Constitution

CONSTITUTION OF PDO-USA

PREAMBLE:

We, the Pinyin people
resident in the United
States

Inspired by a common
determination to promote unity and cooperation, shoulder the

responsibility of a constructive
sense of cultural identity and mindful of our common

heritage and aspirations for
development both here and in our ancestral

homeland in Pinyin, Cameroon. Dedicated
to the general progress of our welfare, aware of our relative advantage to
initiate and/or facilitate rural development projects in our ancestral homeland
of Pinyin

Pledge to spur ourselves for progress and, together with our
limited resources, carry out educational, cultural and rural development projects
in Pinyin. In cooperation with other organizations who share our goals and
objectives in the cause of unity and cooperation here and in Pinyin

Do hereby set forth and adopt this constitution of the Pinyin
Development Organization (PDO)-USA.

ARTICLE I: Name, Jurisdiction and Location 

(a)
The name of the Organization shall be Pinyin
Development Organization-USA, hereinafter also called PDO-USA

(b)
The Group draws its goodwill from people who were born,
or whose parents were born in Pinyin; or have come into the Organization
through marriage, or people who share PDO-USA's goals and aspirations and who
have accepted to come under this Constitution.

(c)
The jurisdiction of PDO-USA shall be wherever any
members reside within the territory of the United
States, with a hand stretched out to the homeland of,
Pinyin Clan in Cameroon.

(d)
The main office of PDO-USA for transaction of business
of the Organization shall be in the city of the current President, and
therefore, changes with the tenure of the presidency.

(e)
The fixed address for Banking and communications is the
postal address:

39 Cedar Lane

Clementon, NJ
08021

(f) PDO-USA
shall be apolitical and not aligned with religious denomination. 

ARTICLE II: Aims and Objectives of PDO-USA shall be to

(a)
Encourage education, culture and unity among Pinyin
people

(b)
Participate in rural development activities in Pinyin 

(c)
Foster awareness for good healthcare and nutrition in
Pinyin

ARTICLE III: Membership.

Membership in PDO-USA shall be
open to anyone

(i)
To whom Pinyin is their parental heritage

(ii)
Who was adopted by Pinyin parents

(iii)
Whose spouse or (former spouse) is (or was) a native of
Pinyin

(iv)
Who has adopted the culture and life of the Pinyin
people and has registered. All new registrants will receive a copy of this
constitution. 

ARTICLE IV: Rights and
Obligations of Membership 

(a)
Obligations of
Membership: The obligations of membership shall include:
i.
Meet their financial obligations to the Organization
faithfully and promptly
ii.
Foster the goals and ideals of PDO-USA to the best of
their knowledge and abilities;
iii.
Attend all meetings as required, to participate at
those meetings in utmost good faith to achieve the goals and objectives of the
Pinyin Development Organization, USA; and
iv.
Be an advocate for PDO-USA.

(b) Rights of Membership: A member shall
have the right to:

(i)
Attend all general meetings of PDO-USA;

(ii)
Express their opinion on any and all matters for
discussion at the meeting;

(iii)
Vote and/or be voted into any PDO-USA leadership
position

(iv)
Every member shall have one vote at general meetings.

ARTICLE V: Leadership

Leadership of PDO-USA shall rest
with the Executive Committee and Patrons as follows:

(a)
The Executive
Committee shall be chosen from the following positions

(i)
The President

(ii)
The Vice President

(iii)
The General Secretary

(iv)
The Financial Secretary

(v)
The Treasurer

(vi)
The Socio-Cultural Officer, and

(vii)
The Welfare Officer.

(b)
Patrons:
PDO-USA shall appoint Patrons

A Patron need not
be a member, but shall be someone who loves and shares the goals and
aspirations of PDO-USA, and continues to accept their appointment.

ARTICLE VI: Duties of Officers

(a)
The President
shall:
i.
Uphold and preserve the Master or signed copy of the Constitution
of PDO-USA, and any articles or bye-laws resulting there from;
ii.
Preside over Executive and General meetings of PDO-USA;
iii.
Consult with members often;
iv.
Sign and authorize all official correspondences
pertaining to his/her office;
v.
Approve for the withdrawal of any funds from PDO-USA
coffers;
vi.
Be an Ex-officio member of all committees of PDO-USA
vii.
Represent the Organization at all events and in
situations where it needs to be represented, or delegate such representation as
necessary.

(c) The Vice President

Shall deputize in the absence of, or as delegated by, the President.

