Upper East Red Cross Society gets assistance

The work of the Upper East branch of the Ghana Red Cross Society has been given a boost with the presentation of a brand new Toyota Hilux pick-up vehicle and eight motorbikes by the Swiss Red Cross (SRC) at a brief ceremony in Bolgatanga.

The presentation came at a time the Red Cross launched a Maternal Newborn and Child Health Programme to be carried out in selected districts of the region.

The programme, aimed at reducing maternal and child mortality in the Upper East region will be implemented over a three-year period with the Kassena-Nankana central area and the Nabdam, Binduri and Bongo districts benefiting.

Mr. Seth Addae-Kyereme, Country Representative of the Swiss Red Cross, who presented the vehicles noted that, “times are hard for people to dedicate their all to volunteerism but since the work of the Red Cross is a calling, those who avail themselves to the noble course must do so in sincerity and dedication”.

He urged the Upper East Red Cross to put the vehicles to the intended use and adequately account for them so as to earn further support stressing that, these vehicles were bought through hard-earned contributions of the Swiss People for the benefit of people in need.

Mr. Addae-Kyereme commended the Ghana Health Service and the Red Cross Mothers’ Clubs saying the former had always supported Red Cross efforts with its limited resources and immense expertise in the health sector whilst the latter had been pivotal in the delivery of essential health and hygiene promotion messages to community members.

According to him, the perennial natural disasters like flooding could hinder certain crucial activities of the Red Cross, thus the Swiss Red Cross would further support the Disaster Risk Reduction programme of the Red Cross in the Region.

The Upper East Regional Manager of the Ghana Red Cross Society, Mr. Joseph Abarike in his welcome address said his branch had grown over the years with the constant support of the Ghana Red Cross and the Swiss Red Cross.

He revealed that the branch had among other interventions in the health, disaster management and education sectors opened and nurtured about eight Day Care Centres which had transformed into Junior and Senior High Schools in areas which hitherto had no schools.

Mr. Abarike further disclosed that in just over a few years the membership of the Mothers’ Clubs grew from 1,500 to 15,000 while more mothers still join by the day. In addition, the branch extended several forms of assistance to flood victims in parts of the region in times past.

He said with assistance and training from UNICEF and the Ghana Health Service, 250 mothers were trained on Newborn Care who in turn trained their peers in the communities on behaviour change modules such as hand washing with soap and clean water, sleeping under treated mosquito nets and environmental sanitation among others.

He said under the Maternal Newborn and Child Health Programme, well-crafted messages on maternal, new-born and child health would be disseminated through community durbars, music and drama by the Mothers’ Clubs, the Red Cross School Clubs and other forms of media to the target groups in close collaboration with the Ghana Health Service.

He thanked Swiss Red Cross for its tremendous support and pledged that he and his volunteers would give off their best with the added logistics.

Secretary General of the Ghana Red Cross, Mr. Kofi Addo noted that the presentation of the vehicles laid the foundation stone for the expansion of the Red Cross’s capacity to deliver more qualitative and effective relief and humanitarian services to the vulnerable.

He hinted that new programmes on health and disaster risk reduction would soon be introduced while institutional support in the areas of administration, office machines and vehicles would be intensified.

Mr. Addo paid glowing tribute to the Swiss Red Cross for its support to the Ghana Red Cross saying in the recent past, such support brought into fruition an eye clinic at the Nandom Hospital, construction of 20-unit two and one-bedroom houses for flood victims in the Atiwa District of the Eastern Region, assisted in the training of 300 Red Cross volunteers in the Upper East region to help combat Cerebro Spinal Meningitis among other forms of assistance.