By Lion Kate Baaba Hudson, PMJF

GOOD afternoon Area Leader Constitutional Area 8B, Past Council Chair (PCC) Gbolagade Adebisi, the DGE, the entire members of the District governor’s Team and Cabinet, Religious and Traditional Leaders, distinguished invited guests, fellow Lions and Leos.

All too soon another Lions Service Year 2023 – 2024 a year whose affairs I am steering, a period during which I serve as the Leader of the men and women who have dedicated themselves to the service of mankind is officially coming to an end. I must say also that while the period enjoyed the real meaning of commitment
and dedication from hard-working loyal members, it also had quite a share of challenges, namely hatred, incitement, unnecessary and unproductive criticisms. I stand before you this moment to take you through what my Cabinet and I have been able to do so far.

The year started with the training of Zone Chairpersons and Club officers and with very impressive attendance. This was followed by the Elders Forum which was Chaired by our Coordinating Lion Past International Director (PID), who helped us to chart a course and shape policies to guide us during the year.

The visit to Clubs also started and activities and programmes took off on a very good note. These programmes covered such areas as Membership, Service, Leadership, Lions Clubs International Foundation (LCIF), Marketing, Disaster, Humanitarian/ Relief programmes, and New Voices to mention a few.

Membership

The District takes the issue of Membership growth seriously. Throughout the Service period, all efforts have been geared towards increasing our members. Every member of the cabinet, and, indeed all senior Lions including Club Presidents have been encouraged to work towards recruiting more members and to do well to sustain the interest of members.

The revised District Membership goals therefore sought to add a total of 250 members to existing clubs. This was subdivided into 50 members each for the first and second quarters and 75 members each for the third and fourth quarters. By the 23rd of April, 2024, Clubs have added a total of 223 new members to existing clubs
representing 89.2 percent of new member goals. Zones one and four remain the star performers in net membership gain progress.

Under the Mission 1.5 million membership goal by July 1st, 2027, all Districts have to add new clubs, and all clubs have to add new members. A number of Clubs have added new members while a few are yet to do so. We were on our way to making progress and were confident to reduce the number of Clubs to drop until Clubs suddenly started dropping members One Club dropped as many as 11 members. Membership of the District currently stands at 1,290. A few clubs have indicated their intention to drop most of their inactive members and those with delinquent dues by the end of the service year.

Already the District has dropped 165 members and fears dropping yet an additional 100 by the end of the service year 30th June 2024. This membership drop represents 82.5 percent of the fiscal year goal of 200 dropped members. I am delighted to announce that the District has secured a Membership Development Grant of $1,500 and it plans to utilize that and district support for membership recruitment and extension activities in order to achieve a membership of at least 1,370 by June.

This Is expected to help cushion the District against the projected drop of 100 to enable us to attain a full District Status by June 30th, 2024.

Club Extension

So far, the formation of one Club, namely Hohoe Unique Lions Club received approval and its charter was presented at an impressive ceremony at Hohoe in the Volta Region recently. Plans are far advanced to send applications to about three clubs soon. The Club Extension team has visited prospectives, arranged meetings, and held new member orientation sessions for them. Some of them have even organized their own service activities.

Meanwhile, the following Clubs are at various stages of grooming. They include the Prospective Westlands Citadel Lions Club which has a membership of 10 so far, and the Prospective Accra Executive Lions Club which is made up of some executives and senior public servants with a current membership of 11, out of which four have made payments. The rest are the Prospective Koforidua Lions Club with 16 prospectives, the Prospective Kpando Akpini Lions Club with 19 interested persons while we have 10 prospectives for the Tarkwa Lions Club.

Service

Distinguished personalities, Lions and Leos, the District’s performance in terms of service has been very encouraging. We are very competitive. Members of the District, both young and old devoted their time during the year to real-time service. From the Akosombo Disaster and the supply of relief items around the lower Volta area to Keta and Afiadengingba. The service activities included the major ones captured on the Lions International Calendar on a monthly basis. These include
World Sight Day celebration and related screening activities (vision) programmes Childhood Cancer, Relieving the Hunger Project, Read Action Programme, World Diabetes Day, and Peace Poster.

Over the service year, we have undertaken 1, 334 out of a target of 1,458 activities, spending 117, 829 volunteer hours out of the estimated 127, 451 hours, and served 1,042, 892 people out of a target of 1,107, 697 people. During this period we reported on all activities undertaken both at the level of the Leos and Lions. I wish to place on record that immediately the Akosombo Dam was spilled and caused flooding within and around the area, the District on its own mobilised relief items and went to the aid of those affected.

