Friendly football match organised to mark Ramadan Festival

Supong (BA), Oct. 2, GNA - The Dormaa Traditional Healers and Birth Attendants Association (DOTHEBAA), a local NGO has organised a football match between Aboabo Number One Kromo Stars and the Supong Islamic Stars at Supong as part of its activities lined up to commemorate this year's Ed-Ul-Fitr Ramadan festival in the Dormaa Municipality, a predominant Moslem Community. The games were preceded by health talks and advice to the youth to endeavour to submit to voluntary counselling and testing to ascertain their HIV status.

The programme, which was sponsored by the Centre for Development of People (CEDEP), an NGO, was under the theme: "Know Your Status, Clear Your Mind", and brought together the chiefs and people of Supong as well as Kromo Stars, the victors in a similar health games held among the four Aboabo towns in the Municipality. Mr Mahama Salaam, Executive Director for DOTHEBAA, deplored the current indifference among the youth towards the call on society to know their HIV status and to desist from pre-marital sex. He said that the Association's decision in selecting communities in the area for the health messages have created the desired awareness but regretted that some of the public, especially the most vulnerable age group were not displaying the zeal expected of them towards the counselling and testing messages. Mr Salaam therefore appealed to parents and opinion leaders to persuade their children to take keen interest in the exercise in order to access available drugs designed to enhance the lives of HIV positive persons. The Odikro of Supong, Nana Adama Yeboah Sese advised the youth to take advantage of the interventions to improve upon their health and economic status.

He urged the youth to go into agriculture to produce crops such as maize, jethropha and moringa which are now very marketable in the country. Nana Adama Sese advised the people not to meddle in any campaign related violence as it had the potential to divide their ranks. He also warned political party activists visiting the area with campaign messages to desist from acts and language that could polarise his community. The Aboabo Number One Kromo Stars successfully fully defended the football trophy by defeating the Supong Islamic Stars by three goals to two. 02 Oct. 08