- Left as Naa Osa Manye Ansah I of Kokrobite
- Calling on Rotarians to help build the kind of society we want
The first ever female President of Rotary International, Jennifer Jones, recently paid a working visit to Ghana to increase public awareness of Rotary, and commission some service projects of Rotary International District (RID) 9102.
Rotary International (RI) is a global network of 1.4 million neighbours, friends, leaders and problem-solvers called Rotarians who see a world where people unite and take actions to create lasting change across the globe, in our communities, and in ourselves. Solving real problems takes real commitment and vision.
For more than 110 years, Rotary’s people of action have used their passion, energy and intelligence to take action on sustainable projects. From literacy and peace to water and health, and are always working to better our world, and stay committed to the end. In a media engagement, when asked why she joined Rotary; RI President Jennifer mentioned she joined her Rotary Club of Windsor – Roseland in Canada, because she wanted to do service; little did she know she would be leading as the first female president now. Her Rotary Club offered its members meaningful responsibilities, creating space for all to show up as their authentic selves, she added.
Meeting Rotarians and Rotaractors with her husband, District Governor Nominee (DGN) Dr. Nick Krayacich, at an intercity meeting trilled to some local Ghanaian songs by the Rotary Choir of Ghana in their local theme cloth, she was introduced by Past Rotary International Director (PRID) Brad Howard, himself a development sub-chief of Kokrobite in Ghana to District 9102 as someone with a combination of talents, warmth and strong personality.
In her address, she requested all to dream, imagine to taking action to making our dreams a reality. Jennifer said “We can lift up our world to make it a better place because we exist without borders or boundaries to lift up the people of our communities”. She requested we use our voice to help people have opportunities as everyone has that chance to dream to imagine the fullest of what we can offer to our world. “We are people of action, influence, purpose, excellence; and that commends the attention of world leaders, as we are the best of whom we represent in our communities.
Take care of the people in the clubs, ensuring that everyone has something meaningful to do. We need people to have meaningful responsibilities as I was offered. We see a world where we create lasting change, and in order to live in the kind of society we want, we have to help to build it. As Rotarians, we build society, build capacity, hope and our future.
Travelling from the Abidjan Rotary Zone Institute to Ghana where Rotarians assemble as a zone for fellowship and informational sessions, Jennifer called on all Rotarians in RID 9102 – Ghana, Togo, Benin and Niger to imagine. She earlier met 55 African countries in harmony in Abidjan, where she alluded Africa is the future and the NOW – a situation that demands celebration in a great way.
She was enstooled as a development queen of Krokrobite. Kokrobite is a town along the Atlantic coast, 30km to the west of Accra, the capital city of Ghana. Though geographically close to Accra, Kokrobite – a suburb in Ga South Municipality of the Greater Accra Region of Ghana – feels as if it were a world away from the hustle and bustle of a big city life. It’s an ideal place to spend a few days relaxing while soaking in the view of its tropical beaches. The Ga South Municipality is one of the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) in Ghana, and forms part of the MMDAs in the Greater Accra Region.
The Municipality shares boundaries with the Accra Metropolitan Area to the south-east, Ga Central Municipality to the south-east, Akwapim South District to the north-east, Ga West Municipality to the east, West Akim Municipality to the north, Awutu Senya District to the west, Awutu Senya East Municipality to the south-east, Gomoa East Districts to the south-west, and the Gulf of Guinea to the south.
In the service organization’s 117 years of existence, Jennifer Jones has broken the glass ceiling and is celebrated first female RI president. Ghana, this week of September 11-13, 2022, hosted the RI President. Under her leadership, over 1.4 million Rotarians globally will be imagining a world of endless possibilities, a world where empowered women can support to contribute to the global GDP. To create the world we want is possible. But we can only imagine the future, not the past. Our world of endless possibilities embraces a lot. Can you imagine a polio-free world? Rotary, since 1985, has been at the forefront of championing the call and fight to eradicating polio from the world. When next your children and our generation break free from polio, remember Jennifer Jones is calling on you to imagine this, and many more of a world where no one is left behind.
She arrived in the country on September 11, 2022, when she had media engagement, met district leadership, joined the end polio billboard unveiling at Ridge Roundabout, paid a courtesy call on the President of the Republic. Her itinerary included a meeting with USAID, Canadian High Commission, and others.
She later got the opportunity to attend the intercity meeting and interacted with her organisation’s members, attended to service projects initiatives where the renovated children’s ward of the 37 Military Hospital was inaugurated and adapted, the district tree-planting green project at Weija dam, where some 3,000 trees are to be planted, then the commissioning of the 3-in-1 project at Krokrobite where she ended her visit as the enstooled development queen Naa Osa Manye I on September 13, 2022.
