Good Shepherd Catholic Church launches educational fund

The Good Shepherd Catholic Church at Tema on Sunday launched an education endowment fund to sponsor brilliant but needy Catholic children.

Through the instrumentality of the Parish Priest, the Reverend Father Andrew Campbell, a number of such children have benefited from such humanitarian gesture and have completed tertiary education. Under the fund a total of 118 pupils/students from Tema, Dodowa, Ayikuma and Kordiabe in the Dangme West District were given their financial assistance for the next academic term. They will have the subsequent fees each time school re-opens.

Sixteen of them were taken from Saint John Bosco School at Tema, 34 each from Dodowa and Kordiabe Roman Catholic schools and 24 from Ayikuma.

Dr K.A. Koranteng, Chairman of the Parish Endowment Fund Committee, warned that beneficiaries, who would perform poorly, might have their scholarships withdrawn.

Rev Fr Campbell said he went through his education with difficulties at a tender age when he had to fend for himself to pay school fees and a benefactor offered assistance until he completed his training for the priesthood.

''Having gone through such hard times I get touched when I come across many children, great assets to the church and society, who have dropped out of school and taken to the streets to face the vagaries of life.''

Launching the fund Mr Paul Victor Obeng, former Presidential Advisor in the erstwhile Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC) government, appealed to privileged people to be each other's keeper by assisting needy children to have quality education so that they could contribute to nation building.

He said it is not beneficial for one to be endowed and not translating it practically to benefit the poor and commended the Good Shepherd Church for the laudable move that must be copied by all. Mr Samuel Evans Ashong Narh, Tema Municipal Chief Executive, commended the Catholic Church for its contribution in all sectors of the economy. He said the Tema Municipal Assembly (TMA) had also instituted a scholarship scheme and 76 students have benefited from it while 95 teacher trainees have also been sponsored to pursue various programmes at the Teacher Training Colleges.

An amount of 41.1 million cedis was realised in aid of the needy children. Aug. 11, 03