Our Vice-Chancellor, Nananom and other officials, right after that the District put in an official request to the Lions Clubs International Foundation for a relief Grant. I am happy to report that shortly after that we received a positive response and were given an amount of $10.000. We used the amount for the required relief items traveled to the affected areas and presented the items to the people who were so grateful for the show of love.

We submitted our report to LCIF and I want to announce that the report has been duly received and the grant report closed. LCIF has even requested that we send them pictures of our donation activities for use by the Marketing department which has shown interest in the early pictures we submitted.

Leadership

More and more Lions and Leos currently appreciate the fact that leadership and for that matter, training programmes are important to the growth and development of our organization. There’s also increased interest in leadership programmes as individuals and Clubs now love those sessions as they help not only in the Lions Service but for their self-development and motivation.

As of April 24, 2024, a total of 101 local training programnes, representing 101 percent of targeted local training sessions have been completed. This involved 1,635 participants and represents 99.86 of the set target. This includes Club Officer Training for Presidents, Secretaries, and Treasurers conducted on August 19, 2023, and reported on learn.

• Zone Chairperson’s Workshop conducted on the same day, August 19, 2023, and also reported on learn.
• Virtual Club Officer Training conducted in September 2023.
• Post FDI Training Facilitation Workshop conducted in October 2023.

And monthly local training on the Global Membership Approach for October, November, and Several institutes were also held and now we have a lot of post-institute graduates who help with the training of others. As of 24 April 2024, the GLT recorded an average performance of 91.62% compared with 85.67% for the period ending 12 March.

It’s important to announce that the District continues to improve on leadership programmes. It has recorded an average performance of 91.62 per cent. It had achieved a training session growth of 85.67 percent. This represents a 5.95 percent significant growth in leadership development activities and initiatives.

The above metrics continue to put District 418 Ghana ahead of all the districts within the Constitutional Area 8B.

LCIF

The District has been able to raise an amount of $18, 500, representing 74 percent of our target. During the period, three Cabinet members made contributions to the Foundation. This adds two new members to the MJF numbers and one PMJF.

Other Lions also made similar contributions towards achieving the MJF status.

Awareness of encouraging members to contribute to the LCIF was created and increased.

On a regular basis, postings were made on new pins and awards. All through the way we had used Club meetings, Zone Meetings, and other formal meetings to promote LCIF. The LCIF coordinator regularly posted the new pins on the various platforms on social, presidents, treasurers, and secretaries platforms.

Marketing

Marketing made significant strides in enhancing brand awareness, ensuring brand consistency across all communication channels, and providing support for club and district activities.

We achieved a lot through strategic and collaborative initiatives using a combination of social media and traditional marketing channels. The committee also successfully increased brand visibility and engagement within and beyond. We adhered closely to Lions International Brand Guidelines.

Through tailored training sessions and ongoing guidance. Marketing empowered and augmented the work of officers to enhance the delivery of responsibilities in their various roles. Marketing facilitated workshops with 100 percent attendance by club members and district officers.

District Governor’s Visit to Clubs

I believe in the role of the Clubs in the whole work and affairs of the District. I was convinced that it was important for me to get to know the Clubs better and early. To this end, I put in all efforts to make sure that I have visited all clubs in the District and discussed their programmes and activities, as well as challenges before the end of the first half of the Lions Service Year.

Because of the numbers, the Clubs were put into Groups. So during the period under review, I made nine visits to Clubs and participated in a number of the District Governor’s Advisory Committee Meetings (DGACM) held in Accra, Tema, and Ho in the Volta Region.

A new Club, the Hohoe Unique Lions Club was Chartered during the period, while I presented the Charter Certificates to Akosombo, Lions Club, East Legon Trassaco Lions Club, and Accra Prestige Lions Club.

Also in the same period, we held three Emergency Meetings.

1. On the Akosombo Dam Spillage and related matters.
2. The newly proposed Zone Structure.
3. The Zone Chairs Election protest letter and clarification from the Legal Department of Lions International.

District Governor’s Visit to Clubs

During my visit to the Clubs, my team’s attention was drawn to a number of issues affecting the growth and peace of the Clubs. The team also made some observations that required serious attention. these included the fact that clubs had factions, there were interferences from some Lions from outside the Clubs, some Past Presidents, still wanted to have control over the Clubs, and even saw projects of the Clubs as their own, among others.

