwang who gave presentations about the Bali cultural heritage. It was an exceptionally informative experience as affirmed by members who learned a lot from these two honored speakers.

The Chapter also ran a fund drive, raised money, and supported one of the Chapter members who was seriously hit by Covid-19 and was down for over six months. More importantly, on April 2nd this year, the Northern Chapter was also honored by the presence of the National President, Ni Clarence Ndangam during one of our in-person meetings. He joined us via Zoom and we introduced ourselves and Ba President gave us an update on how BCA is doing and then answered questions from our members who were very excited to have him around. The Northern Chapter continues to thank and wish Ba President Clarence Ndangam the best in his leadership.

The Northern Chapter has been running with appointed executives since its creation in 2013. During our April 2022 meeting, the Chapter decided that there will be an election of new executives after the Convention. The current active executives are: • Ni Patrick Nyuga, President • Dr Sam Dinga, Secretary General. • Ni Ivo Kehdinga Fofuleng, Financial Secretary • Ma Veronica Bassa, Treasurer • Dr. Chris Fokumlah, First Adviser • Ni Nevil Guijang ,Adviser • Dr. Kennedy Nyongbela, Culture Chair