ASSOCIATE professor at the department of applied psychology in the Bouvé College of Health Sciences, at the Northeastern University, USA, Dr Vanessa Dianna Johnson has shared her joy at her admittance into the Bonwire Asakyiri Clan of the Bonwire Traditional Council in Ghana’s Ashanti region.
Prof Johnson exclusively told www.ghnewshub.com that with her enstoolment, her connection to Ghana had been solidified, because her personal journey was to touch lives in communities across the country and help lift them out of poverty.
“My connection to Ghana has been solidified by this ceremony , and I think at my age it allows me to feel relevant and I am looking forward to doing what I can for the people of Bonwire area” she added.
The Bonwire Traditional Council on Friday July 21, admitted Dr Johnson into their clan, giving her a Ghanaian name, Nana Adwoa Serwaa Boboose II.
A certificate presented to her after an elaborate naming ceremony at Bonwire gave the meaning of her new name as “Queen of Victory.”
Her prayer every morning, she recounted is “God please make me an instrument of your divine purpose ,” so being a queenmother, being assigned with this responsibility undoubtedly “will allow me live my purpose , which is very important to me.”
She said she could not explain how the chiefs and people of Bonwire came to the conclusion to install her as a queen mother, except to say that they had heard and seen her great projects as she undertook her visits and tours with her students across the country.
“I took my students to the Kente village in 2022 and there was a naming ceremony ongoing then my Ghanaian project partner, Mr Edward Tetteh introduced me to the chiefs and opinion leaders . That was all,” Dr Johnson explained.
The accomplished Northeastern University professor revealed that she had prior to the ceremony , on a previous visit to the area met and briefed the elders of the Bonwire township about her projects and visits which included healthcare screening, teaching in schools and supporting with donations to deprived schools among other projects and they were quite impressed.
“I loved the symbolism of every piece of that moment and ceremony and I really felt reconnected to my roots,” Prof Johnson told this portal.
