2015 MECUDA CONVENTION SPEECH IN BALTIMORE MARYLAND PRESENTED BY

COMFORT BERKELEY

PRESIDENT MECUDA-USA

 

SPECIAL TRIBUTE TO OUR FALLEN HEROS.
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Before we go any further let us humble ourselves before God our creator and thank him for the live and reincarnation of our Father his Royal highness Fon. Formuki who went on a long journey but has returned.

Let us also give thanks and praise to God for the lives of our fallen heroes Pa Abam - the doyen of all Pharmacist in Metaland, a soft spoken husband father grand and great grand father. who touched the lives of many through his kindness generosity and altruism and saved the lives of many through his profession as a Pharmacist.

We honor our brother Colonel Fomundam for his loyalty courage and bravery,  service and dedication to the Cameroon people in general but to Metaland in particular. He is now a general in the Lord's army,  and not in the Cameroon army.   Col. Fomundam in many special ways touched our lives to make it better.

We also want to take a moment to remember all our brothers sisters fathers mothers uncles and aunties and grand parent from all families who gone into glory within the last year.   I know most of you have gone home to celebrate their lives. We join you today to honor each and everyone of them and celebrate their lives.

Our fallen heroes have left Metaland a better place than  when they found it. We are better off today because of their service sacrifices and contributions.
"the baton is now in our hands."

We also like to take a moment and pray for the city of Baltimore.
 a city  and people that in many ways looks like Douala or Yaounde.   We pray for peace prosperity and brotherly love amongst everyone.

Let us bow our heads and honor them with a minute of silence.

On a  more happier note let us give thanks to God for our Mecuda babies born in the last year. That is evidence of hope for the future and that God is with us always. These are the new Mecudas of tomorrow.

Let us again humble ourselves in a prayer of thanksgiving and appreciation and ask God to bless our children.

Speech on Mecuda issues.
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Iforte ake'h ye'h ?  Aye'h kaa'h !!
Iforte ake'h ye'h?  Aye'h kaa'h !

Bongob Mecuda welcome to this  annual family rendezvous.

We honor our father Fon Awazi who would have been home in Cameroon by now but he postponed it so that he can  be with us at this convention  to strengthen and encourage his children at a special time like this.

Special thanks to the President General of Mecuda -
 Pa Ayaba for  taking the time and resources to come over to the United States and meet us in person to encourage and strengthen us in our efforts to develop Meta land and to embolden and give more credence to our organization.

This speaks to the kind of leaders and leadership we have. Leaders who sacrifice, leaders who are committed and dedicated to the goals mission and vision of Mecuda.

Thank to our Royal Highness and a special thanks to the President General.

We will also like to welcome the delegations from abroad.
We thank you.  We appreciate your taking the time and resources to come and share this time with us.  Unity is strength,  so standing with us as you do is very important in our  development efforts.

Special thanks and appreciations to the various Chapter Presidents for keeping our Mecuda families together in all corners of the United States, and putting Mecuda issues at the forefront always.

I personally want to thank the VP and members of the convention Planning Committee for all the hard work that went into this successful convention.

I want to also thank the board members, the Exectives, the Chair persons and members of the Health, Agriculture, Education, Youth, Cultural and Project/development departments for their hard work on our behalf. These guys meet every two weeks to translate our vision our hopes and dreams into reality.  They come up with ideas and suggestions that may finally translate into projects or a policy that we adopt.  We thank you for your service and sacrifice to Mecuda.

Special thanks to all our family members and friends who have come from far and near to support us.   As it is said in our vernacular, "one hand cannot tie a bundle."  So your being here with us is an encouragement and an indication that we are not alone.

To you all our brothers and sisters thank you for all the sacrifices in time and resources to come here, and to make this convention a huge success.  To participate in the decision making process to contribute ideas and share the vision.  To contribute resources to make sure that we leave Metaland a better place than we found it.  On my behalf and the exco. We cannot thank you enough.  God and our Ancestors will bless and prosper you.  Please give a round of applause to yourself.

Dear brothers and sisters we are not here only to party and dance and enjoy good food. We are also here  to meet each other, socialize , network, reconnect appreciate each other, support each other, and most importantly talk about projects and development in Metaland and do something about them.

But first I must thank you for the  peace and calm on our family forum.
"peace is the fertile ground on which success prosperity and development flourishes. "
 

Some have asked what has this administration done?  Thanks for asking.

Mbengwi Mortuary Chapel Project.
 I am glad to inform you that work has started on the Mbengwi mortuary Chapel project.
The PG - Pa Ayaba will tell us more.  He is our point person at home.
Then the Projects Committee Chair will show us some pictures of work in progress. The funds which we had raised for the mortuary had to be used for a mortuary related project.

