News from BCA-USA

This month has been a hectic one with various activities and initiatives rolled out by the association. These include the launching of a drive to get more primary school teachers for schools in Bali and the launching of the community health insurance scheme. In addition, our quarterly virtual town hall meeting took place this month.

The town hall conference call was heavily attended with members listening to different committee reports and having an opportunity to ask questions about various committee activities. In his opening remarks, the President General, Ni Julius Ndangam welcomed all participants and gave a brief update of the state of the association. He noted that the National Executive Committee had got back to work and every committee was trying to make sure they meet the expectations of the association. He announced the launching of two new projects, the drive to sponsor primary school teachers and the community health insurance. He encouraged members to enroll in the two projects as well as always make sure they gain from the publication of the monthly newsletter as it contains a lot of valuable information. Concerning the Life Insurance program, he encouraged members to benefit from the open-enrollment period and register.
Then the committee presentations began with the Bali Multipurpose Center Project Committee. Represented by the chair of the committee, Ba Nkom Gwankudvalla explained that the BMC project had been broken down into phases and would be executed as such. He also said payment too will be done in the same format. Important to note in his presentation was the introduction of an independent Quality Assurance person who would make sure every aspect of the project meets modern standards and requirements. Also the security of the material was the responsibility of the contractor although BCA would assist in its own way. All of these were in response to questions from members about the credibility of the project manager as well as the project management process.
Second to take the floor was the Projects Committee, also represented by the Committee Chair, Ni Joe Fomunung. He said out of the 30 candidates selected for the Fishnet Project trainings, 26 were presently at the training centers receiving training. The BCA representative in Bali, who is the BANDECA president, ensured that written agreements are signed with the candidates and will also follow up with the trainers to make sure they offer the contracted services.

The next town hall conference was announced for February 20, 2010 . The Education, Cultural and Health Committee will be making presentations and answering questions from members.
The various chapter representatives announced that they had received their dance competition prizes from the Cultural Committee and were very happy for the new initiative and hope it continues.