BTAC ARCHIVES 2025
BTAC proudly celebrates Women's Month
recognizing all the incredible work we are doing. This month, we want everyone to know that despite everything, WE RISE.
*Still I Rise*
By Maya Angelou
You may write me down in history
With your bitter, twisted lies,
You may trod me in the very dir
But still, like dust, I’ll rise.
Does my sassiness upset you
Why are you beset with gloom?
’Cause I walk like I’ve got oil wells
Pumping in my living room.
Just like moons and like suns,
With the certainty of tides,
Just like hopes springing high,
Still I’ll rise.
Did you want to see me broken?
Bowed head and lowered eyes?
Shoulders falling down like teardrops,
Weakened by my soulful cries?
Does my haughtiness offend you?
Don’t you take it awful hard
’Cause I laugh like I’ve got gold mines
Diggin’ in my own backyard.
You may shoot me with your words,
You may cut me with your eyes,
You may kill me with your hatefulness,
But still, like air, I’ll rise.
Does my sexiness upset you?
Does it come as a surprise
That I dance like I’ve got diamonds
At the meeting of my thighs?
Out of the huts of history’s shame
I rise
Up from a past that’s rooted in pain
I rise
I’m a black ocean, leaping and wide,
Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.
Leaving behind nights of terror and fear
I rise
Into a daybreak that’s wondrously clear
I rise
Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,
I am the dream and the hope of the slave.
I rise
I rise
I rise.
Africa Unites through Education & Building Business
This month, BTAC celebrates the unstoppable force of young African minds igniting change through knowledge and enterprise. Under the banner “Africa Unite through Education and Building Business,” our ASHAY program is turning lessons into legacy. The children of ASHAY have launched their very own food store—funded by their collective savings, managed by their teamwork, and powered by their dreams. Each sale fuels their future, reinvested right back into their business.
This is what African unity in action looks like—where education meets empowerment, and every child becomes a changemaker.
BTAC July – The Month of Leadership!
Like the crab doesn’t give birth to a bird – leadership is shown by example.
This month, we honor Leadership, Unity, and Growth.
Six special guests are coming to Kumasi — let us learn from their wisdom, show our hearts, and celebrate our connection!
We also celebrate the birthdays of our dear Founder Madam Dawn Sutherland and Board Member, Madam Opal Lyseight – Let’s say it loud and proud:
“We love you, Dawn & Opal!
May blessings follow you always!”
Peace and Forgiveness
This month, through the power of Ashay the sacred affirmation of life we teach our children the value of protecting their peace and practicing forgiveness. In Ashanti culture of Ghana, peace is a blessing from the Ancestors, and forgiveness is the path to harmony within the family and community.
By speaking Ashay, we affirm that peace lives inside of us and that forgiveness frees our spirit. Just as the Ashanti teach that “wisdom is like a baobab tree; no one person can embrace it,” our children learn that holding onto peace and releasing anger is how they grow strong together.
Let us guide them to carry peace in their hearts and forgive as the Ancestors did, so that their future is light, free, and powerful.
Ashay
September Theme: Thriving Under Pressure
As a new school year begins, our Ashay students return to the classroom with resilience, strength, and the tools needed to thrive under pressure. BTAC has equipped them with more than school supplies we’ve nurtured a mindset that embraces challenges as opportunities for growth.
September is a reminder that pressure does not break us; it shapes us. From homework deadlines to social challenges, our children are learning to rise above stress with focus, discipline, and courage. With the support of their BTAC family, they carry the lessons of community, culture, and self-worth into every classroom.
This month, we celebrate the power of perseverance. Our students are not just surviving the return to school they are thriving, standing tall as future leaders who know that diamonds are formed under pressure.
✨ Ashay!