Except for the mortuary project funds our coffers had very little or no money for anything else.  No funds were raised at the last two conventions, in Boston and in Miami.

Bongob mecudans no organisation is strong without healthy coffers. Our ability to accomplish anything depends on funding.  So let us take pride in our organization and contribute generously towards projects at home and in the smooth running of our family organization.  We are the agents of change and Mecuda is the organ of change in our clan.

Accomplishments
We started off by preparing an ambitious budget which was approved by the Exco and the Board.  The leadership and guidance of the COB in some of these new innovative approaches must be commended.

Thank you Ni Andrew for all your invaluable support. You are the kind of leader who rolls up your sleeves and gets down into the trenches and gets the job done.   Our administration is goal oriented focused and determined to make a difference.
Brothers and sisters with your continued support the Board the Exco and our people, together we will achieve some new milestones.

The Projects/Development Committee Chair will share with you the budget approved projects. Our hope is that when we raise the necessary finances we will then prioritize and execute these approved projects.

However my dear Brothers and Sisters let us consider contributing generously towards projects annually.  Let us agree on an annual projects fee contribution.  Then if the funds needed to execute a project are more then we can make up through additional fund raising.

Some of the executed projects include:
1/. The ID card machine:
Our administration could not just fold our hands and do nothing.
Thanks to the generosity and sacrifice of the Exco members, we have an ID card machine which as you can see is functioning very well.   Special thanks to the Projects committee and in particular to Brother Humphrey Tendoh who has spent countless hours to understand how this machine works and who to this moment is still helping to print our ID cards.

The idea of an ID card for Mecuda members was born in an exco meeting when it was revealed that members at home have to show that they were in good standing with Mecuda  for the organization to stand with them and support them in matters of death celebrations  and other functions ect.

Also to take pride in our family organization and help raise funds for projects.   So let me make this clear. The Exco provided the seed capital to buy the machine. It is an investment.  In the future all proceeds from the ID cards machine will go to support projects and other activities of our organization.

Like they say "little drops of water make a mighty ocean".
 So our $5.00 contributions per card from all members will enable us to do something within our organization and execute some projects at home.


2/. Traditional dance Instruments:
Thanks to the Cultural Secretary/Vice Bro. Macdonald Nje and Divine Assanga more especially to Bro. Jonathan Samba joined the team and worked tirelessly to put the pieces together,
we have also acquired traditional dance instruments for our organization.  these instruments will be under the custodianship of the cultural secretary and will be  transported and used at every convention.

3/. thanks to the health committee  under the chair of sister blumer mutanga for the health workshop. now we can consult with health professionals amongst us on a variety of health issues.  some members have donated medical instruments that have made it possible for this workshop to be a success.


departments
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under departments  we have created the youth department headed by a youth secretary.

"the youths of today are the leaders of tomorrow."  they are our future leaders and members of mecuda. we must strengthen encourage and embolden them. and believe in them to carry on the torch of development after we are gone.  and take pride in our tradition, culture and who we are as meta people.

to the youths, our future leaders,  follow your dreams. work hard study hard, burn the mid-night oil. leave no stone unturned. you are the doctors lawyers engineers and architects of tomorrow. the presidents ceos and business leaders of tomorrow.

you are the it and high-tech engineers of tomorrow.   the nurses pharmacists university professors. the inventors and innovators of tomorrow. no one should look down on you.
stand tall and take pride in who you are. in your heritage and in your country.

 "you can do anything and  you will achieve anything you put your mind to. "  one our wise fathers always told his children,   "hardwork plus discipline and fervent prayers will lead you to great success".   a renowned professor once told his students,  "any student who does all the work placed before him will rise up to be one of the greatest men in his/her generation. " we pass that on to you today and we wish you all the best in the world.

love obey  honor and resprct your parents.  god and your parents will bless you.   and for the parents i beg you "raise our youth in the way they should grow,  so that when they become adults,  will not depart from it.

in whatever you do be gentlemen and ladies of honor integrity and
be proud of your tradition and your heritage. you are all  proud sons and daughters of metaland in cameroon.

at the beginning of this administration we presented the multi-purpose cultural center. i must tell you right now it is a very ambitious project.  it is a project that will serve our people in various aspects.

it meets our development objectives and aspirations.  it will be our pride of the land and something to leave behind for our children and grand children. we are allowed to dream and to dare. "where there is no dream the people are lost."

ni walinjom projects/development committee chairman will tell us more about it.


the new department of projects and development:
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for a long time this important department has remained a committee under the wimps and caprises of the president who may chose to consult or not to consult the projects and development committee.

we believe that the secretary for projects and development should be an elected position  answerable to the people.