NISEC ALUMNI ABROAD GENERAL MEETING
HELD ON SATURDAY 29TH APRIL 2023 – 3:00 PM ET (US); 8:00 PM (UK)

AGENDA

1. Musical Interlude
2. Opening Prayer
3. Introductions
4. Welcome/Opening Remarks – President
5. Acceptance of Previous Meeting Minutes – Gladys (Secretary)
6. NAA Updates 
▪ Financial Updates – Lilian (Treasurer)/Janice (Assist Treasurer)/ Yaw (Facilitator) 
▪ Bank Account Change
▪Account Balance & Activities – Income & Disbursements 
▪ Projects Updates – Hayford (Project Officer) / Stephen (Assist Project Officer)
▪ICT Lab Project
▪ Major/Capital Project
▪ Membership Update – Yaw (Registrar) / Lynda (Assist Registrar)
7. Musical Interlude
8. Why we serve – Servant Leaders
9. Way forward – Open Dialogue
10. Other Matters – What’s on your mind? / Q & A
11. Closing Remarks – President
12. Closing Prayer
13. Let

Present

Yaw Obiri
Enoch Asante Bediako
Lynda Sarpong
Stephen Ohene Larbi
Richmond Nettey
BJKOK
Fauzi Sinare
Abena Ofosu Somuah 
Hayford Tabiri 
Ebenezer Gyimah
Joyce Saforo 
Janice Marfo
Vera Larbi
Mary Quao
Mary Gyedu
Kwadwo Agyeman Asomadu
Helena Bampo
Matilda 
Gladys Mante-Nyadu
Ben Nyadu

⦁ Opening Prayer:
The meeting started at 3:20pm US ET (8:20pm UK) with an opening prayer by Vera Larbi

⦁ Introduction
All Members present introduced themselves.

⦁ Opening Remarks by the President
The President welcomed everyone and went through the agenda for the day. He asked if anyone had questions about the agenda.

⦁ Acceptance of Previous Meeting Minutes – Gladys (Secretary)
The minutes of the previous meeting was read by the secretary, Gladys Mante-Nyadu. Mary Quao agreed it was well documented and moved it to acceptance. This was seconded by Richmond Nettey. 

⦁ NAA Updates

Financial Update 
Janice provided financial updates

The president shared the difficulties experienced with the transitioning of authorized access to the NAA bank account, which led to the eventual decision to open a new account with a different bank to replace the original account for easier access. He thanked all involved, including the previous treasurers for making that happen and acknowledged that the accomplishment was through team effort. The floor was opened for questions.

Mary Quao suggested asking members to make monthly contributions – at least $10 per member – in lieu of occasional fundraising campaigns, as an easier and receptive means to raise funds. Like most present, she expressed her disappointment with members’ lack of interest and unwillingness to donate whenever they’re called upon to do so. She felt that $10 a month was affordable for most. She also suggested that we assess annual contribution of $120 per member but discount the assessment to $100 if paid within first 3 months of the year. The President reminded us that members have not been receptive to annual dues or any annual assessment in the past but it was worth pursuing the idea again for buy-in through open dialogue.

Project Updates 
ICT Lab Project – Hayford spoke about the recent development regarding the ICT lab project and informed that there has been very good improvement on how things are developing. With collaboration with NOSA, they have been able to make good progress. They have since been able to install new cables and new air conditioners. Painting is in progress and the work is expected to be completed next week.

Boys’ Dormitory Project – Hayford reported that this needs a lot of planning and we don’t have much resources to complete all of it. Architects have advised that the main building near the boys’ dormitory needs to be restructured. They are doing everything possible to bring down cost. They have tried to use local artisans to speed the process and to reduce cost but equally, to provide quality work. This still in the planning process. Very soon the ICT lab will be in full operation and the boys dormitory work will also commence. NOSA is doing their best to achieve results. 

Stephen also provided update on this project. The NOSA project team had completed the evaluation, for which he commended them for a good job done. They had identified 4 areas to focus on which are as follows:
⦁ Carpentry work
⦁ Roofing 
⦁ Electrical 
⦁ Masonry work
Final assessment is now completed, and they are putting together the overall cost which will be shortly shared with the executives. All funds will be pulled together as most of the work will depend on the money we have. There will be ongoing coordination between the executives and NOSA. Members were asked to encourage their year groups to donate. NAA treasurers will coordinate movement of funds to NOSA treasury at the appropriate time. We want them to keep good record of all activities and expenses, and provide regular updates for transparency and accountability. NAA funds disbursement will be dependent of provision of workable plan and timetable from NOSA. We need NOSA to show us they are ready with certainty and demonstrate assurances with documentation before we transfer any money.

