Rev. Eastwood Anaba Ministries supports Nima Cluster of Schools

About 1,000 pupils and teachers of the Nima Cluster of Schools in Accra have benefitted from a free oral screening and sensitisation exercise organised by the Rev Eastwood Anaba Ministries.

The exercise created excitement among the pupils, especially during the sensitisation period to educate them on the importance of oral hygiene and its benefits to individuals.

All the pupils and teachers were each presented with two Oral B medium-sized toothpaste, a toothbrush, floss toothpicks and pastries.

After the exercise, 184 of the pupils who were found to have various dental conditions were referred to the Maamobi Polyclinic for special medical care. Their conditions included gingivitis, periodontitis and caries.

Eastwood Anaba Ministries

In her address the Vice President of the Rev Eastwood Anaba Ministries, Rev. Mrs Rosemond Anaba said the ministry had already carried out two similar exercises in the Bolgatanga Municipality in the Upper East region and because of the tremendous results, the ministry decided to extend it to the Nima Cluster of schools.

She said the ministry was not only focused on reaching out to lost souls for the Kingdom of God but was also desirous to empower, engage, educate and transform people to lead meaningful lifestyles.

Mrs Anaba said transforming deprived societies was very important since it built their capacities and gave the inhabitants power to become productive.

Heart diseases

She said, “Oral hygiene cannot be taken for granted because studies show that diseases that arise from lack of oral hygiene have a connection to heart diseases and hence our desire to cultivate an oral care culture among pupils so that they grow to become more confident when interacting with other members of society”

She advised the pupils to brush their teeth twice a day and also report anything they detected for prompt medical care.

“You have your teeth for life, so take very good care of it so that you develop the culture of self-confidence anytime you are interacting with your peers in society or any other person you meet,” she advised.

Academic records

For his part, a Director of the Rev. Eastwood Anaba Ministries, Nana Kwabena Dwomo Sarpong, implored parents to always encourage their children to take oral hygiene seriously, explaining that children with various oral conditions had poor academic records.

He explained that such children had low self-esteem because they found it difficult to express themselves in the classroom or engage their peers in public.

“We are focused on helping our children because being the future of our nation, everything must be done not only to make them healthy but also build their confidence,” said Nana Sarpong said the ministry would continue to expand the programme to enable more children in deprived communities benefit from it.

Proper oral hygiene

Earlier, a Dentist, Rev Dr Solomon Odemey gave a demonstration on the correct way of brushing teeth to the pupils and talked to them on the benefits of keeping proper oral hygiene.

A Deputy Headmistress at the Nima Cluster of Schools, Ms Mariam Kwaw Nunoo was full of praise for the Rev Eastwood Anaba Ministries for selecting the schools as the first beneficiary in Accra.

She said since some of the pupils were from deprived homes, it was important for companies and individuals to support them in diverse ways to motivate the pupils so they could focus on their academic work.