Education Minister commends Airtel Ghana for "Touching Lives"

Education Minister Lee Ocran has urged corporate bodies to emulate the example of Airtel Ghana’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiative, Touching Lives.

The initiative, which began airing on television from the 11th of March 2012, tells stories of how Airtel with the help of the public, identify people across the country who are doing extraordinary acts of goodness to help their families, communities and humanity in general.

Mr Ocran, who witnessed the premiere of this season’s TV screening of ‘Touching Lives’ noted: “We have all been touched, not just by the story of Rebecca but by the commitment and interest Airtel has shown in the people of this country.

"The programme is thought provoking and heart warming and we are all very impressed with the statement of dedication you have made to the people of Ghana”.

The Minister, who was until recently Ghana’s Ambassador to South Africa added that, “the issue of CSR is one which has been debated severally across the world on what form it should take and whether or not the state should be involved to make it obligatory.

“But then, that may defeat the whole concept, wouldn’t it? Whichever form that debate takes. I will want to call on other corporate entities to learn the example of Airtel”.

The Managing Director of Airtel Ghana, Mr Philip Sowah explained that “with Touching Lives we create an opportunity for Ghanaians to nominate people they know who are going an extra mile to make a difference in the lives of others in their families and communities, with a strong emphasis on offering support which beneficiaries will find sustainable.

The first episode of the series, subtitled ‘Rebecca the Hero’ began airing on television on Sunday March 11 and will continue on selected stations throughout the week with the next episode subtitled “A Mad obsession” starting on Sunday March 18.

Touching Lives will be aired on GTV (Friday 8:30pm), Metro TV (Saturday 6:30pm), TV Africa (Saturday 6:30pm), GH One (Sunday 6:30pm), Adom TV on Multi TV (Sunday 8pm with repeats on Wednesday 8:30pm) and TV3 (Sunday 9pm with a repeat of the previous one at 3:30pm)