Entertainment of Tuesday, 26 April 2011
Source: Joy Online
Communications Minister, Haruna Iddrisu, Sunday tagged the annual Joy FM Easter Soup Kitchen as the most touching social intervention event by any media station in the country.
Thousands of revelers were Easter Sunday fed, screened by medics and provided medication, clothed and treated to good music at the 2011 edition of the Easter Soup Kitchen.
Commending Joy FM and its 2011 partner, Unibank, as well as the many collaborators who sponsored the 2011 edition at the Efua Sutherland Children’s Park in Accra, Haruna Iddrisu said the sight of the many deprived thousands who participate in the annual feast remains a scar on his conscience.
And while admitting that the government, society and families may not have done enough to provide them better lives, he also urged them to try and acquire skills that will see them earn more economically and take themselves out of the deprivation they find themselves. Abodam 2011 Easter soup
“You may be touching a lot more lives with this initiative and I trust that a lot more of the people benefiting from your support programme will accept to engage in other skills which will gradually see them migrate from this deprivation of an economic activity into something more respectable or acceptable in society,” he said.
“I want to make a confession that what I see remains a scar in my conscience and only reflects the failure of government, the failure of our family structure and institutions and the failure of other institutions that must be caring for very deprived people.”
Haruna Iddrisu called for a close analysis of the push-and-pull factors influencing rural/urban migration, a factor he said highly induces many youths from northern Ghana to go south in search of greener pastures. He was convinced that with the provisions of intervention programmes such as the Savannah Accelerated Development Authority (SADA), the tide will be stemmed.
He urged them to stay away from violence and other forms of lawlessness.
Hajia Hawawu Boya Gariba, Deputy Minister of Women and Children’s Affairs (MOWAC), was highly impressed by the sheer numbers of the revelers who were served sumptuous meals and beverages. She urged them to continue to seek medical care beyond what they were offered at the Easter Soup Kitchen, at least on a monthly basis given the nature of their jobs, and also pointed out the need for them to take good care of their children.
Savings
Mr. Amisshadai Owusu-Amoah, Managing Director of Unibank, lead sponsor and partner for the 2011 Easter Soup Kitchen, who joined volunteers to cart water for the event, expressed his personal joy and that of the staff of the bank in associating with the event as Unibank celebrates its 10th anniversary.
He counseled the revelers, largely head porters (kayayei), to endeavour to regularly save a little from their earnings no matter how harsh their circumstances, explaining that it is one of the surest ways to get them out of their situations into better lives.
Mr. Owusu-Amoah said the bank would develop innovative means to meet with the porters and to offer them and tailored products to encourage them to save towards their future. He expressed gratitude to the hundreds of volunteers who joined to make offer the revelers a sense of belonging, saying volunteerism is a virtue expected of every member of the society, and it is a blessing when the objective is to help improve others’ lives. Easter Soup Kitchen 2011d
Mrs. Ellen Sam, a pharmacist at the Police Hospital in Accra who led the medical team to screen the revelers and to offer them medication, said malaria, diarrhea and bodily pains were the commonest complaints, while some of them also complained of vomiting.
Joy FM’s Sales and Marketing Manager, David Max Fugah, was delighted at the huge success of the event, saying the target of feeding no less than 20,000 people at the 2011 Easter Soup Kitchen was almost met.
He also expressed gratitude to Unibank and all other sponsors; MTN, Coca-Cola, Blue Financial Services, the Pharmaceutical Society of Ghana, K-Net, Dream Financial Service and Volta Catch Tilapia, for supporting a worthy cause.
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