commissioning of borehole for Our Lady of Lourdes SHS

 A borehole estimated at the cost of ten thousand Ghana Cedis had been commissioned for the Our Lady of Lourdes Girls Senior High School by the Navrongo-Bolgatanga Diocesan Development Office. 

This brings to three the number of functional boreholes out of four to cater for a student population of about 600. However, two of these mechanized boreholes constructed by the then government are not able to function effectively due to unreliable electricity supply to the school.

The school which has a fence wall of one mile square, has been facing acute water situation for both teachers and students since it was moved to the new site which is quite a distance from town. 

This came to light at a workshop on Child Protection Policy organized for the school by the Catholic Diocese of Navrongo Bolgatanga.

The objective of the workshop was to conscientize teachers on actions that constitute an abuse to a student.

Organised under the leadership of the Catholic Bishop of the Most Rt. Rev. Bishop Alfred Agyenta the workshop also created a platform for students to identify the various forms of abuses, how they occur and the right channel to seek redress when their rights are trampled upon. it was sponsored by the Kindermissionswerk of Germany.

Speaking to Radio Ghana, the Headmistress of the Our Lady of Lourdes School, Rev Sister Agnes Bernice Adongo said her institution is the only single sex school in the Kassena-Nankana District of the Upper East Region that is captured in the Secondary Education Improvement Programme SEIP, yet it is not given much attention in terms of adequate logistics and infrastructure.

She lamented that the school’s only old rickety pick-up that was bequeathed to them by the late Bishop Abadamlora of blessed memory in 2008 has outlived its usefulness.

It only takes the benevolence of some master of the school with motorbikes to sometimes help students to hospital in the event of emergency.

Sister Adongo further lamented that the only dormitory block which accommodates about four hundred students, now houses over 600 and could worsen in the coming years considering the implementation of the free Senior High School flagship policy by government. 

She said quite worrying is how monkeys enter the school premises with impunity since there are no gates to the fence wall. Sister Adongo therefore used the occasion to appeal to government and other philanthropic organization to come the aid of the school.

A facilitator and a Diocesan team member on Child Protection and Safeguarding Programme, Rev. Fr Tommy Hayden of the St Patrick missionaries’ society took participants through the various forms of abuses.

He emphasized the need for all to join hands in championing the cause of children devoid of discrimination and abuse of all forms as enshrined in the child protection policy.

GBC                                                                END

Child Protection Policy workshop organized at St Johns Integrated Senior High Technical School-Navrongo UER

About 72 teachers and 714 students have benefited a from day’s workshop on Child Protection Policy.

The workshop which was organized by the Catholic Diocese under the auspices of the Most Rt. Rev. Bishop Alfred Adjenta of Navrongo-Bolgatanga and sponsored by Kindermissionswerk of Germany.


The Most Rt. Rev. Bishop Adjenta is noted as the first catholic Bishop among his colleagues to organize the child protection workshop in the country.

It was organized at the St Johns Integrated Senior High Technical School in Navrongo  Kassena Nankana District of the Upper East Region.

The aim of the workshop was to educate the teachers about the child protection policy document, why they are being educated about it, and the benefits the teachers, parents, students, community and the nation at large stands to gain from the policy.

In an interview with Radio Ghana, the Regional Manager, Catholic Education Unit of the Navrongo-Bolgatanga Diocese Rev. Sister Bernadine Pemi said, the Child Protection Policy is generally about the management of children, provision of safe learning environment for them while in school and how these management’s skills can be adopted at homes and in communities by the teachers, parents and guardians.

She disclosed that, some of the teachers at times are abusers themselves, citing canning as a correctional measure and sexual abuse by some teachers. She also proposed that teachers should also keep an eye on students in the company of volunteers.

This is because, some volunteer are child abusers in their respective countries and can take advantage of school activities such as excursions and site seeing to abuse the children. 

Sister Pemi indicated that, the core mandate of the policy is to create a conducive atmosphere for learning.

One the part of the students, three facilitators from the Diocese Rev. Father Tommy Hayden with the presentation brothers, a retired educationist of Sandema Senior High Technical School Patricia Yizura and the Programme Head of Social Welfare James Agambilla interacted with the students.

They showed them pictures with various forms of the abuses to identify in case, any of such abuses and encouraged the students to identity such cases, how each abuse is meted out to them and the various channels  via which they can report abuse to the appropriated authorities. 

Most importantly, the children were taken through the Child rights Act, Act 560 of 1998 and the Juvenile Justice Act, 2003 Act 653

Rev father Tommy Hayden member of the St Patrick missionary Society. Advised the students to study hard and that it was the responsibility of the church to guide and protect them to become good future leaders.  

School Health Education Programme SHEP Meeting Held in Bolgatanga- Upper East

      

A stakeholder consultative meeting on sustainable health Programme for school children has been organized in Bolgatanga in the Upper East Region.

The meeting was organized by the health Unit of the Catholic Diocesan Development Office CDDO of Navrongo –Bolgatanga.

