FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Chicago, The City With The Famous Bean Sculpture Hosts CEANA Convention 2013!

CHICAGO, SEPTEMBER 10, 2012 ---- Chicago, the city that gave birth to CEANA is hosting another CEANA convention in 2013. After almost nineteen years since the ideas for the inaugural of CEANA was hatched in Chicago, CEANA Convention 2013 returns to the city with the famous “Bean” Sculpture during the Labor Day weekend with pomp and grandeur. Next year, Ewes all over North America, Europe and Africa will be attending the 20th annual CEANA Convention in Chicago. Chicago! My kind of town! Chicago, the great windy city of the Midwest will be buzzing and sizzling hot with CEANA activities on the 2013 Labor Day weekend. If you have not yet planned your 2013 summer vacation, start planning now; start packing your bags ready to head north, east or west to the Midwest hub of Chicago. It will be great! There will be lots of fun galore for you, your family and friends! It will be a mixture of serious planning for development projects for Eweland, of Ghana, Togo and Benin.

Treat the 2013 Labor Day weekend as a weekend of get-away or retreat from your daily and rigorous routines and or other chores to camaraderie with friends. Treat this weekend as the weekend of opportunity to mingle and exchange greetings with past school mates and friends you have not seen for a very, very long time. If you are an Ewe, make sure you do not miss out when the final count is taken. Come to Chicago and participate in deliberating with other Ewes worldwide on issues that affect the Eweland of Ghana, Togo and Benin.

WHAT IS CEANA AND THE EWE ASSOCIATION OF CHICAGO?
The Ewe Association of Metropolitan Chicago Inc. is an affiliate organization of the Council of Ewe Associations of North America (CEANA), the umbrella organization representing Twenty North America organizations of Ewe descent from West Africa. To be more precise, the Ewe Association of Chicago Inc. is an Illinois Not-for-Profit corporation, and is registered with the Illinois Secretary of State’s office. The organization is a corporation registered as a charitable organization and is exempt from federal income tax under section 501 (a) of the Internal Revenue Code as an organization described in section 501 (c) (3) under the charter granted to the Ewe Association of Chicago Inc. The Council of Ewe Associations of North America (CEANA) is also a Not-for-Profit and Charitable Organization, and it is a corporation registered as a charitable organization and is exempt from federal income tax under section 501 (a) of the Internal Revenue Code as an organization described in section 501 (c) (3) under the charter granted to CEANA. It is the umbrella organization of twenty Ewe associations in North America. It has its permanent secretariat in Washington DC. Among its objectives are the following:
1. Promote contact with all Ewes in North America to harness their intellectual, social, and economic
and cultural talents for the development of Eweland in West Africa:
2. Create and undertake economic programs and projects for the development of the Eweland in
West Africa.

The twenty CEANA affiliate organizations are as follow:
1. The Ewe Association of Chicago, Inc., Chicago, Illinois, 2. The Ewe Association of Georgia, Atlanta,
3. Ewe Multicultural Assoc. of Ontario, North York, Ontario, 4. The Ewe Association of Dallas, Dallas, Texas,
5. The Ewe Habobo of Southern California, Mission Hills, California, 6. The United Volta Association, Bronx, New York,
7. The Ewe Association of Houston, Houston, Texas, 8. The Volta Club, Washington, DC,
9. The Ewe-Canadian Cultural Org. of Ontario, Mississauga, Ontario, 10. The Ewe Association of Mississippi, Arkansas,
11. The Mile Novisi of Florida, Miami, Florida, 12. The Ewe Multicultural Association of Alberta,
13. The Ewe Association of North Carolina, Fayetteville, North Carolina, 14. The Global PAD, Indianapolis.
15. The Ewe Association of Colorado, Littleton, 16. The Ewe Alliance of USA, Inc. Newark, 17. The Ewe Association of Quebec, Saint-Constant, 18. The Ewe Association of New England, Worcester 19. The Novinyo Habobo of Delaware Valley, Philadelphia, 20. EWE Association of Charlotte, North Carolina.

THE CEANA CONVENTIONS:
The Council of Ewe Associations of North America (CEANA) organizes annual conventions during the Labor Day weekends. The convention serves as the forum for brainstorming sections among its delegates and member associations to create multi cultural and economic packages for the development of the Eweland. The annual conventions, which are on rotational basis is hosted by one of the twenty affiliate organizations. The 2013 CEANA convention will be hosted by the Ewe Association of Chicago Inc., in Chicago, Illinois during the Labor Day weekend beginning August 30 to September 2, 2013.

