MTN donates GH¢33,000 for hole-in-heart children

Accra, Oct. 2, GNA - MTN Ghana Foundation on Friday presented a cheque for GH¢33,000 to the Golden Heart Trust (GHT), a non-governmental organisation, to assist three boys suffering from congenital heart problems to go for corrective surgery. The children are Michael Ampadu, 10, Emmanuel Sarpong, 11, and Stephen Mensah, 6, are among 21 beneficiaries of similar support by GHT and its collaborators.

Since 2007, GHT and it collaborators have supported 18 children with close to 40,000 Euros to undergo successful heart surgeries at the Korle-Bu Cardiothoracic Centre. GHT is a group of 10 Ghanaian and Nigerian women with a passion to save the lives of children.

Mr Brett Goschen, Chief Executive Officer of MTN Ghana and board member of the MTN Ghana Foundation, who presented the cheque, said children were the future of the nation and MTN considered it a responsibility to support any initiative intended to secure the lives of children.

He noted that MTN Ghana Foundation had targeted health and education as flagship projects and therefore the support for the three children was in line with the Foundation's focus. Mr Goschen expressed the hope that the children would come out of the surgery successfully.

Mrs Janet Adetu, President of GHT, said with the support of MTN, the children would undergo surgery in a couple of days and be up and running within a matter of five days.

She noted that the late discovery of congenital heart problems in children had created problems because cost of surgery was usually high, making it difficult for parents to foot the bill. Mrs Adetu expressed confidence that MTN would sustain the support for such a cause and called on other corporate organisations to come on board to save the lives of children.

She said GHT would soon organise a health walk and other activities intended to encourage healthy lifestyle and raise funds to save more children.