Be responsible for welfare of children - First Lady tells parents

The First Lady, Mrs Rebecca Akufo-Addo, has called on parents to be responsible for the welfare of their children.

According to her, the family was the foundation of building a good and strong society.

She also called on society not to leave the job of the welfare of vulnerable children in the hands of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) or the government alone but that everyone must be involved.

“It is a shared responsibility for all of us“, she added.

She said this at the opening ceremony of “The Hike 2019”, a fundraising hike challenge organised by the SOS Children’s Village, Ghana and SOS Children’s Village, Netherlands.

The First Lady commended the hikers for their support for the vulnerable in society.

She was grateful to especially the hikers from Netherlands who she said had to travel all the way to support the SOS Villages in Ghana.

Miles that Matter

The hiking event themed: “Miles that Matter” was organised to raise funds, to create awareness and seek potential donors, sponsors, friends and ambassadors for children’s development.

It was also aimed at creating support for the work of SOS Children’s Villages in the country.

The event formed part of the Village’s 45th anniversary celebration this year and was aimed at engaging stakeholders and telling the SOS story to gain the necessary support in sustaining the quality care given to the beneficiary children.

Fantastic turnout

The two-day programme was used to raise an amount of 106.429 euros.

The amount which was in cheque was unveiled by the Dutch Ambassador to Ghana, Mr Ron Strikker, at a ceremony last Sunday.

“I think it is a fantastic result because the target for the fundraising was 75,000 euros and now we have more than 100,000 euros which will provide for many children,” Mr Strikker said.

He expressed gratitude to all the volunteers who walked several miles and contributed funds just to provide for vulnerable children in Ghana.

The hike

The hike, which started in the morning of Saturday, November 16, 2019, was a 24 hour long walk through Tema, the Volta River area and the Shai Hills Natural Park and ended on the next day.

There were 100 participants in all, 50 from Ghana and 50 from the Netherlands.

The hike was done in two rounds of 12 hours each. The hikers walked for the first 12 hours on November 16 and finished the next 12 hours the following day.

The National Director, SOS Netherlands, Ms Arian Buurman, who also took part in the hike, said: “I hope that more children will be empowered in more safe situations because of what we have been able to raise by this event.”

“The experience was fantastic, the ambiance was great, the scenery was interesting and we had a lot of sightseeing of Ghana,” she told the Daily Graphic.