The one year project, dubbed “School Health Education Programme” SHEP, seeks to address the health problems of school children in the areas of disease prevention and control, skills based health education, food safety, nutrition, safe and healthy school environment with sole aim of improving basic schools children health and academic performance.

According to the Development Coordinator Dr. Joseph Ayembilla indicated that the phase III project which cost four hundred thousand Euros  400.000 was sponsored by Kindernissionswerk of Germany, with Navrongo-Bolgatanga CDDO as implementing partners for the past three years.

About 76 participants drawn from the Ghana Education Service, the National Health Insurance Scheme NHIS, Catholic Education Unit CEU, and the Ghana Health Service attended the meeting.

In an interview with Radio Ghana, the Project health Coordinator, Mr. Bismark Akasoe disclosed that, the project has three phases which started in 2014. 

The first phase, 2014 to 2015 was piloting the project and 32 schools were covered within the six districts their health facilities are operating in.

Activities were basically education, health screening of school children and food vendors using the catholic health nurses and discussion with stakeholders, Ghana Education Service GES, Ghana Health Service, and the District and Municipal Assemblies.

Mr, Akudugu further indicated that, in the phase II, 2015 to 2016, the number of schools increased to 50. The current Phase III which started in 2016 and will end 2017, 118 schools have been covered. Out of this number he said, 11 schools within the six districts are to benefit from 22 sanitation facilities, a component package in the phase III.

The Regional Chief inspector of schools Mr. John Bobi, on behalf GES, handed over  an 8 seater place of convenient with ancillary facilities, consructed at a total cost of seventy-nine thousand Ghana cedis to the Headmistress of St Johns Junior High School Madam Fustina Agongo.

Madam Agongo was grateful saying the school has a student population of about four hundred and a place of convenient has been one of their major challenge over the years. 

2017 Feok Festival Launched in Sandema – Upper East Region

Speakers at the launch of the  2017 Feok Festival celebrated by the chiefs and people of the Builsa Traditional Area in the  Upper East Region, have made a passionate appeal to government  to work towards the inclusion of the  Buli language in the educational curricular. 

The event was organized by the 2017 Planning Committee together under the auspices of the Paramount Chief and prominent personalities of the Builsa Traditional Area. According to the committee, the launch will be climaxed in December 22, 2017 under the theme “Redefining Our Culture: 

The Path to Sustainable Unity and Development”.This year’s launch came much earlier to open up the focus of the feok Festival based on the chosen theme. 

Over the years, the celebration of the Feok Festival had been centered on the historical perspective of how Samori and Babatuu fought and won against their colonial masters upon arrival. 

Launching the event, a senior lecturer at the University of Ghana, College of Agriculture and Consumer Sciences, Dr Pascal Baylon Atengdem described the theme for the celebration as appropriate because those are the things that move people beyond history. 

Dr. Atengdem stressed, that things that differentiate between people, are languages spoken, names, social institutions, stories, proverbs, dressing, music, drumming and dancing among others. 

He lamented that if these cultural values of the Builsa’s were changing and losing focus, the Builsa culture risk being extinct and everything possible must be done to preserve it except the barbaric ones. 

Dr. Atengdem indicated that, the Builsa’s have a rich culture and language is a key part of defining the people’s culture and if language dies, the culture dies as well. 

He added that it was necessary to start the process to get it being taught at the basic school level based on the principles of using the mother tongue. On the issue of the free Senior High School policy, 

Dr Atengdem said it was very sustainable and as a development sociologist, he believes money was not the issue but ideas. 

The sustainability of it is for people to believe that it is necessary to raise the level of basic education to secondary, thus from the Junior High School to Senior High. 

He cited India and China ruling the economy of the industrialized countries because of knowledge, adding that NASA will buy the best brain irrespective of where one comes from. 

Dr Atengdem therefore advised that education is life and therefore should not be politicized. A former member of the Council of State, His excellency Adenzi Kanga advocated for a site to be acquired for the construction of a cultural village, where all artefacts of the Builsa’s can be stored and learnt by teachers to be taught in schools. 

He pledged to sponsor key leaders of the Builsa communities across the country to come and contribute towards the proposed project. 

Activities lined-up for the three month celebration leading to map out potential tourist sites for development, cleaning exercise in Sandema and Fumbisi, a soccer fiesta, Queen Mother’s kitchen, Feok Awards night and launching of Educational Fund. 

The Paramount Queen Mother of the area, Poknab Atebalie said indigenous dishes and dress code will be expected especially young ladies in this year’s festival.

Sacred Heart choir at 60 anniversary with a singsong night- Upper East

 

A singsong night have been organized by the Sacred Heart Cathedral Parish Choir as part of activities to mark their sixtieth anniversary celebration in Bolgatanga. 

The aim of the singsong night was to thank God for guidance, protection and for seeing the choir through its 60 years of existence. As music makers, it was therefore prudent to gather together to sing to glorify God. 

The yearlong anniversary which was launched in February this year, have organized health screening exercise and embarked on outreach programmes including visits to stations to sing together. 

