Dep. Chief Of Staff Francis Asenso Shares Testimony As A Rotary Beneficiary

Deputy Chief of Staff, Francis Asenso Boakye, has shared the success story as a key beneficiary of the Rotary International Foundation's philanthropy.

According to him, he was one of the millions of people all over the world whose lives have been transformed because of the vision and generosity of the Rotary Foundation.

He was highly grateful to the Rotary for that timely Educational Scholarship support which helped to elevate him to the next level of the Academic Ladder.

The Deputy Chief of Staff was addressing the Rotary International District 9102 Conference held at the Accra International Conference Centre last Friday.

Mr. Francis Asenso-Boakye was the Keynote Speaker.

He indicated that his Rotary opportunity and experience also helped cement his interest in public service as a way of giving back to my society and helping to make it a better place for all.

He recalled that while he was still at Michigan State, he had the opportunity to work as a legislative intern at the Michigan House of Representatives.

He said he got his first taste of the inner workings of the policy-making and legislative process of government.

"As a young boy growing up in Bantama, in the heart of Kumasi, I was spared the misfortune of many of my childhood friends who dropped out at the basic school level. As I made my way, step by step, up to the educational ladder, my close-knit community kept encouraging and urging me on. When, upon completing university, I answered an ad in the papers and was selected, out of over 300 applicants, and awarded a scholarship to study in North America, my entire neighbourhood was thrown into a celebration.

...That ad in the national dailies had been placed by the Rotary Foundation and the scholarship Rotary awarded me enabled me to pursue graduate studies at Michigan State University, in the United States, where I graduated with a master of public policy and administration.

During my time at Michigan State, I had the opportunity and pleasure, as a Rotary scholar, to speak at many clubs in Rotary District 6400, compromising part of Michigan, USA, and Ontario, Canada. These were extraordinary times in my life, and they provided me a unique opportunity to appreciate and experience the enduring Rotary values of service above self and dedicating one's life to a cause," he recalled.

He said he was blessed and privileged to stay in the homes of incredibly kind-hearted and genuinely affectionate families and also treasured the moments shared with them, learned new things and new ways of doing things and experienced and appreciated the beauty and value in peoples diverse cultures and world views.

He paid a special tribute to Bob Gallagher and his wife, Mary Jean, his host family.

"It was during Bob Gallagher’s time as Rotary District 6400 Governor that his district provided a scholarship to a young man they hadn't seen before, somewhere in Africa. God bless them. I'm gratified that on a trip to North America last winter, I was able to visit them in Windsor, Canada; though I can never quite repay their generosity.

...Upon my return home, I pursued interests in both the public and private sectors, before answering the call to return to the interest in politics I had begun to nurture as an undergraduate student at Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology. This path soon led me to a position as political assistant to the then Presidential Candidate of the New Patriotic Party, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo in 2008 - a position I am humbled and privileged to say, I still hold, but this time, with my boss as President of the Republic," he stated.

He went on to add that "within my own community of Bantama, I have stayed engaged with the youth, providing them mentorship and counsel. I have also tried, within the limits of my resources, to support my community in other diverse ways.

...In all this, I strive to practice what I have learned from Rotary: that we receive, often in excess of our own immediate needs, so that we, too, may give to those in need. I remain thankful to the Rotary Foundation for putting me on a path that has made me into a better citizen and an asset to my community and society at large."