GJA Secretary urges support for Accra Rehab Centre

The General-Secretary of the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA), Kofi Yeboah, has made a donation to the Accra Rehabilitation Centre (ARC) to support the members of the centre.

The items included a deep freezer, some clothes and sanitary pads. He stated that the gesture also formed part of his humanitarian service project, dubbed “Turntable & Tenable”, to support the underprivileged in society and a response to an appeal from the centre.

Mr Yeboah said he was motivated to make the donation, having learnt about the challenges of the centre after undertaking a field work at the place as part of his Master of Laws (LLM) (Human Rights Law and Practice) programme at the University of Ghana.

"Today also marks my birthday so I deemed it appropriate to come and celebrate this special day with you. I mobilised these items from friends to come and support you," he explained.

Under-resourced

The GJA General-Secretary further said the centre was an important national institution that provided vocational training for persons with disabilities (PWDs) to enable to them eke out a living, instead of being dependent on alms.

“However, the centre is under-resourced and currently in critical need of essential items for their upkeep and training. I am told key among the critical needs are facilities for the training of the PWDs in information and communications technology (ICT) and hairdressing.

“I, therefore, appeal to well-meaning Ghanaians and corporate entities to come to their aid,” Mr Yeboah, who is also a communications lecturer at Wisconsin International University College, Ghana, stated.

He explained that attending to these critical needs of the trainees would help them to assert their economic rights in respect of getting employment after their training.

More help needed

The Centre Manager of the ARC, Seth Dzidzornu, commended Mr Yeboah and his friends for their selflessness and kindness.

He called for more support to enable the centre to play its role effectively and efficiently as it strove to equip PWDs with employable skills.

"After Kofi came to learn at the centre, he promised that he would be back, and today, he is here, not alone but with his friends and gifts. We are grateful for the gesture and hope that it is the beginning of more support to come.

“We will also use the opportunity to appeal for more support so that as a training and rehabilitation centre, we can play our role more effectively and efficiently,” Mr Dzidzornu said.

The Assistant Centre Manager in charge of Academic Affairs, Nina Okorafor, also commended Mr Yeboah for the kind gesture and gave an assurance that the items would be used for the intended purpose.

"We want to say that the items you have brought to us are a show of love, and with our hearts filled with love, we receive them.

"God bless you and continue to bless all that you do. We will use these items to the glory of God, and we pledge to use them to promote the purpose for which they were given, to improve and enhance the rehabilitation centre," she added.