The Asante Mampong Kontonkyi Association of New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, has facilitated the shipment of medical items, mostly hardware, to the Mampong District Hospital in Mampong Ashanti.

The items were donated to the Association by Dr. Kwame Afrah-Adusei, a medical practitioner at the St Joseph’s Hospital in Syracuse, NY.

Mr. Alex Agyeman, owner of Pan Afrikan Express Shipping Services, LLC, and a native of Mampong, based in Meriden, Connecticut, processed the shipment of the 40-foot, high-cube container which included inflatable beds, incubators, surgical beds, clutches, mattresses, walkers, sterilizers, examination lamps, infant beds, examination tables, disposable containers, cytology scrapers, wheel chairs, among many others.

The items arrived in February and were officially presented on Friday, April 2011 to the Hospital staff at a star-studded occasion presided by Mamponghene “Daasebre” Nana Osei-Bonsu II.

The shipment was consigned to “Daasebre” Nana Osei-Bonsu, Mamponghene, Dr. Ahiable, Medical Superintendent of the Mampong District Hospital, Mr. Bofa Abeberese, Mr Francis Addai-Nimoh, (NPP-Mampong) and Mr. Daniel Apau-Ohyiaman, Municipal Chief Executive of Mampong, Ashanti.

The associations that supported the shipment included Mampong associations in London, Chicago, Toronto and New Jersey.

The Asante Mampong Kontonkyi Association of NY/NJ/CT is well-known for its generosity and support for community back home. In 2007, it donated $7,000 toward the construction of a children’s ward at the Mampong District Hospital.

Also, in 2006, the Association donated over $3,000 worth of variety of food and related items to the Mampong Babies’ Home, an orphanage under the auspices of the Anglican Diocese in Ashanti Mampong.

Mr. Kofi Adu, Chairman of the Association, says that “even though we’re far away from home, we’ll not let distance be a barrier in supporting our families back home. We’ll continue to help to the best of our abilities. “We’re not being complacent or minding our own business but are actively engaged in the welfare of those left behind.”

This is a classic example of collective action in the age of globalization and transnationalism, where distance and physical borders are less significant and networks are becoming as important as tools for community economic development.

The Association believes that the search for ways to act collectively in the Mampong context should start from the search for common ground – a set of principles and objectives that most, if not all, institutional bodies of the Mampong residents worldwide agree on.

Mr. Kofi Adu, Chairman of the Association, expressed hope that the items will help improve the service delivery at the Hospital for the benefit of all.

From: Prince Osei Bonsu,Bronx New York