Staff of Barclays Ghana and officials of SA High Commission
BARCLAYS
BANK Ghana – part of the Absa family – joined the South African High Commission
in Ghana to offer some volunteering activities at the Osu Children’s Home in
Accra to commemorate the 10th anniversary celebration of Nelson Mandela Day.
Staff and
volunteers from the two organizations spent half of the day at the orphanage by
engaging in some volunteering activities such as clean-up exercises and
empowerment talks as a way of showing love to the children at the Home.
The Nelson
Mandela International Day was instituted by the United Nations General Assembly
on July 18, 2009, in remembrance of the lifetime service that Nelson Mandela
gave to South Africa, Africa and the world.
Speaking at
the event, Head of Citizenship at Barclays Ghana, Priscilla Yeboah, said the
event was to encourage the children to emulate the life and legacies of the
Great Madiba.
“As we
celebrate Nelson Mandela Day, I want to encourage you to emulate the life and
legacies of the Great Madiba. He was a man of peace. He stood for humanity and
respect for the African. He was a great believer in education so I urge you all
to take your education seriously and grow to become great people in Africa,”
Priscilla Yeboah said.
According to
the South African Deputy High Commissioner to Ghana, His Excellency Thapelo
Madumane, they take inspiration from Nelson Mandela’s fight for liberation from
social and economic oppression, as well as his love for education as a weapon
of change.
The High
Commission later donated some items such as boxes of water, food and carbonated
soft drinks to the Home.
Manageress
of Osu Children’s Home, Christiana Addo, expressed gratitude to both the South
African High Commission and the Barclays Bank for the gesture.
