GIVE US CHILDREN'S PARK (Page 28)

Story: Vincent Adedze, Tamale

CHILDREN in the Tamale metropolis have entreated the Tamale Metropolitan Assembly (TAMA) and public spirited organisations to facilitate the establishment of a children’s park in the metropolis.
They equally stressed the need for children to be involved in activities that bordered on their welfare to enable them realise their full potential for the accelerated development of the area.
“The inability of the authorities to provide us with a park where we can meet other children from all manner of social backgrounds, particularly during festivities does not augur well for our social well-being at all,” they lamented.
The appeal was made jointly by the President of the Ananse Reach Concept (ARC), a child-driven movement, Miss Emefa Yegbe, and the Country Director of the movement, Madam Ibrahim Humu-Kusum, during the first ever Ananse “Love Feast” organised by the ARC for about 100 children in the Tamale metropolis.
The programme was facilitated by the ARC in collaboration with the Northern Regional Office of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), Total Supply, a stationery dealer, Radio Justice and Northern Star FM.
It was aimed at, among other objectives, promoting interaction between the less-privileged and privileged children in the metropolis.
The establishment of the ARC was mooted by an 11-year-old girl, Nana Adwoa Anti, and her eight-year-old brother, Lawrence, who were touched by the deplorable condition under which children in deprived communities lived in the country.
According to Miss Yegbe, the concept was all about helping needy children in the society, stressing that: “We need to be, given a chance to express ourselves on many issues that affect children in the metropolis”.
Touching on the feast, she said the event was “quite encouraging and we need the government and other stakeholders to come to our aid”.
Madam Humu-Kusum, for her part, urged parents, guardians and school authorities to give children the needed support this year to enable them to realise their full potential for the accelerated development of their respective communities.
She also urged children from rich backgrounds not to look down on the less-privileged children in the society but to share the little they have with them.
The Vice-Chairperson of the board of trustees of the ARC, Madam Alimatu Abdul-Nasser, expressed gratitude to all those who in diverse ways contributed to the success of the programme.
In a related development some event organisers in the Tamale metropolis have bemoaned the poor patronage recorded at most night clubs and restaurants where social events were organised to usher in the New Year.
An event organiser, Mr Adam Abdul-Basit, told the Daily Graphic that “most of the activities my colleagues organised were so boring that I wondered what was happening”.
According to him, places like the Picorna Hotel, Las Hotel and other entertainment centres did not receive the needed patronage that was expected during the New Year.
Mr Abdul-Basit, however, noted that most of the youth in the metropolis rather patronised church activities after which they went home and slept.
“My brother it seems people are changing these days because this year we found out that the church activities had drowned all social events; in fact patronage at almost all the night clubs was not encouraging at all”, he lamented.