(d) The General Secretary shall:

(i)
Coordinate with the Executive to announce/remind
members of meeting dates and locations;

(ii)
Record and keep minutes of executive and general
meetings;

(iii)
Maintain an attendance list for all general meetings;

(iv)
Write communiqués to announce PDO-USA meetings and
activities, in consultation with the President;

(v)
Shall sign all communiqués as delegated by the
President; and

(vi)
Keep a list of the members of the Organization;

(c) The Financial Secretary shall:

(i)
Keep a detail account of the income and expenses;

(ii)
Maintain a cash Receipt Book and Payments Voucher Book;

(iii)
Collect all funds, record them, and transmit the same
to the Treasurer for safe keeping;

(iv)
Prepare, present and defend financial reports at
meetings;

(v)
Keep and provide copies of all financial reports to the
members.

(vi)
Make sure that the Organization meets her financial
obligations with the state and federal governments.

(vii)
Have access to all bank account statements

(b) The Treasurer shall:

(i)
Timely deposit all PDO-USA funds into the
Organization's bank account;

(ii)
Maintain the Organization's Bank Account, check books
and any credit cards;

(iii)
Be a signatory for the Organization's bank account; and

(iv)
Update the Financial Secretary on transactions that
he/she is not aware of;

(c) The Socio-Cultural Officer shall:

(i)
Organize activities to show the rich culture of Pinyin
in collaboration with the Executive;

(ii)
Organize and oversee refreshments at all PDO-USA
meetings and activities; and

(iii)
Head any social and/or cultural sub-committee, as the
need may arise.

(d) The Welfare Officer shall:

(i)
Maintain and encourage order and discipline at all
Organization meetings and gatherings;

(ii)
Be a member and adviser of any ad hoc disciplinary
committee; and

(iii)
Suggest and advise the leadership or general meeting on
any disciplinary action (s) to be taken against any member(s);

Article VII: Term of Office:

The term of Office shall be as follows:

(ii)
Executive officers shall be elected to serve for two
consecutive years.

(iii)
They shall be eligible for re-election twice.

(iv)
An officer may be impeached at a general meeting by a
vote of 2/3 of the fully paid off members present.

(v)
Any vacancies on the Executive Committee shall be officially
filled at the following general meeting

(vi)
The Financial Secretary and the Treasurer shall not
resign, or be asked to step down until there is a full accounting for the funds
entrusted in their custody.

ARTICLE VIII: The General Meeting

(a) The Pinyin Development Organization-USA shall:

(i)
Meet at least once a year in ordinary session on a date
agreed upon by the general assembly;

(ii)
The General Meeting's location shall be agreed upon at
the last General Meeting, and the Executive in collaboration with the hosting
state and in consultation with the General Assembly shall announce the date at
least three months to that date.

(iii)
A quorum shall consist of 2/3 of the current fully paid
off members

(iv)
Decisions passed by a simple majority at the General
Meeting shall be binding, unless where the Constitution calls for a 2/3
majority

(v)
The General Assembly, by a simple majority vote shall
have the power to refuse membership to an applicant, where it is considered
such membership would be detrimental to the aims, purposes or activities of the
group.

(vi)
Any member of
the organization may after handing all organizations assets, in his/her keeping
resigns his/her membership by giving to the general secretary written notice to
that effect.

(vii)
The General Assembly may, by resolution passed at a
meeting thereof, terminate or suspend the membership of any member, if in its
opinion his/her conduct is prejudicial to the interests and objects of the
organization, provided that the individual member shall have the right to be
heard by the General Assembly before the final decision is made.

ARTICLE IX: Committees

PDO-USA shall appoint members for
the following committees, when the need arises.

(i)
An Advisory Committee: led by a former President, a
former Vice President, a former Patron of PDO-USA, or another member with
similar experience.

(ii)
A socio-cultural committee, chaired by the
Socio-cultural Officer.

(iii)
A discipline committee, led by the Welfare Officer.

(iv)
A constitutional Review committee, led by an active,
non executive member of the Organization; and

(v)
A finance committee, headed by the Treasurer.

(vi)
Audit committee, when necessary, the general Meeting
shall appoint an interim committee to examine the books of the Organization.
Each audit team shall be led by a non-executive member, and shall report to the
General Meeting as needed.

