By Emmanuel Mensah-Abludo
In its quest to give nutritional support to kids at the St. Joseph’s Orphanage in Jirapa in the Upper West Region, an NGO, Charity Watch Foundation (CHAWAF), has donated some items to the orphanage.
Charity Watch Foundation, which is registered as a 501(C) organisation in Colombus, Ohio (USA), has a mission to uplift and empower vulnerable communities by providing essential livelihood, nutritional support, educational assistance, and access to clean water and sanitation to orphans, needy children, as well as women. If an organisation is labeled 501(c), it means it is a nonprofit organisation concerned with providing a public benefit and is exempt from paying federal income taxes.
The value of the items donated to St. Joseph’s Orphanage is GHS 12,000 (twelve thousand Ghana Cedis), and they include rice, oil, tin fish, mosquito sprays, Richoco, milk powder, Milo, detergents, soap, biscuits, tomato paste, lactogen, SMA, toothpaste, and sachet water.
The President of Charity Watch Foundation and Ph.D. candidate at Walden University in the US, Edward I. Sumaila, who made the presentation on behalf of the board members, said the gesture is in tandem with the Foundation’s nutritional support activity.
Mr Sumaila, who is doing Information Systems Management for his Ph.D., expressed appreciation to the management and staff of the ophanage for their marvellous service to humanity and noted that the gesture from the Charity Watch Foundation will not be a one-off event but will crystallise into a long-lasting relationship to enable them to come to Jirapa from time-to-time.
He equally called on other public-spirited organisations and individuals to reach out to orphanages in the Northern part of Ghana and not to remain only in the south. Mr Sumaila also gave an undisclosed amount of money to cater for other needs of the children at the orphanage.
A Retired Public Health Nurse and in charge of the St. Joseph’s Orphanage, Reverend Sr. Lydia Akanpientiba, who received the items, was extremely thankful to the benefactors for their support, which she described as heartwarming. Sr. Lydia observed that the package from the donors will be utilised as intended and hoped that the example from the Charity Watch Foundation will sow a seed of kindness in the children for them to grow up to be public-spirited citizens.
The [Ghana] Country Director of Charity Watch Foundation, Madam Elfreda Abudu, was among those who presented the package to the orphanage.
At the time of the visit, St. Joseph’s Orphanage had 21 inmates, with the oldest being 12 years and the youngest being seven (7) weeks old.
Charity Watch Foundation, which has the tagline “Small Steps, Great Impacts,” has “Nutritional Assistance”, “Livelihood Support”, “Poverty Alleviation”, “Educational Assistance”, “Water and Sanitation”, as well as “Peace and Security” as its activity areas.
