By Elorm Yao Aryee
In a spirit of love and care for the sick, the Volta Regional Office of the Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA) commemorated this year’s National Chocolate Day with children on admission at the Ho Teaching and Municipal Hospitals.
Varieties of chocolate and other cocoa products were distributed to put smiles on the faces of the children and their parents to celebrate the day, which also marks Valentine’s Day.
Officials of the Authority also engaged the sick children with words of encouragement to give them hope in their healing process.
The National Chocolate Day was instituted by the Ministry of Tourism in 2005 to promote the consumption of chocolate and other cocoa products for their nutritional and health benefits and to boost local industries.
It is also aimed at encouraging Ghanaians to use cocoa products to express their love for their loved ones during Valentine’s Day.
The Volta Regional Director of GTA, Johnny Arthur Quarm, said the gesture was borne out of love and compassion for the children, especially when they are in difficult times.
“It is frustrating and difficult periods for patients and their families who are on admission at the hospital, so today being Valentine’s Day, which we call Chocolate Day, we decided to come and show love to the children on admission to motivate and share some time with them because they also deserve love in such a way that they wouldn’t feel isolated,” he stated.
At the Ho Teaching Hospital, the Head of the Department for Pediatric and Child Health Unit , Dr Selorm Tsrakasu, on behalf of the children, thanked GTA for the gesture, saying that cocoa products will help boost their immune system, which is essential in the healing process of patients.
The Chief Executive Officer of Ho Teaching Hospital, Dr. John Tampuori, said such gestures have positive effects on the mental health of patients.
“Don’t take for granted the effect of happiness on the health of a human being. The body has a way of alleviating pain and suffering when you are happy, no matter the condition someone is suffering from. And chocolate in particular stimulates the brain to produce hormones of happiness and it goes a long way to alleviate the pain of patients,” Dr Tampuori noted.
At the Ho Municipal Hospital, a Senior Nurse at the children’s ward, Hadijatu Maudey, urged parents to feed their wards with cocoa products for their nutritional and health benefits.
“Cocoa products are edible and have so much nutritional value to the body, so we always encourage parents to provide their children with cocoa products instead of sugary foods and drinks,” she said.
Staff at the Volta Regional office of GTA earlier visited the Ho lorry station, where drivers and passengers were gifted some chocolate and cocoa products to mark the day.
The regional office of GTA marked the Chocolate Day celebration with support from a transport company, Frankdoful Car Hire Purchase Agency.
The Supervisor of the Company, Vida Nkpenntey Onai, pledged their support in subsequent celebrations of National Chocolate Day as part of their corporate social responsibilities to assist humanity.