(vii)
The Projects Committee: The membership of the Project
Committee shall, as much as possible, represent the geographic spectrum of
Pinyin;

(a)
The
responsibilities of the Projects Committee shall include the following:

(i) Suggest and/or receive
proposals of projects that PDO-USA could sponsor both in the United States
and/or in Pinyin;

(ii) Evaluate proposed
projects in terms of their financial feasibilities, time of completion, and
community value;

(iv)
Study and analyze avenues to fund any projects approved
by the General Meeting;

(v)
Implement decisions taken by the Convention to bring
any approved projects to fruition, and report to the Convention, as directed
and/or necessary, about the progress of each project;

ARTICLE X: Elections

(i)
Elections shall be conducted by an elections committee
appointed by the general assembly.

(ii)
Elections shall be held for a new executive at the end of
each two-year term.

(iii)
A simple majority of the paid off members present at the General Meeting shall
be enough to elect a member to office;

(iv)
Elections shall be conducted for each executive
position agreed upon before the elections;

(v)
Voting may be done by secret ballot, voice, or show of
hand.

ARTICLE XI: Financial Matters

PDO-USA shall maintain the following accounting records:

(i)
Cash Book:
to be used to record income from all sources and for all purposes. The Cash
Book shall be organized so that it records income for any one purpose received
and accounted for separately.

(ii)
Receipt Book:

(a) A multiple-numbered receipt booklet with duplicates shall be
maintained for all cash receipts.

(b) Cash
receipts shall be used and issued for all monies received, and clearly stating
the date and purpose of the payment.

(c) One cash
receipt may be issued for monies paid by the same person on the same day for
more than one purpose, so long as there is space to clearly explain each
purpose.

(d) Cash
receipts shall be issued in serial order as printed, and each receipt shall be
dated to show when the funds were received.

(e) Each
receipt shall be signed and issued by the Financial Secretary.

(iii)
Payment
Voucher

(a) A multiple-numbered payment voucher booklet with duplicates shall be
maintained for all cash payments.

(b)
Payment Vouchers shall be issued for all cash disbursements, and clearly
stating the date and purpose of the payment.

(c) One Payment
Voucher may be issued for payments made for different purposes, so long as
there is space to clearly explain each purpose.

(d)
Payment Vouchers shall be issued in serial order as
printed, and each voucher shall be dated to show when the funds were paid.

(e)
Each voucher must be signed by the payee and/or must
have a receipt attached behind to justify the use of the funds.

(f)
All disbursements must be approved by the president.

(g)
The financial Secretary shall maintain a file for all
payment vouchers according to date and serial numbers.

(iv)
Bank Account: 

(a) The
Treasurer shall place all Organization's funds in the bank account;

(b)
Private funds shall not be deposited into the
Organization's bank account.

(c) The
President and General Secretary shall be co-signatories with the Treasurer;

(v)
Sources of
funds: PDO-USA shall derive its funds from the following sources:

(a) Membership Registration: Each
member shall pay a one-time registration fee of $100.00.

(b)
Annual Dues:
All members shall pay an annual due, whose amount shall be determined at each
General Meeting.

(c)
Donations: Any member or donor may donate funds to
PDO-USA for a specific purpose. Such funds shall be used for the designated
purpose (s)

(d)
Special
Purpose Funds:

The Organization
may decide to raise funds from members for a specified project.

(e)
Bereavement in
United States:

Members are
encouraged to purchase life insurance for their families.

(f)
Bereavement in
Cameroon:

Members shall
contribute $50.00 each to support a paid off member going home for the funeral
of a parent, who shall die in Cameroon.
Contribution shall be per event independent of number of members
involved.

(g)
Responsibility:

All
benevolences shall be collected as agreed, recorded in the books and disbursed
as discussed and the Financial Secretary and/or Treasurer shall report to the
meeting following the conclusion of the activity. Members shall be liable to
the Organization not to the member(s) involved.

(vi)
Fiscal/Financial
and Tax Year

The Organization's
fiscal and tax years shall be July 1 to June 30.

Article XlI: Life Insurance:

(i)
As
need be, a committee shall seek to secure an affordable Life Insurance plan for
interested members and their families.

(ii)
Members
shall be fully responsible for the cost of their insurance premiums. 

ARTICLE XIII: Dissolution

(i) The General Assembly shall have the sole authority to
dissolve the Pinyin Development Organization-USA by a 2/3 vote at a General
Meeting

(ii) All
records and assets of the dissolved Organization shall be transferred to any
charitable organization/institution decided by the dissolution committee

(iii)The
Executive shall remain active until all the dissolution steps shall be
complete, and a final notice of dissolution shall then be signed by all officers.

ARTICLE XIV: Amendment 

This constitution may be amended
by the General Assembly after the following conditions have been made:

This Constitution was adopted by The General Assembly on July 2, 2011.

Constitution Committee Chair:
President:

Sign:
Sign: