Monday, January 9, 2012

2000 CHILDREN BENEFIT FROM NUTRITION PROGRAMME


(Daily Graphic, Jan 7, 2012, page 15)

MORE THAN 2000 children selected from communities in the Yendi Municipality and Saboba District have benefitted from a health and nutrition intervention extended to them by two non-governmental organisations working in the Northern Region.
Each year, Tuma Kavi, a grassroots organisation, in partnership with the Christian Children’s Fund of Canada (CCFC), undertakes a health and nutrition assessment for children in its operational communities.
As part of this exercise, the children are screened for various ailments and provided with medications, including de-wormers.
This year’s exercise was carried out in seven schools located within deprived communities in the Yendi Municipality and the Saboba District.
The exercise was supported by the respective assemblies of these two areas as well as the Ghana Health Service (GHS) and the Ghana Education Service (GES).
Speaking to the Daily Graphic during the exercise, the Program Officer for Tuma Kavi, Mr Joshua Salifu Mogre said many of the children were found with conditions such as ringworm, malnutrition and sores.
“Some of the conditions are caused by worms and this explains why we have chosen to always include a de-worming exercise,” he stated.
Mr Mogre further noted that aside the health screening, Tuma Kavi, with funding from the CCFC, had provided rainwater harvesting tanks and learning materials for the various schools in its operational areas.
“We have also constructed new classroom blocks and we are supporting the school feeding programmes in these schools,” he added.
He said over GH¢240,000 had so far been spent on implementing these projects in these beneficiary schools, adding that more of such interventions would be implemented during 2012.
Mr Mogre said Tuma Kavi had received assurances from the Country Director of the CCFC, Mrs Sanatu Nantogma, that the CCFC would remain a major partner in efforts aimed at improving upon the welfare of children in disadvantaged communities.
“We at Tuma Kavi also remain committed towards introducing more interventions that would bridge the gap between children in rural communities and their counterparts in urban areas,” he pledged.

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