NGO ORGANISES CAMPAIGN FOR CHILDREN (PAGE 29, APRIL 9, 2010)

A local Non- Governmental Organisation (NGO), Safe Child Ghana, is to embark on a campaign to educate children in the Tema Metropolis and Ashaiman Municipality on how to handle electrical gadgets to avoid electricution.
The campaign which will start on Monday, April 12 is in collaboration with the Volta River Authority (VRA), Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) and the Ashaiman Municipal Assembly.
It would involve education, open forums and inspection of electrical gadgets in schools.
The Chief Executive of the NGO , Safe Child Ghana, Mrs Eunice Gifty Baabu, disclosed this at a forum at Ashaiman during which the Ashaiman No 1 Primary School was presented with a computer with accessories and 150 books on electrical safety and other supplementary books worth GH¢2,500 for being the safest school in the area.
She said the school had all its sockets, plugs and electrical wirings properly covered to prevent shocks and injuries when children, out of ignorance, get in contact with them.
Mrs Baabu said the organisation, realizing the need to educate the youth on how to avoid injuries and death resulting from shocks, launched a competition last year on the theme “Safety Begins with you”, for pupils to practise safety both at school and at home.
She said a team which went round some schools found naked electrical wires and sockets, rendering them dangerous for use by the children.
Mrs Baabu said the organisation had set a target to minimise child injuries by 2015 and therefore would ensure that serious education campaigns would be undertaken to bring safety awareness to the children.
The Ashaiman Municipal Chief Executive, Mr Numo Adinortey Addison, who received the items on behalf of the school, appreciated the effort by the NGO to prevent injuries and shocks.
He called on other organisations to support the initiative of the NGO to help give children adequate education on how to prevent electric shocks and injuries .
The Municipal Director of Education, Mrs Florence Quaye, was full of praise for the service being rendered by the NGO and said, “we expect more organisations to join in educating the children on hazards .”
She said most parents were being educated on the proper use of electricity by their children from what they had learnt in school.
The Headteacher of the Ashaiman No 1A, Ms Janet Amankwa, expressed her joy for the school winning the competition on safety .
She said this would give her the urge to ensure that electrical gadgets in the school were all provided with safety covers to give credence to winning the competition.