"A Moh Bedo" - The emergence of a chapter for Uniboa
The Twelveth Chapter of Uniboa
Baltimore, Maryland

The newest Bassa Village, UNIBOA Maryland Chapter – A Moh Bedo Inc., was born on July 13th, 2008 with six (6) members under the guidance of Mrs. Mydea Reeves Karpeh, Chairman of the Board of UNIBOA. The six members met to bring the Bassa people together to foster kinship; a kinship that promotes cohesiveness and trust and that bind members together through values such as group loyalty, pride and respect. It is through strong kinship and deep appreciation of our cultural roots that A Moh Bedo as a UNIBOA Chapter in Maryland was envisioned under the Interim leadership of Mr. Emmanuel G. Smith. The word of the new chapter spread like a wild fire and by the second meeting on July 27th, there were seventeen (17) members in attendance. By October 25th, the membership soared to over forty (40) members. It is from this backdrop that the October Fest, the first fundraising activity by the UNIBOA Maryland Chapter -A Moh Bedo Inc. was centered on with a cultural flavor as a way of introducing the new chapter to the community.

As the sun set and the darkness began to descend on the memorable day of October 25th, 2008, the A Moh Bedo Villages began to converge on the home of Mr. & Mrs. Phillip Vambram and at about 7:40 post meridian, the Mistress of Ceremonies, Mrs. Mydea Reeves-Karpeh opened the program under the theme “Creating a Village in Maryland”. Opening Prayers were offered by Ms. Photo Joe, Chaplain of A Moh Bedo. Mr. Bobby G. Joe then call the Herald by calling the A Moh Bedo Villagers together to welcome Mr. Alfred Dousuah, the National President of UNIBOA and his entourage signifying and depicting how in our tradition, the Herald will call the villagers to the village square for meeting or to welcome visitors. Accompanying, the National President were, Mr. A. M. Davis, Co-Chair of the National Board of Directors from the South Jersey Chapter, Mr. Ernest Simmons, National Treasurer , Ms. Sayah Richardson, President South Jersey Chapter, Mr. Hitler Harvey, Former Interim President from the New York Chapter and Ms Edna Tucker, the former National Queen of UNIBOA.

The audience was ecstatic and enlightened with the unique Traditional Welcome Ceremony exhibited by the Bassa People. The sense of community and humane living are highly cherished values of traditional Bassa life. People generally return to their villages from their residence in the cities from time to time to join members of their village community to celebrate important traditional rituals and cultural events like initiation, title-taking or festival. The Council of Elders of A Moh Bedo through it’s Chair, Mr. Edwin G. Smith Sr. praised Mr. Alfred Dousuah for responding to our call by braving the bad weather to grace our program. The Council of Elders then presented to Mr. Alfred Dousuah, our National President, and seven Kola Nuts, bitter cola, a bottle of water, white rice, white cloth, and a bottle of gin in a fanoh.

  • Kola Nuts – the white kola nuts signifies our (A Moh Bedo Chapter) pure heart toward the National President and his entourage; the red ones signifies that the A Moh Bedo Chapter will not allow anyone to beat on our leaders when they are right. The A Moh Bedo Villagers will stand by our National UNIBOA leaders with pure hearts.

  • Water –the first thing you give to visit to cool their thirst - to show that everything is cool as the water washes away any intended bad things that could happen. Symbolizes – welcoming of guest in your home with cool heart. To show oneness

  • Rice – the white rice symbolizes prosperity and the first fruit of the harvest.

  • Bottle Gin (Zota/gouju– symbolizes – pleasant joy to visitor during their stay. Libation is poured to honor our ancestors. For Bassa people, the belief and ideas about ancestors to form an essential part of the effort to inculcate, mobilize and promote the community ideal of harmonious living in society.

  • White Cloth – represents our pure heart to cover everything

To further demonstrate the value that A Moh Bedo Chapter placed on tradition, the Council of Elders represented by Elder Tommy Kennedy and Cecelia Nepaye crowned Mr. Alfred Dousuah with the Traditional Hat and presented him with a Cane signifying his authority and leadership as the overall leader of the Bassa people in United States. Mr. Alfred Dousuah in-turned crowned Mr. Emmanuel G. Smith, the leader of the Maryland Chapter, the newest UNIBOA Village. Mrs. Reeves-Karpeh on behalf of A Moh Bedo reminded the two gentlemen of the responsibilities of the offices that they hold.

