"The DOLLAR A MONTH FOR GHANA FUND", an initiative of the Ghana High Commission in Sierra Leone has in its second financial year bagged an amount of $23,000.
The Fund, which, seeks to mobilze the financial contribution of the Ghanaian community in Sierra Leone, to support philanthropic causes in both Ghana and Sierra Leone was launched in February 2002. An amount of $21,000 was fetched last year.
Speaking at a dinner/dance to round off activities marking Ghana's 47th Independence Anniversary in Freetown, Ghana's High Commissioner to Sierra Leone, Kabral Blay-Amihere, thanked the Ghanaian community for showing the highest sense of patriotism by keeping the Fund going for two years.
High Commissoner Kabral commended all the contributors to the Fund for sharing with the motherland and said the nation stands to gain if Ghanaians abroad continue to support the motherland.
A number of institutions and individuals were presented with certificates of appreciation for making significant contribution to the Fund.
They included two Ghanaian battalions who have served with the United Nations Peacekeeping Mission in Sierra Leone(UNAMSIL), Ghanbatts 7 and 8, Mr. Harold Kwapong of UNAMSIL, Mr. Joe Oshiapem, Manager of Ghana Airways, Freetown, Office Automation Company Limited, a Ghanaian company and Chief Tony Chinyere, a Nigerian entrepreneur.
His Excellency Kabral announced that the Ghana High Commission will in consultation with contributors to the Fund make presentation to selected beneficiaries in Ghana and Sierra Leone in May.
Last year, the Fund donated dual desks and eye glasses to some schools in Ghana. In Sierra Leone, the Fund donated tape recorders to the Milton Margai School for the Blind and assorted sewing machines to the Handicapped Action Movement, a non-governmental organisation for the disabled. The Fund also supported the building of a dental clinic by Ghanaian troops at Lungi, a town near Freetown.
In a related development, a special thanksgiving service attended by Ghanaians was organised on Sunday, March 14, 2004".