In August this year, the choir recorded its maiden yet to be produced album titled “Our Praises”. On September, 29, the celebration will be climaxed with a thanksgiving mass as well as awards and dinner dance. 

In all, seven choirs took part in singsong night. Five within the Catholic Church; the Sacred Heart, St Cecilia, Young Sacred Heart and St. Peters Choir, Holy Trinity Choir from Our Lady Queen of Africa Parish OLA and two sister choir from the Seventh Day Adventist and the Methodist denominations. 

In an interview with Radio Ghana, the President of the Sacred Heart Cathedral Choir Ms. Alice Abere-innga said, the choir is a liturgical arm in animating the celebration of all Masses. 

She indicated that since the inception of the Choir by the Navrongo-Bolgatanga Diocese in 1925, Masses were animated in Latin until the late 50s when Vatican allowed masses to be said in local languages alongside English. 

It was in 1957 that the choir was formally established, but still battling to resolve its longstanding leadership crisis. 

Ms. Abere-innga further cited poor practice attendance, inadequate musical instruments, books for singing and the dwindling number of choristers as some challenges faced by the choir. 

She was however grateful to the church for taking steps to acquire some musical instruments for the choir and appealed for more support in other areas. 

She disclosed that despite the challenges, the choir has produced three priests and three sisters serving in the vineyard of the Lord. 

Ms. Abere-innga said good singing enhances meditation, worship and the decent of the Holy Spirit, adding that whoever sings, prays twice.

BULLETIN 

National Pensioners Association commended for establishing Medical Scheme

The National Pensioners Association has established Medical Scheme to cater for the health needs of their members. 

This was made known during the National Executive Council Meeting of the Association held in Bolgatanga. 

It was on the theme “Mobilizing Pensioners towards a Better and Healthy Life”. The Association is in partnership with sixty three Government and faith-based hospitals. 

The Association through their contributions, have issued 25,000 cards to its members to access health care. 

The meeting attracted Pensioners from all the ten regions in the country. In an address, the Upper East Regional Minister, Rockson Ayine Bukari, commended the Association for establishing the scheme, adding that the nation remained indebted to the Pensioners for contributing significantly to national development. 

Mr. Bukari indicated that the government under the leadership of President Nana Addo Dankwah Akuffo-Addo, was working feverishly through the Ministry of Finance to streamline and improve upon the welfare and condition of pensioners. 

He added that this will soon be felt in all aspect of their lives, saying measures are also being put in place to address the needs of key demographic segments in society. 

These measures, Mr. Bukari disclosed are specifically, to set up pension arrangements for farmers in major cash crop agricultural sectors like Cocoa, Coffee, Sheanut, Oil Palm, pineapple and cashew nuts for members of small scale associations such as GPRTU and Association of Small Scale Industries. 

The Regional Minister appealed to the Pensioners to use their endowed working experience to support the government’s flagship programmes such as the One Village One Dam and One District One Factory. 

He also admonished them to avoid negative life styles such as smoking and excessive intake of alcoholism and to regularly exercise and socialize instead of living in isolation. 

The General Secretary of the Association, Edward Ameyibor, stated that the most important aspect of the Medical Scheme is to support members with prostate and Gynecological cancers. 

He announced that from September 2017, the policy for each member of the Association, is to receive 300 Ghana cedis per annum as support to purchase drugs from designated pharmacist across the country. 

Mr Ameyibor explained that the meeting was significant because it coincides with the 25^th Anniversary of the National Pensioners Association and noted that it would also be used as platform to deliberate on the recent SSNIT saga. 

It will also be used to review, reshape and evaluate programmes and policies to help improve upon the effective operation of the Association.

                                                                 

Muslims in Upper East Region mark Eidul-Ahda celebrations

 

                              

Muslims in the Upper East Region converged at the Bolgatanga Central Mosque to mark the Eidul-Ahda celebration. 

Prayers were led by the regional Chief Imam, Alhaji Yusiff Adams while a ram was slaughtered to mark the occasion.  

In a brief sermon, Alhaji Adams said Eidul-Ahda is a festival of sacrifice in honour of Prophet Abraham who obeyed Allah’s command to sacrifice his son, Ismail. He said for that display of commitment to sacrifice his son of obedience to Allah’s command, Allah exchanged that sacrifice with a sheep. 

The Regional Chief Imam therefore entreated Muslims in the region to cultivate the habit of sacrifice in all their undertakings.  

The Upper East Regional Minister, Rockson Bukari, who was the Special Guest of Honour, said the desire to get rich fast is killing the divine act of sacrifice. 

He said by throwing sacrifice to the dogs, they find that armed-robbery, motor bike snatching, corruption and other anti-social tendencies are very rampant in the region and the country at large. Mr Bukari said the teachings of Islam are to stand the test of time.  

Rev.  Father Samuel Atinga a representative of the Bishop of the Navrongo-Bolgatanga Diocese who graced the occasion underscored the need for Christians and Muslims to peacefully co-exist. This, he noted, is the only way the region and the country at large can witness the needed development.