Khadi4theaged meets with the elders of Gonja Association of North America (GANA)

On Saturday, September 17, 2022, James Dievler; who is the chairman, board of directors at Khadi4TheAged and Khadija Sofo; The founder represented Khadi4TheAged at the meeting with the chiefs and elders of The Gonja Association of North America (GANA) at their annual meeting and great conference at Mr Edissah's (GANA's president) residence in New Jersey, United States of America.

GANA was created in 1994 by people with roots in Ghana. This non-profit organization works to enhance Gonja land cultures and traditions, to support group members in times of crisis and other periods of need, and offer a platform for communication.

At the meeting, Khadija Sofo led a special customary greeting of the chiefs present after which the aims and objectives of Khadi4TheAged were extensively discussed.

The mission of Khadi4TheAged which is to spread awareness of, and sensitivity about the afflictions that plague the elderly around the world with the express purpose of alleviating the suffering that these cherished members of society are experiencing were discussed.

Khadi4TheAged’s interest in helping the elderly, ensuring their well-being, advocating and spreading awareness of the disease with no cure that mostly affects the youths; DEMENTIA and also the need to prevent the humiliation and excruciating and embarrassing killings of the elderly by uneducated and unexposed youths by teaching them about the causes of dementia, how it can be managed and how the elderly that are affected can be adequately taken care of.

It was made known at the meeting with the chiefs that the youths especially, need to know about this disease because currently the youth population is more than the elderly in the society and it is continuously growing, and the more unaware the present youths are, the more ill-fates would continually overcome the elderly in the society.

It was also made known to the chiefs that Khadi4TheAged’s volunteers in Ghana had an outreach in Ghana and also paid a visit to the witches’ camp where some women who had been wrongfully accused of being witches had been banished to. Sadly, this supposedly witches camp has no basic amenities, not even good drinking water. The chiefs were informed that these accused women need as much help as they can get.

At this point, Khadija requested the maximum support of the chiefs. She made them understand that the earlier they act, the better, and life will get easy for the elderly and no one will be ever scared to grow old in the future. She also mentioned that the earlier they start to educate teenagers and young ones, the better it will be for tomorrow's elders. The chiefs were also informed of the need to support Khadi4TheAged’s project so that the impact of Khadi4TheAged will be felt across the world sooner than expected.

The Chiefs showed appreciation to Khadi4TheAged for the initiative and appreciated Dr James Dievler and other members of the organization for his support. However, they were not unaware of these happenings. They are aware of the accusations, the humiliations, the beatings and the killings of the old people in Ghana due to false accusations and they are in full support of Khadi4TheAged’s mission.

They acknowledged the fact that they are elderly themselves and that no one deserves to live in fear of being suddenly accused of being witches and to think of being banned or suddenly hacked to death simply because they’ve grown old.

They expressed sadness over the death of some elderly that had been beaten to death and showed dissatisfaction with the gory visuals on the internet from the woman stoned to death after being wrongfully accused. They also prayed for a quick recovery for those currently on medications due to the effects of the youth's actions. They supported the fact that there is a pandemic among the youths which is ‘the fear of the which arose from the fact that they are unaware of the diseases of the old. They also noted that these youths didn’t think they will grow old one day and maybe the same fate could befall them. However, they expressed the need to cure this pandemic before it spreads to the younger generations.

They emphasized the fact that the earlier these youths are aware of these diseases, the better it will be for them and the future generations, else, the pandemic could grow from generation to generation and the future elders may suffer the same fate as did the current elders, hence, they promised their support. They also mentioned that these youths need to be reminded that old age is drawing near to them, no matter how much they spent being young if perhaps, they’ve forgotten. They stated that these youths need to be told that the same fate might befall them if they refuse the teachings of Khadi4TheAged and also refuse to care for the elderly as much as they should. The GANA elders however assured us that they will offer their support in all forms as requested by Khadi4TheAged.

The elders of The Gonja Association of North America (GANA) promised to support Khadi4TheAged in eradicating the maltreatment and killings of the elders. They promised to help to educate the youths about, and to help create awareness about dementia and every other disease that could make an elderly be misunderstood, misinterpreted, wrongfully accused, banished from society and get killed.

They appreciated Khadi4TheAGed really well and expressed their happiness over the mission of the organization. Now that someone is doing this, they professed their hopes for the safety of more elders and that more people will grow old in peace.

After the meeting, Khadija made an appellation to the king and the elders in their native language followed by a photo session.

Before we left, the elders requested that they be informed and included in future projects by Khadi4TheAged and that by all means and as much as they can, they will support the project in full to continue to make the elderly around the world, happy and to help them live long, hale and hearty enough to enjoy their remaining days on earth.

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