‘Ambassador Baba’ builds a lifeline to Ghana

By Benjamin St. Jacques, Staff Writer
Enter the nondescript warehouse at 307 Watchung Ave. in West Orange and you’ll immediately see dozens of bicycles in front of you and boxes full of books to your right.
Move toward the back, past the collection of rugs and stacks of mattresses, and you’ll come to the hospital equipment, like incubators, crutches and wheelchairs. Walk back past the bikes and you’ll be in another room containing countless piles of plastic bags filled with clothing.
And smiling proudly in front of it all is Emmanuel “Baba” Anim-Sackey, West Orange resident, postal worker and president of the nonprofit organization, Adopt One Village.
Each item in the warehouse will find its way safely into the grateful hands of the people of Yaw Tenkorang, Anim-Sackey’s native village in the African nation of Ghana. He can guarantee that those items will make it to his village because he and volunteers travel to Ghana to deliver them personally.
“There is no middleman,” said Anim-Sackey. “To me, transparency is everything. When people see what you are doing with what they are giving, they give a lot more.”
From humble beginnings
Anim-Sackey grew up in poor conditions. “We didn’t always have enough,” he explained. He walked miles each day to collect water and firewood, and didn’t own a pair of shoes until he was 15. Despite that, “I enjoyed a peaceful family life and the love my parents gave me.”
Anim-Sackey described arriving in America at age 36 as “a miracle.” He said, “It’s everyone’s dream in Ghana to live here. I felt like I escaped from poverty. I saw what I could do for myself.”

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