Access Bank staff volunteer to fight cholera, environmental degradation
Employees of the Access Bank, Ghana have initiated a number of community projects in Accra and Kumasi to help combat the spread of cholera and environmental degradation.
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Staff of the Kumasi and Osu branch offices of the bank partnered public health officials in a campaign that saw schoolchildren being educated on basic hygiene practices.
The Osu offices, made up of employees of the bank’s at the Oxford Street, Cantonments and Watson House branches, and public health personnel took pupils of the La Wireless Cluster of Schools through lessons on cleanliness.
The pupils, many of whom live in areas affected by the cholera epidemic, were also taught how to properly wash their hands in order to avoid infection. Following this, boxes of anti-bacterial handwashing soap and sanitisers were presented to the schools as part of efforts to check the spread of the disease.
The Access Bank also donated medical supplies to the La General Hospital, which has become a centre for the treatment of cholera cases in the Greater Accra Region. According to officials of the bank, the presentation was done with the aim of enhancing the work in the hospital.
The Medical Director of the La General Hospital, Dr Patrick Frimpong, who received the donation, thanked the staff for the support.
In Kumasi, the bank’s employees joined forces with the city authorities to plant trees.
The exercise took place along the stretch of road from the Anloga Junction to the Asokwa Highway. The tree planting exercise is targeted at restoring Kumasi to its former glory as the ‘Garden City of West Africa’. It is also to check environmental degradation in the metropolis.
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The programmes undertaken by the bank’s staff are in line with an Employee Volunteering Programme (EVP) instituted by the bank in 2010. So far, the programme has had about 150 members of staff contribute their quota to national development.
The staff members volunteer by offering time, skills and resources in support of projects in communities in which the bank operates.
The Vice President of the staff volunteer group, Ms Vivian Adjei, said the workers were delighted to be in a position to contribute their quota to the fight against cholera.
“Our businesses are located in communities, and so we thought it was only proper that we lend a hand. We urge other stakeholders to join hands to fight this deadly disease”.
The Medical Director of the La General Hospital, Dr Patrick Frimpong, who received the donation, thanked the staff for supporting the hospital and also helping to save lives.
The Cluster Head at Access Bank, Mr Robertson Afful, expressed worry over the continuous depletion of the country’s forest cover. He said the bank would work in whatever way possible to save the country from desertification.
Since the year 2010, some 40 communities and institutions across the country have benefited from charitable projects discharged under the novelty Employee Volunteering Programme of the bank.