By Lion Kate Baaba Hudson (PMJF)

The International Director for Constitutional Area 8 Africa, Lion Dr. Eng. Ahmed Salem Mostafa, the Country Coordinating Lion PID (Ing), HOB Lawal, Past Council Chair Lion Sam Ekpuk, the District Governor, Lion Emmanuel Kojo Gyimah, Vice District Governors, Cabinet Members, the University and Traditional
Authorities, invited guests, fellow Lions and Leos, Ladies and gentlemen, you are all welcome to the 2023 annual District Convention and Installation of
the District Governor Elect for Lions District 418 – Ghana.

‘This is the Day the Lord has Made, we will Rejoice and be Glad in it.’ I wish first of all to thank the almighty God for such a beautiful weather and gathering. I also wish to thank all of you Lions of Ghana for electing me to serve as the District Governor for the 2023 – 2024 Lions Service Year.

Let me emphasize that our Past District Governors have played various roles to grow and actually move the District forward.

Continuity

I will not put aside what other District Governors have done. I’ll continue from where they left off to ensure continuity. I wish to assure you all that I’ll do my possible best to continue with the works already started.

I am confident that when we go back to the reasons why we joined this very nice service organization, a major factor that will run through will be to serve the poor and needy. Another reason will be that a friend told you that he or she belongs to a body that puts resources together to put smiles on the faces of the less privileged.

Let that strong love or feeling that made you begin to serve society continue to move you even stronger. Let that fire continue to burn. It’s important to remind ourselves that serving the needy in society cannot be done by only a few people. We need more hands on deck and we
need to identify people who have that burning desire and the passion to serve join us to serve society.

Once we get these new people on board, we should do all that is within our power to get them to stay. We must work together for the good of society

Membership

We all know that a major issue we’re currently facing as an organization is membership. What I seek to achieve therefore, is an appreciable increase
in our numbers so that together, we can achieve our goals. We have to embark on serious membership drive or recruitment.

This is not the duty of only one per son or a few Clubs or members. We must all tune our minds to the fact that this is our collective responsibility and we will get there. When we bring new people on board we must make them part of our team from the word go. Let’s make them feel loved, belonging and appreciated. Don’t let
them feel like visitors in the Clubs. It’s one thing recruiting new members and another, keeping them. We must do well to retain our members. If you fail to do that and create gaps between the old and new, they will soon be on their way out of the Club.

Responsibilities

Let me hasten to add that, we must not fail in our duty to educate new members on the responsibilities that go with their membership. Let them know that we pay dues, we attend meetings and participate in activities and projects.

Whiles talking about Membership, we are also talking about increase in Clubs and in that case Club Extension. Let us all work hard in these areas so we can attain our full District level status.

Our current membership strength is below 1,200. For us to be able to stand strong and achieve the full District status, we need to reach 1,250. However, to be confident, we should aim at 1, 350 or 1,400. We can do this once we work together.

Leadership Development

The importance of Leadership Development in any organization cannot be over – emphasized. We will continue to encourage our members to undertake more leadership training programmes.

We will work towards recording hundred per cent Club Officer and Zone Chairperson participation in training programmes. We will also get more members to take up the Leadership Development programmes as they are very important for our growth. We have not done badly at all in this area but we will do more. I’ll encourage members to try and participate in the leadership training programmes which relate to their various levels. They may be helpful places like our workplaces or churches among others.

Service

Let me say that we have done very well in the area of service and its reporting. We must all feel proud about that. But, we will not relent in our efforts. We will still work hard to maintain the level and go even further in undertaking service in our communities and report on them accordingly. We will continue to improve there and excel. The number of people served cannot be reduced.

LCIF

I call on Lions and particularly Cabinet members to contribute to the LCIF so we can also put in requests for support.

In the previous year donations made were over $30,000 but in the current year, we could not achieve half of this figure. This situation has been attributed by many to the current economic situation we find ourselves in.

However, I am confident that all of us here will intensify our efforts and make contributions towards the LCIF. We will intensify education on LCIF. And I want all of us to be part.

We need everyone’s efforts and we will work in accordance with the Lions principles and guidelines. We will focus on our thematic areas and even more.

LEOS

Our Leos are an important part of our organization. We will not leave them behind. We will continue to nurture them, guide and encourage them to work harder. In all that we do, we’ll make sure they do same at their level and all of us as Lions will be around to give them that support. We’ll work together for growth.

Marketing

As someone who has been in media for over 30 years, I’ll use my skills and experience to get my team to move publicity /marketing to another level. Every I’ll work together with Lions with media background and give all others the basics required to make our District and Clubs more visible.

Changing the World Together

The theme for this year’s Lions Service Year 2023- 2024 for District 418 – Ghana is “Changing the World Together”.

This is derived from the International First Vice President Lion Dr Patti Hill’s theme for this year “Changing the World”.

We can change the world through our communities, our Clubs and District, through the very little, simple, modest and big things that we do.

Through every donation we make, every step we take, every decision we take, we can change the world for better.

We ensure safe and healthy environment, clean waters, proper sanitation, avoid indiscriminate dumping of refuse, proper waste disposal, clean gutters, cooking in healthy surroundings and we’ll protect and prolong the lives of the people that we serve.

Let us start now. Let us work together to change the world.

We can do it. We are the Change.

We can Change the World Together.

Thank you all.

Long Live Lions District 418 – Ghana

Long Live Lions International

Lions: We Serve