Mrs. Mydea Reeves-Karpeh, on behalf of the members, presented a gift to Mr. Emmanuel G. Smith, the Interim Leader of A Moh Bedo for his commitment to serving the Chapter and the Bassa people. The organization thanked Mr. Smith for the fine job he is doing to unify the Bassa people in Maryland.

The Interim President, Mr. Emmanuel G. Smith then took the floor to make his remarks; but he was first introduced by his 9-year old daughter, Emily Monconjay Smith. In his remarks, Mr. Smith extended his thanks and appreciation to the members of A Moh Bedo for their support and commitment in establishing the new chapter. He highlighted what the new chapter has achieved with in the space of three (3) months. Some of the achievements highlighted are:

  1. The chapter has been incorporated in the state of Maryland as UNIBOA Maryland Chapter – A Moh Bedo, Inc.

  2. Increased membership from Six (6) members in July 2008 to Forty (40) strong in October 2008.

  3. Developed a template for the chapter ID card and by mid November, each member of A Moh Bedo will have his/her ID Card.

  4. The Constitution and By-laws have been drafted and pending approval.

The National President, Mr. Dousuah, in his remarked thanked the group and expressed how impressed he was with the leadership of A Moh Bedo. He also said that unity was the basis for humanity and as such we must strive for unity in anything that we do. He jokingly told the crowd that Bassa people live in communities all over the world. He said that even in their home, Bassa people have “Bassa Community.” This, he said is the centerpiece for any Bassa development. Harmonious living is clearly a pivotal value. He further explained to the audience and traced the history of the Bassa people in the United States beginning in the early’70s but the organization did not realize it full potential until 1991 when UNIBOA was founded. The National President highlighted some of projects that UNIBOA is undertaking in Liberia, including but not limited to scholarship for nursing students, support for two orphanages, and support of three schools in River Cess and Margibi among others.

In keeping with its tradition, A Moh Bedo celebrated the birthday of five of its members- , Mr. Philip Vambram, Ms. Roberta Clarke, Ms. Lucinda Watson, Ms Louis Hunt and Mr. Edwin G. Smith, Sr. by singing the Happy Birthday song and presenting them with a huge Birthday Cake with the chapter’s name “A Moh Bedo” written all over it. The program was graced with two wonderful selections by a rising star in the community, Ms Esther Davis, the niece of the Interim President of A Moh Bedo.

The program also had a special flavor to it. With ingenuity and foresight, Mrs. Mydea Reeves-Karpeh launched the Silent Auction and 50/50 Raffle to help raise funds for the new chapter and the winners were as followed:

  1. Silent Auction- mystery gifts are auctioned to the highest bidder.
    • Ms Catherine Potter won with $51.00
    • Ms Metta Oberly won with $100.00

  2. Mrs. Versia Smith won with $110.00
    • 50/50 Raffle was won by Mrs. Louise Hunt in the amount of $34.00

  3. Pledges were also made during the program.

The formal program came to a climax with a vote of thanks by the Interim Co-Chairman of A Moh Bedo , Mr. Joseph Heron who first thanked everyone who helped to make the program a success and he thanked the visiting guests for taking time off their busy schedules to attend our program. The women of A Moh Bedo provided the food for the occasion coordinated by Mrs. Sarah Juto and the men provided the drinks for sale. Mr. I. Ezax Smith, Chairman of Ways and Means as well as Ms. Patricia Jallah ably offered their services during the night. This was followed by a closing prayer by the Chaplain of A Moh Bedo, Ms. Photo Joe.

At about 9:30 PM, the party went into full swing with everyone taking the floor and dancing to the beat of the music. The party swung until 4:30 AM in the morning. Everyone had a wonderful time and asked that we do it again soon!

A Moh Bedo wishes to thank all their sponsors and Patrons of this event including the National President and his entourage and we look forward to their continued support.