Mrs Ethel Marfo, the male child activist

In this regard, she founded Tod-Teen Republic, a youth focused NGO, with the objective of empowering and equipping young boys with the necessary knowledge and skills to enable them to tackle challenges as they come into contact with the outside world

In line with that, she has established the Junior Boys Mentoring Conference (JBMC) which seeks to expose boys to practical life knowledge and one-on-one mentoring.

Presently, a total of 35 boys are under her tutelage undergoing a 12-month youth mentorship programme to prepare them for the future she envisages.

The boys will have the opportunity to meet and interact with their mentors including Kwame Nsiah Appau, known in the Ghanaian Music circles as Okyeame Kwame, who doubles as the brand ambassador; renowned counsellor and spiritual mentor, Dr C. J. Buckman;  Chef Richard of Alisa Hotel, Mrs Eugenia Tachie-Menson of the Spelling Bee fame and many others.

These mentors will take the boys through etiquettes session, mind-stimulating aerobics, counselling and one-on-one mentoring session, as well as various temperaments test.

In the course of the 12 months, the boys and their mentors will reach out to some boys in juvenile prisons and deprived communities to give the inmates hope through counselling and the provision of basic needs.

Motivation

Explaining how the NGO came into being, Mrs Marfo said she opened a hair salon and realised that most of the  boys who often accompanied their sisters to the salon looked bored.

When she got closer to those boys, she discovered that most of them craved to be with their fathers who were unavailable or simply uninvolved in their lives.

She noted that the children showed signs of bitterness and resentment for their fathers and out of this concern, she birthed her NGO with support from her husband.

Who is Mrs Ethel Marfo?

Mrs Marfo is an old student of Ola Girls Senior High School, a product of the Ghana Institute of Journalism and the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA).

She has worked with several organisations including Charter House, Social Aviation Centre and Citi FM. While working with Charter House, she won the best employee of the year in 2005 and 2006.

Currently, she is committed solely to her NGO.

She is married to Mr Akwasi Marfo, CEO of Atlas Rent-A-Car, and they have three daughters.