The Rotary Club of Accra Dzorwulu, a member of the Rotary International District 9102, has sponsored the surgeries of children with cleft lip and palate (CLP) in selected communities across the country.
The Rotary Club, working in collaboration with the Graft Foundation, presented an amount of GH¢20,000 to the foundation to enable it to conduct free surgeries for children whose parents could not afford the medical procedure.
The President of the Accra-Dzorwulu Rotary Club, RP Joe Ampem-Darko Antwi, indicated that the gesture was in fulfillment of a pledge at the Rotary Presidential Ball to raise adequate funds to pay for kids who have various degrees of CLP in order to put a smile on their faces.
“It is a known fact that some children who have CLP disorders are ostracised in communities they come from; some are abused and in some cases killed for being bad omen to the community. Parents of these kids and the kids are traumatised and their situation is unpleasant. That is why the Rotary Club of Accra-Dzorwulu elected to raise funds to support the cause of putting back smile on the faces of kids, and also to help with sensitising Ghanaians not to look down on people with such deformities,” he said.
RP Ampem-Darko said so far, five beneficiaries have been cured of the CLP problem and are recovering, while the club promises to raise more funds to enable other kids to have their surgeries done.
On a visit to the Dodowa District Hospital, where some of the patients are undergoing treatment, Dr Kwame Abrokwaa Yankyera and Dr Brainerd Anane of the Graft Foundation expressed their selfless desire to help the kids with cleft lip and palate whose parents cannot afford a surgery to correct the anomaly that has bedevilled their kids.
The club also organised a blood donation exercise to restock the National Blood Bank when it teamed up with other Rotary Clubs to raise over 2,000 pints of blood for the National Blood Bank.
The live-changing gesture by Rotary Accra-Dzowulu formed part of various projects undertaken in 2016/2017, aimed at changing lives of the less-privileged in society.
Other projects undertaken by the club in the same year include the refurbishment of a canteen block for the Dzorwulu A & B Primary School at an amount of GH¢9,627.
The project resurfaced the canteen floor which had deep cracks, repainted the building, replaced the louvers and mosquito nets, laid carpet and fixed the plumbing works and provided sinks for the kids to wash their hands.
The compound which was waterlogged was also excavated and filled with sand, stone and concrete, with gutter dug to give passage to rain water; giving a befitting status for the school children to use.
The club further adopted the primary school and has mapped up a sustainable project.
The club also left their print in the area of sanitation by the construction of a borehole for the people of Gyankama, a village near Aburi in the Eastern Region.
The borehole project cost the club GH¢16,000 and it comes with a submersible pump to pump water at high pressure and also filter the water all season round to offer the best of clean drinking water.
The project also included an additional water tank reservoir to serve the larger community people.
RP Ampem-Darko stated that the club set a target to raise about GH¢100,000 to carry out its projects through members’ support and contribution, as well as corporate donations and partnerships.
Although the club could not achieve its targets, he said the club is satisfied with the fact that it assisted some individuals and communities who have been in need of the things they sought to provide them with.
“We are taking the opportunity to make further appeal to corporate organisations and individuals who are blessed financially to help assist deprived communities and or need people and institutions to have a better living. For us at Rotary Club of Accra-Dzorwulu, we will continue to give off our best to support and urge all others to come to the table with us,” he said.
By Jamila Akweley Okertchiri