Rotary Club Teshie-Nunga supports children with cerebral palsy

The Rotary Club of Accra-Teshie Nungua has donated functional and mobility devices worth GH¢26,000 to the Mephibosheth Training Centre in Gomoa, a facility for training children with cerebral palsy.

The items included wheelchairs, quad canes and shoulder clutches.

Dubbed: “SANTA ƆKAMAFOƆ”, the presentation formed part of the Ɔkamafoɔ project initiated by the Rotary Club of Accra-Teshie Nungua, in partnership with 12 other Rotary clubs.

Project

The Ɔkamafoɔ project is an initiative by the Rotary Club of Accra-Teshie Nungua in collaboration with 12 other Rotary clubs, including the Rotary Club of West, Rotary Club of Labone, Rotary Club of Kanda, Rotary Club of North Kaneshie, Premier International, and the Rotary Clubs of Kumasi, Dunkwa, Obuasi, and the E-Rotary Club of Ghana for advocacy, social engineering and mobilisation.

It is aimed at raising awareness about the fundamental human rights of individuals with cerebral palsy and mental health conditions with the United Nation’s Universal Health Coverage and Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 3 benchmarking.

It also advocates the inclusion of treatments and physical therapies for cerebral palsy and mental health conditions under the National Health Insurance Scheme.

The presentation ceremony coincided with the school's career day, as well as a Carol Service.

For the career day, students dressed according to the careers they intend to pursue and gave short performances on them.

The Rotarian President of Accra-Labone, Seli Kumedzro, led the carol service as groups of singers performed Christmas carols and other gospel songs that got the students singing along and dancing to the tunes. 

Commitment

The President of the Rotary Club of Accra-Teshie Nungua, Eyram Hevi, presenting the items, said the clubs were determined to support the underprivileged and marginalised people in society.

He explained that the donation was a demonstration of their commitment to enhancing the livelihoods of the marginalised and impacting the lives of the 80 children of the facility and beyond.

“Rotary International is a strong advocate of diversity, equity and inclusion, and the Ɔkamafoɔ project is an example of interventions,” he added.

Appreciation

The Administrator of Mephibosheth Training Centre, Hannah Jehu-Appiah, who received the items, thanked the club for their commitment and support to PLWDs, especially children with cerebral palsy.

“As you can see, your kind gesture has brought joy and smiles on their faces, and you are their Santa Claus this yuletide,” she said.

She explained the lack of mobility devices affected some of the students, saying that some of the children had to be carried to the washroom.

She was, therefore, grateful for the donation as it would go a long way to support their functionality.