MTN heroes: Praise where it is due
At the National Theatre this evening, an exciting event takes place to remind us that even during a time of considerable difficulty in the country there are people who still provide shining examples of selflessness and generosity.
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The climax of the MTN Heroes of Change competition will honour not just the winner but some 20 people who have been nominated by their communities because of their positive impact on many people, especially the disadvantaged in society.
Here is a selection of some of those people, most of whom are little known outside the local communities.
Emmanuel Ashie Neequaye noticed a few years ago that many children in the fishing community of James Town in Accra were not in school but just loitered all day.
He decided to set up a school which the children in the area could attend almost for free. Hundreds of children have benefitted from Mr Neequaye’s foresight and generosity.
Alberta Adoglah is a professional teacher who had taught for many years in private schools attended by the children of the relatively well to do in society.
She decided to set up a school to help educate the children of the less privileged at a marginal cost to parents.
More than 350 students have benefitted from the education she has provided.
Lila Macqueen Djaba has been passionate about the welfare of children for a very long time. This passion led her to spend a lot of her teenage years as a volunteer in different orphanages in Ghana.
Her continued interest in children led to the setting up of the Lila’s Child Care Foundation, a not-for-profit school at Anyaa.
Father Andrew Campbell is a well known Catholic priest who is dedicated to improving the plight of the marginalised and vulnerable in society.
A large part of his effort has been focused on the Weija Leprosarium where he has adopted the inmates of the leprosarium as family and provide food, healthcare, clothing and all that they need.
Amadu Mohammed is the founder of the Achievers Book Club, an organisation based at Maamobi in Accra which seeks to correct the negative impressions many people have about Muslim (Zongo) communities by facilitating access to education for the youth (especially female) through the provision of scholarships, financial aid and educational materials to those who cannot afford it.
More than 250 young people have benefitted from this charitable activity. The club also provides guidance and counseling services to the youth on the need to avoid deviant behaviours.
Lilly Akuah Mintah is the founder of the SHARE Foundation, an organisation based in Tema which is aimed at giving needy brilliant children a chance to have access to education.
The foundation provides scholarships to students who otherwise would have dropped out of school.
Her efforts have resulted in 255 children furthering their education to junior high school, 20 to senior high school and two to tertiary institutions.
Abena Antwi has established the Angel Zoe Foundation which is dedicated to the welfare of female and juvenile prisoners. She serves as a mother figure to many of them, and has had a profoundly positive impact on the lives of 127 people.
She also continues to check on each of them constantly to ensure that they do not find themselves in prison again.
Ken Addae is a human rights activist who is mainly focused on the plight of women who are accused of witchcraft. He engages them in activities such as craftsmanship and seminars to help make them feel loved and appreciated.
He also educates the larger public about the fact that accusing people of witchcraft is unacceptable in modern society. So far, he has helped between 3,000 and 4,000 of such women and still counting.
Frank Akowuge will be recognised for his work in bridging the information and knowledge gap between children in urban and rural communities.
He has provided reading materials through a string of small libraries and a mobile library for children in the Upper West Region in order to broaden their horizon.
Lucille Lamptey has a soft spot for the vulnerable and defenceless in society, and over the past three years, she has distributed more than 1,000 diapers to the children of porters known as kayayei, most of whom are homeless. She also trains them in safe living and other life-enhancing techniques.
Dennis Chirawurah has established the CLASSONE Project to help children who have dropped out of school and others who have never had any formal education in the Upper East Region.
The project is to afford them a chance to integrate into the school system by providing them free literacy training, and he has trained more than 1,800 people.
Solomon Boateng engages in general development projects to help advance a community at Nsoatre in the Brong Ahafo Region.
Among other projects, he has provided boreholes and wells, clinics and schools. He has established an orphanage, with 14 children under its care, and he sponsors 14 children in SHS.
Osei-Bonsu Safo-Kantanka has instituted an annual kente festival in the town of Bonwire in the Ashanti Region to help boost the business of kente weaving. He has also advocated for women to be allowed into what used to be a solely male trade. By so doing, he has given the women of Bonwire a chance to also profit from the business of kente weaving, which is the main economic activity in the town.
Richard Achumboru has helped more than 1,000 women through his organisation, FISTRAD, which helps the poor people of Sandema in the Upper East Region to live better lives by providing free training in sewing, weaving and other crafts.
Barimah Antwi lost an arm through a motor accident many years ago, but rather than allowing that to hold him back, he has used it as a springboard to reach out to other disabled people.
He has provided free education and skills training for people with all kinds of disabilities and serves as a father figure to all those who have been rejected by their families.
Johngay Akortia is a trained teacher who has been imprisoned at the Nsawam Prison for the past 15 years.
He has been teaching other inmates for free, and many of his “students” have passed external exams and some have been able to get higher education after leaving prison.
Ernest Ankomah has established 70 libraries across the country in a bid to close the gap between knowledge and information flow between children in rural areas and those in urban areas.
He has trained 84 teachers for special schools and made donations to four of such schools in the country.
Richard Yinkah has contributed to the development of rural communities by helping to raise funds to solve whatever problems facing these specific communities. He has been working mainly in the field of education where he has contributed to the building and renovating of over 15 schools across the Volta and eastern regions.
Dr Kwame Abrokwaa Yankyera is one of the only eight plastic surgeons in the country who are all based in Accra and Kumasi.
He decided to set up the Graft Foundation to reach out to people in rural and impoverished areas who need plastic surgery and operate on them free of charge. Within its first year alone, he treated 82 people.
Patricia Wilkins is an American who gave up her job 14 years ago to focus fully on philanthropic work in Ghana, and in the process founded B.A.S.I.C.S International, an organisation based in the fishing community of Chorkor in Accra which gives full scholarships to needy students and also takes care of all their needs.
The organisation has a centre with boarding facilities, a kitchen, library and dedicated staff who help the beneficiaries of her scholarships with their homework.
These people are an inspiration to us all. Let us give praise where it is due– to them and to MTN for instituting the award.