By Dennis Peprah
Sunyani, (Bono), Dec. 22, GNA – Mr Raphael Godlove Ahenu, the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of the Global Media Foundation (GloMeF), an anti-corruption, human rights and media advocacy non-profit organisation has advised hawkers to shun unhealthy lifestyle in the festive season.
He reminded the head potters, truck and wheelbarrow pushes that substance abuse, alcoholism, and promiscuous lifestyle could ruin their future or find troubles for them in the Christmas festivities.
Mr Ahenu gave the advice in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) on the sidelines of a community forum for the hawkers in Sunyani, asking them to adopt the habit of savings and avoid unnecessary spending too.
The GloMeF organised the forum in line with the implementation of its three-year Resilient City for Adolescent (RCA) project that sought to improve the lives of adolescent people in the Sunyani and Sunyani West Municipalities. ‘
It was attended by mostly truck and wheelbarrow pushes and sought to identify and collect the emerging concerns and challenges confronting the vulnerable people and to be forwarded to the relevant public institutions for the required attention.
“Many vulnerable adolescent people like you have found themselves in prison because of drug abuse and alcoholism”, Mr Ahenu stated saying “as vulnerable people you must avoid anything that may increase your vulnerabilities”.
Mr Ahenu told them that the Christmas season was often associated with uncontrolled passion or desire for sex, substance abuse and alcoholism that exposed many young people to acts of lawlessness and indiscipline.
He reminded them that: “You have left your families back home to struggle for better lives, and you must be guarded and remain focused”, urging them to shun bad peers too.
Mr Simon Asore, the Executive Director of the Citizens Watch Ghana (CWG), another NGO partnering the implementation of the RCA explained that the implementation of the project had offered employable skills training to 90 vulnerable people in the two municipalities.
He said the beneficiaries went through training in body make up, bakery and pastries, hairdressing and dressmaking among others, saying some of them were also going through ICT training.
Mr Asore said the RCA project was being funded by the Fondation Bortnar, through Ecorys, United Kingdom.
Some of the hawkers who spoke to the GNA expressed concern about lack of shelter and called for the government’s intervention.
GNA
Edited by Kenneth Odeng Adade