Membership Update 
Yaw Obiri updated us on membership. There were 82 members at peak of membership, but one person left so we now have 81 members. During the last roll call, 42 members responded. Sylvia Ofosu-Apea has joined NAA as the newest member.

Ben Nyadu asked whether we are able to find out why people leave the group. 

Why We Serve
The president asked leaders to share why they decided to serve

Lynda- Nifa is on all our hearts, and she wants to help the school to be uplifted 

Hayford- Service is a way of working or serving and this could be paid or unpaid. Our sacrifice aims to bring change and development to individuals or community at large. He feels it’s all about Nifa, a teamwork and a journey of a mile which starts with a step. We need to work together.  

Stephen – What moves him is his love for Nifa. It remains at the centre of his heart. All his friends were from Nifa. He took it as an honour to serve. The foundation it gave him has given him the motivation and determination to contribute whatever he could to help. It motivates him to see some seniors still passionate about the work drives him to serve. He said it was discouraging to see less people at attending the meeting as it’s difficult to know whether we are doing a good job or not. 

Joyce- she usually sits at the back but feels it’s good to be involved. Her aim is to get the old students in Canada together to see what they could do to support. 

Gladys- Her love for the school has been her motivation to support the school. Her dad is in Apirede and anytime she visits Ghana, she passes by the school and makes her feel sad to see the condition of the school and wants to do what she could to support

Janice – She has been to several schools however she feels more connected to Nifa. She is always dreaming about Adukrom therefore when the opportunity came, she raised her hands and legs to serve. The first time she visited Ghana, she visited Nifa. She stills dream about “ ntwonke” and dining hall. 

Vera- Most of the education she had was at Nifa. All the love letters she wrote at Nifa helped her to write good essays. Nifa has played important role in her life and we want to write our history and leave it for the next generation. Nifa made us who we are and gotten us where we are. Her heart breaks to see the deplorable condition of the school and feel if there is the will to do something about it, there should be a way. 

Enoch – We meet every month as leaders which is a sacrifice. Personally, when he was asked to take the leadership role, he was intimidated, asking how he could fill the shoes of Nick. He considered all the previous individuals who had families, work commitments and other issues but sacrificed to serve NAA, so he asked himself why not him and felt the need to serve. Several of his siblings attended OKUASS and PRESEC, he was the only person in the household to attend Nifa and took pride in that. We decided to share the story because quite often we hear excuses of why people cannot make time. We all have daily life responsibilities and challenges like everyone else but still make time to serve the community of current and old students with our time and talent. That’s why when we are not encouraged or are criticised, it makes the work a bit more difficult.

We are committed and will continue to do better in spite of lack of support sometimes. The challenge is how we encourage ourselves and keep going. On a positive note, we’re 80 members strong and continue to fellowship and celebrate ourselves together. It’s encouraging that we still have a level of participation when it comes to birthday celebrations. The question is how do we make Nifa strong? How do we get people interested? How do we encourage people again?  For example, when we asked who was coming to the meeting, only 3 responded. Hot seat concept for example took off well but interest and participation fell flat over time. We need the support and encouragement from all of us. If we don’t know how we are doing, it’s difficult to know if and how to build upon what we have. Participation was at peak during covid times. Participation has since continuously dwindled at the peril of NAA. We need input from members on how best to move forward. 

Open Forum – Concerns and Way Forward
Mary – She feels either people are in or not and that we have to be interested. What we are doing is to help the school. The place is in a deplorable condition. She was shocked to see the condition of the school. She stressed on the need for old students to commit to help the school.  The ‘83 year group have plans to do something for their 40th anniversary. She advised us not to be discouraged as we have already raised 20,000.

She also asked that we revisit the concerns raised about money transfer from other countries etc. as times have changed and members may be more receptive to reconsider their stance on that. 

Mary followed up on previous comments and said it’s all about the school. ‘Bribiara a eye fe, wode sika na eye.’ If members are not prepared to pay lump sum at a time but feels dues are important for progress, they may be receptive to monthly contributions, as long as they’re aware that they’re doing it for the school, stating that we are here because of the school and not for our personal gain. 

