Student's Christian fellowship donates to Mampong babies home

Mampong (Ash), May 2, GNA - Madam Mabel Asafu-Adjaye, the Superintendent in-charge of the Mampong Babies Home, at the weekend appealed to philanthropists and well-wishers for assistance to expand facilities at the orphanage.

She said it was sad and distressful for management of the home to refuse to accept babies that have lost their mothers through childbirth or were abandoned by teenage mothers because of lack of facilities. Madam Asafu-Adjaye made the appeal at the home when she received 500,000 cedis' worth of commodities and foodstuffs donated by the Mampong Technical Teachers College of Education (MTTCE) branch of the Pentecostal Students and Associates (PENSA).

She said the orphanage, the fourth in the country, was set up in 1967 by the Sisters of the Order of the Holy Paraclete, a religious Order of the Anglican Church in response to constant requests and pleas, mostly from rural families of babies who had lost their mothers during delivery at the Mampong Maternity Hospital.

Madam Asafu-Adjaye said babies are admitted into the home directly from the maternity hospital or are brought in by families and relatives from rural communities, mostly in the Ejura Sekye Dumase District of Ashanti.

Madam Asafu-Adjaye said the babies are kept at the home until they are four years before they are given to their families or released for adoption.

The orphanage has 32 babies and children, including three others who did not get admission, but are living with some attendants of the home. The main problem of the home is lack of potable water, residential and educational facilities.

Besides, the home also provides training under the Mother-craft Scheme for female school leavers who are sponsored by community-based organisations and non-governmental organisations to become Day Care and Nursery attendants in their communities.

Mad Asafu-Adjaye expressed appreciation for the donation and hoped they would continue to show interest in the welfare of the children. The President of PENSA, Mr George Anane Adjei, said they were touched by the plight of the children and appealed to individuals, groups and organisations to come to the aid of the home. Members of the fellowship later undertook a one-hour weeding exercise on the compound of the home.