Develop interest in country’s culture— Youth advised

The Senior Pastor of the Powerhouse Ministries International (PMI), Rev. Bernard Arde-Acquah, has advised students to develop interest in the culture of the country.

He said the youth in the country have developed a taste for foreign cultures and neglected their own cultural values and principles.

Rev. Arde-Acquah made the statement at the annual reading competition organised by the PMI dubbed ‘Read for Life.’

The competition was organised for a cluster of schools in the Ablekuma South Sub-Metro in the Greater Accra Region as part of the Church’s 20th Anniversary celebrations.

‘Read for Life’ is one of PMI’s corporate social responsibility outreach programmes for communities in the Chorkor-Korle Gonno area aimed at instilling the culture of reading in students for literacy development in the schools, which the church believes will ultimately benefit the society and the nation at large.

The participating schools included Korle Gonno 1, Korle Gonno 3, Ebenezer 5 and Mamprobi South 3  junior high schools (JHSs).

Advice   

Rev. Arde-Acquah mentioned some social vices that the youth had developed as disrespect for the elderly including their teachers, indecent dressing, pre-marital sex, love for money and lack of respect for their parents and said "the time has come for the youth to turn to their roots and value what belongs to them and stick to that."

According to him, the negative habits had been copied by the youth from social media and some of the friends they made.

"Taking a little time off these negative habits and focusing on learning good deeds from the elderly is paramount," he said.

Rev. Arde-Acquah said he was hopeful that if parents became interested in what their children read, watched and the friends they made, all those habits would be detected and counselling provided.

Winners

Miss Philemon Adevu was adjudged the overall winner for JHS 2 while Yasmin Antwi won the overall best student for JHS 3.  

Gifty Lamptey and Joseph Amponsah won the second and third places in the JHS 2 category while Frank Arhinful and Peter Sackey placed second and third, respectively, in the JHS 3 category.  

Mamprobi South 3 placed first while Korle Gonno 3 placed second. They respectively received 2,500-litre and 2,000-litre water tank.