I, Prof Raphael Obu Nyarkotey, bring you greetings from the Ghana Alternative Medicine Practitioners Association (GAMPA). Twenty years of TM in Ghana is akin to an important story in an ancient Shaolin Temple, where a novice monk was thinking about quitting.

The novice was tired of his fellow monks laughing at his Kung-Fu skills. Every time he made a mistake, they would take great pride in pointing it out and reminding him that he was not good enough. When he decided to go, his master said one thing to him: When people doubt you, it is like pouring salt into the water. How it affects you depends on whether you are a cup or a lake.

So colleagues in TCAM, if we define our capabilities based on other people’s expectations, then we will never be bigger than cups. But if we set our expectations higher than what the Global standard sets for us in our profession, then we will always prove our critics wrong.

Recent development in GAMPA was engineered by the GHAFTRAM slogan of unity. GAMPA is using this opportunity to say Ayekoo to GHAFTRAM and especially to their able leaders. GAMPA believes that when there is solidarity and unity among the oppressed, the oppressor becomes a victim.

We believe that after 20 years of Traditional Medicine in Ghana, there is a need to take stock. Globally, there is a call for standardization. We believe that the traditional medicine Practice in the 1950s cannot be compared to the modern-day TM practice. We cannot use the same TM lens to view the modern-day TM lens. The call for standardization cannot be successful without education.

Education drives standardization. It is time we advise our children and practitioners to pursue academic education in TCAM. Some should go further to study law to help defend the industry. Others should venture into Politics and become MPs to sit on Health Committees. These strategic moves can help champion the course of TCAM in Ghana.

Today, in CAM space in Ghana, and Africa, Ghana has been recognized in the recent World Naturopathic Federation, (WNF), Canada, global book on Naturopathy as a key member. Naturopathic Associations in the country have unified and are now called the Ghana Association of Naturopaths.

I end with personal philosophy:

“The future you picture is the future you will feature, the „YOU‟ you see is the „YOU‟ you will become. Therefore picture a great future to feature and desire a great „YOU‟ to become and the almighty God will see to it that you have featured in the future you have pictured and have become the YOU, you have desired”.

Thank You!

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