These issues were brought to the attention of the Conflict Resolution Chair who met parties involved and found solutions to them to prevent the issues from getting out of hand.

INDISCIPLINE

Closely following this is the issue of indiscipline at various levels and from different quarters. This is still being addressed and my hope is that we’ll see some improvement. We must remember that we are Ambassadors of this great International body and our behaviour must reflect just that.

Disaster

During the period, Akosombo and surrounding villages, and for that matter, Ghana faced a disaster which brought hardships to those affected areas and required immediate attention.

The District immediately mobilized resources from within and sought external support and moved to the areas. These relief assignments were carried out with exceptional commitment and passion. I wish to commend the Committee for the beautiful work done.

Monthly Messages

Over the period I instituted the Monthly Messages which we posted on our various platforms, where I touched on activities or areas to focus on during the month and provided some direction. In the messages I expressed appreciation to all Lions and Leos for the work they had done during the previous month and this served as a guide throughout the period.

Awards

On October 14, 2023, the District was honoured at the 8th Exclusive Men of the Year (EMY) Africa Awards ceremony as the Best Humanitarian Group of the Year. The well attended black tie/ball gown ceremony brought together various celebrities/men and women who have distinguished themselves in a variety of areas including trade and industry and the arts. This event which was preceded by a red carpet/ networking and cocktail reception was held at the Accra International Conference Centre (AICC). I wish to thank the team that worked on this and indeed all Lions and Leos of the District for our individual and collective roles in placing our District in a position worth celebrating.

Challenges

I am confident that all of us in the District have the passion to serve and that is why in the first place, we have joined this prestigious service organization. We serve with pride and in humility, people see us just wearing our uniforms and they want to join. But all these come with some responsibilities.

We have to pay our dues. Some of us don’t try at all when it comes to the issue of dues payment. we keep reminding them and yet they don’t pay. some Clubs will either pay their District dues and plan to pay that of International later, while others decide to settle International dues and wait till much later to pay that of the District.

Let me state here that we are required to settle both our District and International dues. currently Clubs owe the district so much and these amounts were inherited. Some clubs put in requests for some considerations. The situation of the Clubs were looked at individually and some arrangements were accordingly made. Those Clubs have done the needful.

One District

Before I end my report, I’ll like to draw the attention of all of us to the fact that we belong to just one District. We cannot call any other District ours. in view of this we should be watchful of whatever we do. If we incite members to cause mayhem, we are destroying our own institution. We have to work in a manner that seeks to grow our District.

Changing the World Together

As a District, we have worked under the theme; Changing The world Together. This was taken out of the International President Lion Dr Patti Hill’s theme of Changing the World.

It is worth mentioning that everybody’s efforts are needed if we have to change the world and we should not forget it. In our individual one corner whatever we do is
important.

Let us remember the things we need to do while Changing the World Together, which starts right from our doorsteps. Our environment, cleanliness everywhere, including our water bodies and proper sanitation. We must also ensure clean surroundings and promoting peace and understanding throughout our District and the world.

I encourage the senior ones to mentor the younger ones and always let them know the truth and actual facts.

Let’s imbibe in them the culture of growing our District from whatever level or wherever we are.

Appreciation

I wish to express my sincere appreciation to Dr Patti Hill, the International officers, and the African leadership. I must also thank our Coordinating Lion, PID Eng, HOB
Lawal, our Area Leader, Lion PCC Gbolagade Adebisi for the guidance and support right from the beginning of the tenure till date.

To members of my Cabinet, I’m most grateful to you all for standing by me. Through your individual and collective effort we have handled affairs of the District till this stage. I couldn’t have done it alone. When we started, we had some teething challenges so we had to learn, and gradually we are here. We all share ideas.

Conclusion

I wish to conclude by noting that sometimes the kitchen gets very hot, and one is under pressure. When one needed results and had to meet timelines, it was likely that one may have said something or reacted in a manner that may have offended a member. Please forgive me if something like that ever happened. It was all in the line of service.

Even in our homes we have some misunderstanding with family members but we say sorry and the spirit of maturity, love and unity. I love you all and I thank you for your attention.

Long Live Lions International
Long Live Lions of Africa
Long Live Lions District 418 – Ghana
LIONS WE SERVE
LEOS WE SERVE
Alone we can do so little, but together we can do so much.

WE’RE CHANGING THE WORLD TOGETHER.