As a result of the previous years’ conventions, CEANA had and continues to undertake and participate in some projects for the Eweland of West Africa, comprising Ghana, Togo and Benin. For example, CEANA donated about $3.4 million dollars worth of medical equipment to nine hospitals in the Volta Region of Ghana and the Republic of Togo. In the same year, CEANA also donated Electro-Cardiogram and a large quantity of hospital supplies to the Cardiothoracic Center at Korle-BU Teaching Hospital in Accra. CEANA partnered with the Agodoa Family of Sovie in building a three classroom block at Sovie in the Volta Region of Ghana. At the 2012 convention, which just ended in Houston, Texas, CEANA approved the allocation of funds to start the Tanyigbe School project in the Volta Region of Ghana. Additionally, CEANA maintains a scholarship program for students pursuing senior secondary school education in the Volta Region of Ghana, Togo and with that of Benin starting in 2013.
THEME OF THE CONVENTION:
The theme for the 2013 convention is “Youth, Education and Cultural Empowerment” The emphasis will be on imparting our knowledge of the African culture to our youth. The convention will showcase the following:
1. Core Delegates meeting on Friday, August 30, 2013;
2. One day of delegate and member association General Assembly meeting to deliberate on issue affecting the Eweland. of Ghana, Togo and Benin;
3. Saturday Evening Gala Dance at the Hyatt McCormick hotel in Chicago, featuring an atmosphere of pomp and pageantry:
4. Cultural drumming with a parade of Eweland chiefs, Queen-mothers and invited dignitaries;
5. Sunday morning non-denominational church service prior to the picnic.
6. All-day Picnic on Sunday, September 02, 2013, featuring the Ewe Cultural Troupes from Chicago, New York, Toronto and Ghana. The food will comprise delicious Eweland Ethnic cuisine (Taste of the Ewe Culture) and:
7. A host of other fabulous cultural programs and entertainment by the youth.

PRODUCERS AND ORGANIZERS:
The Ewe Association of Chicago Inc, in conjunction with the CEANA Secretariat of Washington DC.

WHEN: Friday, August 30 to Sunday, September 02, 2013.

WHERE: Hyatt Regency McCormick Hotel, 2233 South Martin Luther King Drive, Chicago, Illinois, 60616.

CULTURAL ATTRACTIONS:
There will be cultural performances by the Ewe Associations’ Cultural Troupes from Chicago, New York, Toronto and Ghana. Also featured will be cultural performances by the Ewe youth of Chicago.

CONVENTION PROGRAM:
1. Friday morning, delegates representing the twenty Associations Core Meeting
2. Saturday morning, the twenty Associations general Convention Meeting
3. Saturday Evening Dinner Dance
4. Sunday morning non-denominational church service
5. Sunday All-day Picnic
6. Traditional African and Ghanaian, Togo & Benin cultural music and drumming

HOTEL RESERVATION:
For hotel reservation, please contact the Hyatt Regency McCormick Hotel.
• Address: 2233 South Martin Luther King Drive, Chicago, IL 60616;
• Telephone: (312) 528-4182:
• Reservation Code: Ewe Association

OTHER CONTACT INFORMATION:
• Clement D. Timpo – Chairman, 2013 Organizing Committee (708) 502-8883. Email : clemtimp@aol.com
• Reuben Hadzide – Vice Chairman, 2013 Organizing Committee (312) 315-1934. Email :hododiooho@aol.com
• MacGeoffrey Kutor – President, CEANA & Ewe Association of Chicago Inc. (312) 730-3294.
Email: mkutor6@yahoo.com
• Steve Dei – Vice President, Ewe Association of Chicago Inc. (773) 960-5416. Email: mrdei@yahoo.com;
• Caroline Nkulenu – Secretary, Ewe Association of Metro. Chicago Inc. (708) 262-8798. Email: camexo@yahoo.com
• Rev. Dzifanu Agbenya – Promotion & Publicity Sub Committee Chairman (773) 931-8405.
Email: dagbenya2000@yahoo.com


Additional 2013 CEANA convention information and communiqué will follow this Press Release in due course.


Issued By


CEANA 2013 Organizing Committee
Clement D. Timpo
Chairman