The Akuapem North District is one of the twenty-one districts of the Eastern Region of Ghana. Akropong – the Municipal capital of the Akuapem North district and Abiriw has benefitted from a free nose masks distribution and sensitization on the novel coronavirus and the need to adhere to the WHO’s safety protocols.
The Rebekah Awuah Foundation – a not-for-profit organization focused on assisting the most vulnerable in society, prioritizing people and leading positive change through young people, having started a “Mask-ing Out” Project for food vendors and the aged in greater Accra, moved with the team of young volunteers to educate rural folk and provide them with nose masks – a compulsory tool for all Ghanaians.
The Eastern region is graded fourth on Ghana’s COVID-19 ratings with few cases recorded. It became imminent that education be intensified to contain the spread and ensure indigenes continue to follow health and safety measures. One –hundred lives were impacted through the exercise. This included market women, senior citizens, street food vendors and the youth.
“To prevent the possible spread of the virus, we’re providing protectives to disadvantaged and vulnerable persons. Even though young people are the most active now, we’re focusing mainly on market women, food vendors and the aged in the region’.- the President of the foundation Madam Awuah said.
It’s our third anniversary and even though the world is struck with a pandemic, we at the foundation are risking our lives to make it comfortable to those we care about and serve and more importantly cannot afford a nose mask to stay protected around this time. It gives us much joy to see our masks provided being put to good use by beneficiaries” – she added.
The Resident Minister of Christ Presbyterian Church who doubles as the District Minister for Akropong – Akuapem , Rev. Christian Amankwah Kwafo who himself joined the RAF-Volunteers for the exercise was excited about how residents embraced the initiative and the willingness to protect themselves. He cautioned those who went away with a re-usable mask to wash it, dip it in ethanol, salt solution, sun dry it and iron before using it again.
Rev. Kwafo called for strategic partnerships and support from stakeholders to enable the Rebekah Awuah Foundation to expand its reach and serve more communities.
For his part, the District Minister for the Presbyterian Church of Ghana, Abiriw – Rev. Daniel Ofori Appiah, applauded the response as a laudable one that needs commendation.
“Risking your lives for other people’s lives around this time is admirable. Our hope is that your anniversary attracts collaborators, genuinely mindful of humanity and who aligns to your vision to push the Rebekah Awuah foundation to the top – he noted”.
Protective masks for Abiriw and Akropong township were provided by DSClothing, adjoayeboahclothing and padmorepress to push three years of hard work, dedication, commitment and impact of the foundation’s work in deprived communities in Ghana.
The Rebekah Awuah foundation COVID response project dubbed “Mask-ing Out “ has so far served one- hundred vulnerable people in Nungua, a suburb in the Greater Accra region, one-hundred and fifty psychiatric health workers and inmates at the Accra Psychiatric Hospital and a hundred market women and the elderly in the Akuapem North District.
It is targeting a thousand mask distribution and awareness campaign and will need more resources and partnerships to make this happen. For now, the foundation hopes to reach out to more communities and mental homes with the hundreds of masks it hopes to purchase and receive in the coming weeks.
