L’OREAL West Africa gives Tetteh Ocloo State school for the Deaf a facelift

L’Oreal West Africa, headquartered in Accra, Ghana has refurbished the Tetteh Ocloo State School for the Deaf at Adjei Kojo as part of the company’s annual community volunteering programme, Citizen’s Day.

Since its inception in 2010, Citizen’s Day allows staff to devote one working day in a year towards making a difference in communities across the markets they operate in, demonstrating L’Oréal’s commitment to corporate social responsibility.

The Tetteh Ocloo State School for the Deaf is the only special school in the Greater Accra region for the hearing-impaired. Established in August 1965 by Dr. Seth Tetteh Ocloo, the school provides education for over 300 students with hearing and speech difficulties in the region.

The refurbishment project included painting the school premises, renovating the playground and the washrooms of the students and a donation of a deep freezer to the school. The enhancement of this infrastructure will improve the overall wellbeing and academic development of the students.

During a short ceremony held at the school’s premises to commemorate the Citizen Day’s celebration, Mr. Sekou Coulibaly, Managing Director of L’Oréal West Africa said, “This initiative demonstrates each year the outstanding commitment and solidarity of our employees with local communities and the world around us.” He added, "Citizen Day is at the core of our corporate culture and a source of shared pride.”

Speaking at the event, Mr. Isaac Arthur, the head of the school expressed his appreciation to L’Oréal West Africa and appealed to other corporate bodies for support

“We are grateful to L’Oréal West Africa for the gesture as we know this infrastructure will support the learning needs of our students and empower them to achieve more”

About 30,000 L’Oréal employees from nearly 65 countries take part in various solidarity initiatives proposed on Citizen’s Day each year. This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Group’s unrelenting effort to build sustainable partnerships and bring development to communities through the Citizen’s Day initiative.

Over the years, L’Oréal West Africa staff in Ghana have marked Citizen’s Day by undertaking initiatives such as the building and refurbishment of the Hair Academy at the Demonstration School for the Deaf, Akuapim-Mampong, the refurbishment of the ICT centre at the Marteytsuru Presby Basic School in the Spintex community, economic empowerment for women with physical challenges in collaboration with the Ghana Federation for the Disabled, building a multipurpose unit for nursing mothers at the Abokobi Government hospital, provision of dustbins and clean-up of plastic waste of La- Beach as well as donations of various products from brands in the L’Oréal Group.