GET TO MEET AMMA ASANTE, CANDIDATE IN NEXT DUTCH PARLIAMENT ELECTIONS.

Please allow me to introduce myself to you. My name is Amma Asante. A Political Scientist. I was born in Ghana and raised up in the Netherlands. I am a candidate for the Partij van de Arbeid (PvdA) in the upcoming elections due to take place on September 12th 2012.

As a daughter of two hard working migrants from Ghana, I grew up in Amsterdam Southeast, better known as the Bijlmer. My father came to the Netherlands almost 40 years ago, in search of a greener pasture. My parents were very active within the Ghanaian community and they took me along in their various activities. For this reason, at a very young age, I realized how important it is to fully participate in the Dutch society that gradually has become our society. We should not sit down and wait for others to shape our society, because the society belongs to all of us.

With my candidacy, I aim for a seat in the Dutch Parliament to serve the community and contribute to a more just, undivided society that offers equal opportunities to us all. Our emancipation in this society does not only depend on our endeavors, through education and hard work but it also depends on the space that is given to us. For the past years, with the upcoming of right wing parties in the political system, we have all bared witness of the consequences of leaving the shaping of the society into their hands. Opportunities have become lesser; people have grown into debts and poverty, rising unemployment rates and a wider gap between people on the basis of their ethnicity and cultural backgrounds. This is not the kind of society that I want to leave behind for my children.

Ever since I became politically active, I have worked towards equal opportunities for all but especially for immigrants and their children within the Dutch society. As a result, many of our youth felt inspired to follow the path of hard work and perseverance. I can proudly say that there is a rebranding of Africans in the Netherlands due to my humble contribution.

As a member of the city council of Amsterdam, I represented minority groups numbering over 120 nationalities in Amsterdam. My aim in politics is to be a good politician for all who need my support. During my tenure at Amsterdam City council for a period of eight years, the community enjoyed more investment in child care, youth participation, poverty reduction, employment and education. These are investments in the public service that have benefited all but especially the African minorities in Amsterdam and it is now time to take it up to the national level.

Long before I became a politician, I was serving the community helping Ghanaians through the council of Ghana Organizations to translate their documents, teaching them the Dutch language in an effort to assist them in the integration process.

Within the Christian community in South East, I was also active; guiding and advising youths on individual basis on choices of career and societal responsibility. Due to my work in The Kingdom of God, I met my husband who is a Pastor and with whom I am happily married and blessed with two wonderful and beautiful girls. I have also helped to establish functional organizations helping parents with school children on how to take care of their wards and that organization is still functional today.

Dear friends, I aspire to continue serving the community and contributing to an open, tolerant and inclusive society in which we are not judged on where we were born nor the colour of our skin but in which we are judged by our deeds and contributions.

Above all, I strive towards a society in which we all have the same opportunities. Not only on paper, for that is well taken care of in the Netherlands. NO I MEAN REAL EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES THAT CAN BE WITNESSED ON THE STREETS, IN OUR WORKPLACES AND IN OUR SCHOOLS. FOR OURSELVES, OUR CHILDREN AND GENERATIONS TO COME!!! To come to this ideal society that I dream of I believe our influence on issues as Emancipation, Education, Youth Policy, Employment and Migration and Development Affairs should be more than it is right now. Sending me to the Parliament with your vote could help to exercise more influence on this issues that are deer to our community. These are also the issues I have specialised on in the past fifteen years of my career, both as a local politician, civil servant and consultant.

If you share this vision with me and you want to give me the voice to speak it up then show this with your red pencil and cast out your vote on SEPTEMBER 12th2012. Support me and let us write history together.

VOTE AMMA ASANTE, NR. 52 LIST 2 PARTIJ VAN DE ARBEID.

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For more information please send me an email message on [email protected]

Check out: www.amma-asante.nl or www.pvda.nl
www.facebook.com/amma.asante