Close X
Monday, September 30, 2024
ADVT 
International

Indian-Origin Woman Restaurateur Surinder Kaur Cheema Is A Hit In Ghana

Darpan News Desk IANS, 25 Mar, 2016 01:05 PM
    Surinder Kaur Cheema came to Accra four decades ago from her native Baroda in India's Gujarat state to support her businessman husband. 
     
    Today, she is a hugely successful entrepreneur in her own right with two popular Indian restaurants, is often called on by the diplomatic community to provide catering services on special occasions and is an active social worker.
     
    "Surinder Kaur Cheema must be saluted for single-handedly building one of the most successful Indian restaurants in Ghana," Amar Deep S. Hari, the Indian-origin CEO of prominent IT firm IPMC, told IANS.
     
    Cheema arrived in Ghana in 1974 to join her award-winning farmer-exporter husband Harcharan Cheema. From a housewife she later turned to teach at the Ebenezer Secondary School in Accra for a while, and has now settled on selling India through her restaurants.
     
    "It was after 13 years that I started my first restaurant, Kohinoor Restaurant at Osu (an Accra suburb). l have now been able to add another one, Delhi Palace at Tema (a port city some 25 km from Accra)," Cheema told IANS.
     
    Her success as a restaurateur has become acclaimed as she not only serves Indian delicacies on her premises but has now become the caterer of choice for most diplomatic receptions and private events.
     
     
    Cheema, who now employs about 35 people, said she would love to increase the number of restaurants she runs "but it is not easy because of my numerous commitments".
     
    She divides her time between running her restaurants and ensuring that women affected with breast cancer get treatment, some rural communities get schools and water.
     
    "Through the work of the Indian Women's Association, we have been able to raise money to get women in the country treated for breast cancer. Among other similar projects, we recently provided a school at Nima in Accra and provided a borehole for water to the people of Abanta near Koforidua in the eastern region," Cheema said.
     
    Last year, when heavy rains led to the flooding of some parts of Accra killing several people, Cheema led the Indian Women Association to provide food and other essentials to those who had been rendered homeless.
     
    "I did not meet the women but we were told that the food that was supplied to us was brought by the Indian Women Association and their leader is the one who owns the Kohinoor Restaurants," Ama Konadu, one of the victims who received the support, told IANS.
     
     
    "We are proud to have Mrs Surinder Kaur Cheema as a role model for the next generation, both to the Indian and Ghanaian communities," Hari said.

    MORE International ARTICLES

    10 horrifying mass-scale attacks targeting students

    10 horrifying mass-scale attacks targeting students
    Beslan massacre (Sep 1, 2004): 386 killed, over 700 injured. Members of Chechen leader Shamil Basayev's Riyadhin al-Salihin group took more than 1,200 school children and adults....

    10 horrifying mass-scale attacks targeting students

    UN urges debt cancellation for Ebola-affected countries

    UN urges debt cancellation for Ebola-affected countries
    The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, UNECA, called Monday for creditors to cancel the outstanding debt of the three West African countries worst...

    UN urges debt cancellation for Ebola-affected countries

    Tributes flow for victims of Sydney hostage drama

    Tributes flow for victims of Sydney hostage drama
    Florists in the centre of Sydney were nearly sold out of flowers Tuesday after thousands of people started leaving bouquets and flowers in tributes at Martin Place...

    Tributes flow for victims of Sydney hostage drama

    Search on for suspected murderer of six people in US

    Search on for suspected murderer of six people in US
    Police officers continued their search Monday for an armed man suspected of killing six people at three different crime scenes on the outskirts of Philadelphia in the US state of Pennsylvania....

    Search on for suspected murderer of six people in US

    Gunman in Sydney hostage crisis was known to police: PM

    Gunman in Sydney hostage crisis was known to police: PM
    Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott confirmed Tuesday that the gunman at the centre of the Sydney siege, in which two hostages were shot dead...

    Gunman in Sydney hostage crisis was known to police: PM

    Peshawar School Attack: 141, Mostly Children, Killed By Pakistani Taliban

    Peshawar School Attack: 141, Mostly Children, Killed By Pakistani Taliban
    The horrifying attack was carried out by a group of paramilitary uniform-wearing terrorists who stormed the Army Public School complex in Peshawar, the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province bordering Afghanistan

    Peshawar School Attack: 141, Mostly Children, Killed By Pakistani Taliban