The Bar Is Now High: Inauguration Of Ghana Nurses Association Illinois
By Anonymous · 12 October 2026 · Diaspora
The Ghana Nurses Association Illinois has been inaugurated.
It was a well-organized one, and in our community those two do not always arrive together. We began on Friday with the mental health seminar, which was the heart of the whole weekend. It was led by Dr. Ampadu and moderated by Dr. Cromwell, who kept the conversation flowing with grace and a firm hand on the clock. Dr Sarah Duncan, Mrs Josephine Darko, Dr Opokua Yeboah, Dr. Kwofie Sr., Dr. Nimako, Mrs. Linda Sarfo, Dr. E. Appiagyei, Dr. C. Appiagyei and Mr. Ntow then led us through a conversation our people have avoided for generations. The mayor of Bolingbrook, Mary Alexander-Basta was seated and all ears. The room was full, Osagyefo, with young and old sitting side by side. In this day and age you rarely see that anywhere except church. And these were not people there for the free refreshments. They came, they stayed and they leaned in. During the round table discussions, things were said out loud that our community has only ever whispered behind closed doors: stress, depression, burnout, the pressure to look fine when you are not. These are matters that, hitherto, were discussed only in private, if at all. If the weekend had ended there, it would already have been worth it.
But it did not end there. On Saturday we gathered for the inauguration dinner, which began with a lovely cocktail hour. There was good conversation, elegant attire and the kind of networking where everyone discovers they are somehow related to everyone else.
Then came the dance, and with it the pomp and pageantry. The ladies arrived in their association cloth, and Osagyefo, it was a lesson in how one fabric can tell a hundred stories. It was the same cloth, but no two people looked alike. There was kaba and slit, each cut with its own personality, and some sisters had modernized the look with lace accents that made you look twice. There was gold, and every detail was finished with engineering precision. Leading the way were four gallant gentlemen in simple shirts and black slacks, carrying the flag high, chests out and steps measured, as if the whole procession depended on them. Now, they say behind every successful woman there is a good man. The argument on the street is that behind these successful women there were four, and they were in front, holding the flag. Several people blinked, and they are still asking for the video.
The dignitaries alone would have filled a front page. The President of the Ghana National Council, Mr. Effah Ameyaw, and Nana Akwasi Abayie, Asantehene of Asanteman Chicago, graced us with their presence, and Dr. Papa Kwesi Nduom joined us on Sunday. The Ghana Nurses Association Illinois was also honored with messages from the Governor of Illinois, the Mayor of Chicago and Congresswoman Lauren Underwood. Osagyefo, think about that. A group that started with a WhatsApp message in February 2025 was being congratulated by the State House, City Hall and Capitol Hill, with Ghana’s own leaders there to witness it, and over 19 vendors showcasing their business. And the food was great on that day too🙏🏽 We care and we serve with joy, and apparently somebody noticed.
When the music settled, our President, Laura Cynthia Boakye, rose to deliver the inauguration message. She reminded us where we started: a single message, a first Zoom call, a handful of nurses who believed they were stronger together. She honored the long shifts and sleepless nights that nurses carry quietly. She spoke as a leader and as one of us, and the room listened the way a family listens to its eldest daughter. When she finished, the applause was not polite applause. It was the kind that comes from people who feel seen.
The buffet was excellent. Everything was delicious. The trouble, as always, was us. We Ghanaians and buffets have a complicated relationship. We do not trust the buffet. We do not believe there will be a second round. A Ghanaian approaching a buffet line does not see options; he sees opportunity, and possibly his last meal. The first tray is jollof, so he serves jollof with the generosity of a man feeding his entire extended family. The second tray is also attractive, so he builds a second storey. By the time he reaches the chicken, the salad, the fish and the third and fourth options the caterer lovingly prepared, the plate has declared “no vacancy.” The plate is full, the man is committed, and the soup is sitting at the edge like a passenger who missed the bus.
And then came the rumor: “The jollof is finished.” Osagyefo, you know that in our culture there are few words more alarming. In Ghana, jollof is always a hot topic, and it gets hotter the moment someone announces it has been served hot. People who had already eaten began to look worried. People who had not yet eaten began to look betrayed. Then more jollof arrived, and smiles spread from ear to ear.
On Sunday we gave thanks. The church service was a fitting way to bring the weekend before God, giving gratitude for the journey, for the nurses and for the community that carried this association to its inauguration. Afterwards came the barbecue and games, where nurses who had spent two days in formal mode could finally be themselves.
The support was overwhelming: the sponsors, the ticket buyers, the families, the churches and the friends who are not nurses but showed up anyway because they understood what this meant. You could see it on the nurses’ faces. These are women and men who work long shifts and sleepless nights, often far from the home that formed them. That weekend they looked relaxed. They looked proud. They looked like people who finally belonged somewhere that belonged to them.
Osagyefo, the Ghana Nurses Association Illinois has arrived, and it arrived well dressed, well organized and well fed. We started a conversation about mental health that our community needed. We built a home for our nurses, and we showed Illinois what it looks like when Ghanaians gather with purpose. The bar is now high, very high. Any association planning an event in Chicagoland should take notes. But if this weekend was anything to go by, it appears this is just the beginning.
Still flipping through the brochure,
Ato_KD