Staff in one of the offices at the Hajj Village busy at their desks
Ghana Hajj Board has released schedules for this year’s orientation programme for prospective pilgrims.
This would be the second time that this all-important pre-Hajj activity would be taking place, the first time being last year when it was greeted with immense enthusiasm by beneficiaries and their families. Little wonder prospective pilgrims and their relatives have been yearning for it and wondering if indeed there would be a repeat this year.
The first shot would take place at the Central Mosque in Yendi in the Northern Region on Saturday, May 18, 2024, followed by Tamale on Sunday, May 19, 2024, according the schedule released by the Executive Secretary of the Ghana Hajj Board, Alhaji Farouk Hamza.
The North East Region version will hold in Walewale on Monday, May 20, 2024, as the Upper East Region’s is scheduled for Tuesday, May 21, 2024.
In the Ashanti Regional capital, Kumasi, the programme will take place at the Central Mosque on Wednesday, May 22, 2024 and in Accra Thursday, May 23, 2024 at the Hajj Village, a departure from last year’s when it was held at the Kanda National Mosque.
The orientation has since its inception last year been helpful to especially first timers to Saudi Arabia and those without international travel experience.
Besides the spiritual education such as the supplications, intentions and others to be imparted by the Islamic clerics constituting the Daawah Committee, the programme allows the Medical Department of the Hajj Board to teach prospective pilgrims how to keep themselves healthy and access the medical facilities available during the month-long stay in Saudi Arabia.
Also to be imparted to prospective pilgrims during the orientation programme is an overview of Hajj 2024 to psych them up for the religious exercise.
The extreme heat during the pilgrimage calls for hydration by pilgrims through consumption of sufficient water, practice some pilgrims however avoid to minimise washroom visits much to the detriment of their health.
During such orientations, the medical personnel educate them about what heat stroke is and how this can be occasioned by exposure to extreme heat.
Activities are peaking at the Hajj Village, the control centre of operations for the pilgrimage. Stakeholders are scheduled to undertake an inspection tour of the location ahead of the commencement of flights from both Accra and Tamale.
The Tamale flights will commence on May 28 and end on May 31, while the Accra flights will start on June 2 and end on June 6, flights from both ends totaling nine.
By A.R. Gomda