Helena – She applauded the leaders for their dedication and effort and expressed her appreciation for work done so far. The issue of participation of members is not anything new. It was the biggest problem during her time as a leader. She encouraged the leaders not to give up. Audio messaging was highly recommended as an effective means of communication the platform compared to written communication. Audio messages has been recommended in the past but the issue is that it takes space. People don’t always have time to type or read things over and over again whereas audio is much easier. She felt that audio messaging as primary means to communicate will increase participation. She also thanked those working behind the scenes to move the group forward. 

Helena added that when people pay dues, they expect something back. Our constitution doesn’t allow us to do that. It will be fine if members would agree to pay and not expect anything back. Our constitution does not allow us to pay benefits to individuals. 

Matilda – Thanked all the leaders and said it’s difficult when people don’t respond. We don’t have to be discouraged. During pandemic, people had time but people are now busy.  The school is in a very bad condition and can’t understand that parents are allowing their children to attend. She knows we are doing a good thing. People work during weekends and sometimes it’s not easy to make the sacrifice. The president thanked those who participated despite work commitments.

Vera – We need to encourage ourselves. We are doing our best. In the future, some of the youth will find out what we have done. We can’t depend on the government. Making contributions is not easy, but that’s how we value what we do. We will all be proud to see the outcome of our efforts and how the funds have been used.Vera commented that members know the primary purpose of NAA. The money is for the cause and not for individuals to benefit from the funds we raise. Vera suggested that we label proposed periodic assessment as “Yi bi ma” contribution instead of dues since members are not receptive to the idea of dues. 

Ben – Asked about members who have never made any contributions towards the project and why they should continue to be members. He knows sometimes it may be difficult but wondered whether we are interested in large membership or a few who are willing to support? Ben added that Vera had answered his question. If we look at members attitudes and how we are reluctant to contribute, how can we expect people to pay dues, it will be the same people paying. 

Lynda – She added that she felt the same. Sometimes she would ask people to send information to feature on their birthday but they will fail to respond and others fail to show appreciation for the effort. She asked why we continue to entertain that and doesn’t see why we should if people don’t care. The president stated that we don’t know when they will contribute but we could ask the question and make a decision around that. 

Yaw Obiri- Once people start paying dues, they expect to see some form of benefit, apart from the difficulties in trying to receive payments from members outside of the US. We can consider soliciting for donations that will not be labelled as dues. 

In response to Ben’s question about inactive members, Yaw mentioned that he used to remove inactive members from roll but later felt that was not the best way to go about it. He recognized the value of both active and dormant members. He knows of some people who didn’t contribute anything for years but suddenly decided to contribute. We need to do what we could to attract and encourage the young generation to join us. 

He suggested that we consider passing a resolution and obtain agreement from members to make monthly contributions. If we could find a way to contribute monthly, that will help. It saddens him to see the condition of the school. He is a native of Adukrom and will be proud to see the school in a better condition

BJKOK – He was worried about building materials and prices going up and wondered if we knew of a reliable person on Ghana who could start buying the items needed for the project. He felt that the donated funds continued to lose value for as long as funds remained in treasury unused. He’s also in favour of annual dues assessment, as a means of getting members to commit and also take pride in the outcome when put to good use. He cited an example that, in a family, you have those who always contribute, and we should see ourselves to be like that and give what we could.

Richmond – To whom much is given, much is expected. Feels people need to give us support to be able to give our best. We don’t need to beg for contributions. 

Stephen – We could come up with something but not dues. The ‘86 Year Group pay dues and they always have money. All their members in the UK and US contribute regularly. Last year, they were able to organise professional development for Nifa by sending experienced educators to support the teachers. They were able use the dues to do that. Some of their dues go towards projects at Nifa, and they are now planning for the next project. He feels people will be more willing to contribute once they see that the project has started. 

President – In agreement with the suggested monthly contributions approach. We will come up with a message and share with the rest of the group. We know those with the same mindset would like to contribute. 

Closing Remarks
The president said he was appreciative of people’s time and their presence and participation going through this thought process together. He thanked everyone for their contributions. 

The meeting ended at 5:36pm US ET (22:36 UK time) with a closing prayer by Joyce Saforo

Gladys Mante-Nyadu
(Secretary)