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LIMAUK community members
celebrating the end of summer
2008 |
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On
30th August 2008, LIMAUK stormed Sheffield
City with lots of fantastic social
activities under the description “LIMAUK
Summer Event”. Starting from 13:00 hours on
Saturday till wee-wee hour the next morning,
this one-day elegant celebration consisted
of three main social activities: a friendly
football match, an elaborate dinner and a
grand dance. These social events provided
colorful entertainments for Liberians coming
from other sister organizations. The
attendance joyously participated in what
LIMAUK called ‘a day to celebrate our
identity and consolidate our unity’.
The gorgeous social activities produced
beautiful scenes and great atmosphere. The
friendly football match, organized between
LIMAUK football team and its counterpart
from the Liberian Association in Sheffield,
was watched by large sets of supporters from
both quarters, with the ladies singing and
cheering for their respective teams. The
dinner and the grand dance took place at the
Duke Community Centre in Sheffield with
attendees enjoying some of the best Liberian
dishes and dancing all night long to the
greatest African tunes.
Containing the most varied landscapes in the
country with over 150 woodlands and 50
public parks, Sheffield is officially
considered as England’s safest city, with
very little crime rate as compared to other
big cities. This northwest metropolitan city
has a thriving culture; the locals are very
friendly. Moreover, the City including its
surrounding towns is home to LIMAUK second
largest membership following Manchester.
Unlike other big cities where large numbers
of LIMAUK membership are concentrated, the
city central location means minimum travel
distances for LIMAUK members coming from
major cities like Birmingham, Manchester,
Liverpool and London. Considering the above
features including high safety score, varied
landscapes for family sightseeing and the
friendly locals, it is no surprise that the
City is also home to the Gateway Scheme that
has brought many Liberians to this country
as permanent residents. Our occasion
coincided with the anniversary celebration
of this Scheme.
Before the Summer Event started, LIMAUK
members who are direct beneficiaries of the
Gateway Scheme attended a remarkable
anniversary programme, where LIMAUK
Treasurer Matina Kromah gave an interesting
speech, extending gratitude to the
government on behalf of the Liberian
community in Sheffield. Other LIMAUK members
including the president, Mr. Konneh, and the
vice chairman of the Social Committee, Mr.
Cheik Cheriff, were present to witness this
great anniversary celebration of a scheme
that has united so many Liberian families,
relatives and friends, including members of
LIMAUK.
The attendance at the Summer Event was
great. Over 500 people including Liberians
from Sheffield, London, Birmingham,
Liverpool and Manchester participated in the
occasion regarded as LIMAUK most
talked-about and most successful celebration
of all times. Around 98% of LIMAUK own
membership were in full attendance from
start to finish. Absentees included only
those LIMAUK members who found it extremely
impossible to attend the occasion due to
uncontrollable constraints or circumstances.
These gorgeous entertainments hugely
impressed prominent figures and
personalities. Mr. John Brownell, president
of the Union of Liberian Organizations in
the United Kingdom (ULO-UK) praised LIMAUK
for organizing such brilliant activities.
The ULO-UK senior executive did everything
possible to attend the programme after
having attended a Liberian wedding in London
early on the same day. But he was quick to
point out that under no condition that he
could have missed this programme, counting
on the numerous supports that ULOUK enjoys
from LIMAUK. Mr. Brownell, who is also the
general secretary of the Federation of
Liberians in Europe (EFLA) said, “LIMAUK is
one of UK most vibrant organizations who has
the potentials to bring our people together.
Many like the honorable president of the
Liberian Association of Sheffield, Mr.
Prince Taylor, see LIMAUK as a true
implementing partner and an energetic
champion of community cohesiveness, unity
and peace.
LIMAUK always organises programmes for its
members. This programme is the third in six
months, following two massive and
well-attended meetings in April and July. At
these meetings, members enjoyed little bit
of gigs from the organization own DJ Last
Nico who entertained the audience with a
selection of hot African tunes. In the space
of six months, the LIMAUK spirit has drawn
its members together at all three events. I
overheard the organization honorable
president, Mr. Musa Konneh, mentioning in an
interesting conversation to John Brownell
that LIMAUK is one of the few UK based
community organizations that is far capable
of rallying its members and the general
public on such a large scale. This occasion
has truly sent a great message to the
Liberian community in the UK that LIMAUK has
huge potential when it comes to both uniting
and entertaining our people.
From start to finish, the atmosphere and
mood at the various activities included in
the Summer Event remained highly friendly,
peaceful and socializing. There were no
signs of any commotion between any attendees
for that matter, nor were there any outbreak
of arguments or incidents amongst the
participants or at any of the scenes. All
that took place only enhanced good
relationships and community spirit between
attendees. Attendees spent great times
together; some met old friends and had
interesting conversations together, while
others made new friends too.
The dance hall was full of excitements and
plenty of social networking especially
amongst the young ones. Indeed, the occasion
consolidated community unity as well as
provided plenty of entertainments for
participants at this one-day gorgeous
festivity. It was a good way of saying
good-bye to the scant sunshine received from
the unlikely summer weather this year. The
summer time was not particularly brilliant
as there wasn’t enough sunshine as expected,
perhaps due to the effects of global warming
as argued by experts. But this exceptionally
brilliant Summer Event through its gorgeous
entertainments, fantastic social activities
and successful outcomes has provided
substitutes that will refresh memories for
months to come. |