Mr. Michael Kojo Boakye Appau-Bonsu, the founder of Cultural Therapy and a member of the Royal Society of Asante Culture and History (ROSACH), has urged Africans in the Diaspora, particularly Ghanaians residing overseas, to reconnect with their origins.
He said it will help them learn more about their culture and bring them closer to their actual relatives.
He pointed to the Asante and Maroon or Kromanti tribes of Jamaica as examples, observing that Black descendants of the transatlantic slave trade are theoretically internationally separated distant relations who have to deal with a collective pain.
In addition, Mr. Michael Kojo Boakye Appau-Bonsu noted that many Diasporans in Ghana's "Year of Return" shunned the Ashanti Region because they thought the Ashantis had sold them into slavery.
He believed that the issue was a delicate one and a common misunderstanding that needed to be resolved amicably.
In light of this, he said that his organisation, which is for Cultural Therapy, was operating as an international counselling tool for those broken families by utilising trip therapy and distinctive cultural techniques from people like Chiefs and culturally affluent psychiatrists and psychologists.
"A more comprehensive form of family therapy is cultural therapy. Black descendants of the transatlantic slave trade are technically distant relatives with a group identity that are spread across many continents. Through the utilisation of trip therapy and distinctive cultural methods from people like Chiefs and culturally congruent psychiatrists and psychologists, cultural therapy serves as an international counselling tool for this damaged family, the man added.
Additionally, he said that an exchange programme is planned to enable diasporans to talk about challenges they have encountered overseas as well as how to reconnect with their family back home, among other things.
Mr. Kwaku Adu Gyamfi Ampofo, a member of ROSACH and general secretary of the Ashanti Heritage Movement, had already travelled to Jamaica to reunite with the Maroon tribes. According to Mr. Michael Kojo Boakye Appau-Bonsu, the impact has been positive thus far, with the majority of them agreeing to return.
He reassured the Diasporans that Ghanaians both at home and abroad are one loving people in the interim and urged them to participate for a better experience.
"We want Ghanaians living abroad to recognise that we are a single people who have a common origin. We need to reunite since we are one big family "Added he.