Dear Editor:
I would like to first thank you for taking the time to review this article.
My name is DeAnna Williams and I am the founder/CEO of Maat 4 Afrika Inc. For as long as I can remember, I always felt the need to serve. As a child my life’s goal was to become a nurse. Being a nurse meant I would be in a position to help those who was unable to care for themselves.
As a young adult, I had the desire to serve my country, which I dutifully did so for 10 years. One position I held in the military for about five years was as a Health Information Technologist; the other for the next five years was in finance and accounting. My career in the U.S. Army ended as result of a service-connected disability. So, after serving my country for 10 years I was honorably discharged.
After the service to my country, I decided to attend Austin Peay State University in Clarksville, TN to pursue a bachelor’s degree in the field of nursing. Once credentialed, I took a position at Vanderbilt University, located in Nashville, TN in the Surgical ICU. Looking for upward mobility, I returned to New York State and obtained my Masters of Science Degree in the field of Nurse Anesthesia at SUNY Downstate University Medical Center in Brooklyn.
I have been a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist (CRNA) since January 2004. Looking for the flexibility in which I could provide the highest quality of peri-operative anesthesia care and at the same time travel the world to see where I could branch out and provide service worldwide for those in need, I became an incorporated company named Annawide Anesthesia CRNA, PC and work as an independent contractor. Currently, I work in the field of anesthesiology at Montefiore hospital in the Bronx, NY.
For approximately 5 years, I had a strong urge to increase my knowledge about my ancestors. I had a profound curiosity about our culture; our struggles, triumphs, contribution and most importantly our spiritual system. During that time and currently, I attend classes to try and understand what messages and legacies our ancestors left us through understanding our indigenous language, the Mdw Ntchr (Medu Netcher), what is now classified as hieroglyphics. These were left for us inscribed on the Tombs in Afrika. While attending these classes I had an increased need to return to Afrika to connect with my ancestors.
Marcus Garvey said it best: “A people without the knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots.”
I had to see the conditions and struggles my brothers and sisters were left with to endure and somehow find a way to alleviate some of their hardships. This journey led to the formation of Maat 4 Afrika Inc. I chose the name because Maat stands for Peace, Harmony, Balance, Law and Right Action. Maat was birthed in Afrika. I wanted to maintain these attributes throughout Afrika and the Diaspora. There are 42 Principles/Oracles/Concepts of Maat. With these principles, our ancestors maintained a society without policemen for thousands of years. Everyday they held themselves accountable by saying in the early morning: “ I will not……”, and in the evening say “I have not…..”. This was their mental inventory.
For those who are wondering why I chose to spell Afrika with a “K” instead of a C, according to an Afrikan American Poet, Kwame Nantambu, “K” is germane to Afrika and Afrikans. The Europeans, particularly the Portuguese and British, at the time of slavery, in trying to understand our cultural language, substituted the K with a C out of pure ignorance. I am putting the K back where it belongs. Kemet (Egypt), Konsciousness (Consciousness), Afrika (Africa), NOW YOU GET IT!!!!!
Maat 4 Afrika Inc is a dynamic organization whose mission is to incorporate multifaceted business relationships with individuals and corporations that strive to maintain peace, harmony and balance throughout Afrika and the Diaspora. We have an awesome, dedicated board which consist of DeAnna Williams (Founder/CEO), Lorraine Clement (Vice President/ Organization Director), Legion O. Lee John Smith (Director of International Affairs and Social Media), Marva J. Mitchell (Executive Secretariat) and Debra Thomas (Executive Treasurer).
The mission of Maat 4 Afrika Inc is to preserve positive healthcare practices by setting and enforcing standards; provide training, outreach modalities and education, which includes promoting a greater awareness and appreciation of Afrikan history by learning of the unique struggles, triumphs and contributions of Afrikan people worldwide; establish partnerships and encourage continued improvement to the poverty stricken and disadvantaged communities throughout the world. Marcus Garvey had a saying, “ To liberate the minds of men/women ultimately you will liberate the bodies of men/women”.
Health related issues that negatively affect human healthcare are of great concern to Maat 4 Afrika Inc. It is a known fact that people who are sick without adequate healthcare interventions will be unable to work. The inability to work puts people into poverty. People who are impoverished get sick, SEE THE CYCLE!!!!!!!
Currently, Maat 4 Afrika Inc is collaborating with A-Z Quality Health Foundation, an NGO founded by Grace Adiepena in Ghana who is taking on a project that will provide adequate (support) and housing to an impoverished family of eight. This family is currently living in extreme unsanitary conditions. To put if quite frankly, they are sleeping on the ground.
We at Maat 4 Afrika Inc are looking to assist with their healthcare needs. We are also in talks with Fiankra, an organization which follows the works of Marcus Garvey, who championed the Back To Afrika Movement. Fiankra opens the pathway of repatriation to all Afrikans in the Diaspora to find their way back home. Maat 4 Afrika Inc is looking to assist Fiankra in the building and maintenance a Health Care Clinic in Akosombo, Ghana.
Here in New York, Maat 4 Afrika Inc is in the process of holding a series of events that will help with the funding of our organization, so that we can provide an array of services, such as: The Health P.O.W.E.R. Initiative Program, which is a series of Health Wellness Programs: Outreach activities, Workshops, Education Literature, and health related Resources (P.O.W.E.R.) targeted towards empowering our clients and readers to move towards greater knowledge and an increase in optimal health. Currently, we are in the paperwork process of becoming an NGO, (non-governmental, not for profit organization).
Every GREAT thing has a beginning. This is our Beginning. I humbly petition every reader to feel our vision. Please, visit our website and DONATE to our cause. To end I say THANK YOU!
Shem E em Htp ( I LEAVE YOU IN PEACE) MAAT 4 AFRIKA INC
