The Bright Generation Foundation, with support from TOMS footwear and 50 students of the Semester at Sea programme, has donated about 2,000 pairs of shoes to needy schoolchildren at Gomoa Akroful in the Gomoa East District in the Central Region.
The foundation manages the distribution of the shoes, which are donated by TOMS Footwear for onward distribution to needy children in deprived communities. The beneficiary students were drawn from the Gomoa Obuasi, Afransi and Aboso zones.
Addressing the programme, the Executive Director of the foundation, Miss Bernice Dapaah, said TOMS Footwear made donation to children in developing countries in Africa, as its contribution towards the improvement of their living conditions. Laudable gesture
She said the gesture was to prevent foot injury and infections among needy children who walked to school barefoot, stressing that wearing shoes can significantly reduce a child’s chance of becoming infected with worms that are often transmitted through contaminated water and soil in areas of poor sanitation.
She stated that the partnership between her outfit, TOMS Footwear and the Semester at Sea whose 50 students are currently on a visit in Ghana was to support and inspire individuals and groups to create positive change in deprived communities, adding that the project is being undertaken in about 42 districts across the country.
The Member of Parliament for the Gomoa Central Constituency, Mrs Rachel Florence Apoh Opoku, stated that the intervention by the foundation and its partners was timely, since due to poverty most parents were unable to provide the educational needs of their children. Providing for children
Mrs Apoh Opoku, who is also a Deputy Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection, said children needed to be provided with their needs so that they would be encouraged to achieve their goals in future.
She expressed gratitude to the NGO for the donation and said it would help the students to be regular in school, since some pupils stayed away from school, citing lack of footwear as an excuse.
The Assembly Member for the Akropong/ Akroful Electoral Area, Mr Ernest Quarm, whose efforts led to the distribution of the footwear, thanked TOMS Footwear, Bright Community Foundation and Mfantse Mboa Kum of Sydney, Australia for their diverse contributions.
The Queenmother of Gomoa Aboso, Nana Ayerba II, bemoaned the high rate of teenage pregnancy among students in the area and appealed to parents to effectively monitor their daughters.
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