Female students to aid community

Accra (Greater Accra), 16 March '99

The Women's Commission of the Students Representative Council (SRC) of University of Ghana, Legon, said on Tuesday that it will canvass for the provision of amenities for Obodan, a village near Nsawam, in the Eastern Region. Their target will be to seek assistance for the rehabilitation of schools and farms, as a means of improving the standards of living of the people. Miss Mavis Amoo Asante, Chairman, Miss Esther Yankah, Organising Secretary and Miss Serah Amoako, Secretary, led 20 female students to interact with the community at Obodan, the group's first contact community in the Akwapim South District. The aim of the commission is to create a forum for female students to express themselves and contribute to the general welfare of students. The Commission also aims at offering leadership training to female students. The visit, which formed part of the fifth anniversary of the Women's Commission of the SRC, was to enable the group to familiarise itself with rural life and find ways to improve the lifestyle of the people. The students donated 200,000 cedis towards the development of the Obodan Presbyterian Primary School. Miss Yankah said the Commission would adopt the Obodan community for 10 years during which it would, among other things, encourage women in the area "to take their destiny into their own hands." She said they would forward their findings after their interaction with the community to the Commission and Akwapim South District Assembly. The students, including foreign nationals, who addressed the people commended them for keeping the town clean and advised them to maintain a healthy environment, plant trees, immunise their children and send their girls to school. They called on the government to re-construct feeder roads in the district saying, large quantities of foodstuff meant for the urban centres remain locked up at farm gates. Mr Kingsley Adjei Boahene, Deputy Co-ordinating Director who deputised for Mr Emmanuel Attah Owusu, Akwapim South District Chief Executive, thanked the group for showing interest in the Obodan community. He said the donation demonstrates the preparedness of the Commission to support the area to enable the people to improve their living conditions.