CAMP-G Ashanti Regional Chapter inaugurated

                                          *Fr. Tuffour(middle) with members of the Chapter

The Catholic Association Media Practitioners –Ghana (CAMP-G), Ashanti Regional Chapter was recently inaugurated in at the St. Paul’s Parish at Amakom in the Kumasi Archdiocese with a call on Media practitioners, to use their profession to advance the good of society.

Very Rev. Fr. Louis Tuffuor, Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Kumasi, who made the call, said the media was a very important tool that if well harnessed could be used to promote the development of society, instead of it being used to foment trouble.

He expressed worry about the wrong use of media platforms to promote ideas and practices that were inimical to the development of society and charged Catholic Media practitioners to be worthy examples to others.

Fr. Tufour, who installed the new executives of the Chapter, challenged Catholic media practitioners to use their skills and profession to safeguard society from degenerating into chaos and promote unity and development in the country.

He asked the members to see their profession as a ministry and perform it to the glory of God by educating the public on pertinent issues and speaking against the ills of society.

As Catholic Media practitioners “you have a duty to be truthful and professional in the discharge of your duty and to promote unity in society”, he stated.

The Vicar General appealed to the members to let their faith show in their work and to set them apart from the crowd.

The Chapter has Johnson Gyampoh as Chairman; Felix Baidoo as Secretary; Robert Sey as Financial Secretary and William Boakye Baafi, Organizer, Nana Asabre Oduyefuor, Assistant Secretary with Juliana Azakrah as Treasurer.

Mr. Gyampoh in an address narrated efforts to start the group several years ago and expressed gratitude to all who made the inauguration a success.

He pledge their commitment to make the Chapter a vibrant body in the service of the Church and its members.  

The Chief of Amakom, Nana Adu Mensah Asare II, Amakomhene, advised members to exercise due diligence in their work and eschew sensationalism as well as not rush to break a news item and in the process tarnish people’s reputation.

He urged members to guard against the pressures that come with media pluralism, which often force practitioners to compromise on professional integrity to hastily break the news without thorough check.

He said he was hopeful that the formation of the group would breeze a new air into the media scene particularly in the Ashanti region.

Mr. Emmanuel Vorgbe, interim National Chairman of the group, congratulated the executives and members of the new Chapter, and urged them to continuously work in unity to promote and uphold the ideals Association in the Region.

Church celebrates two Sisters

The St. Dominic Catholic Church at Mallam in the Accra Archdiocese, recently honoured two newly professed Religious of the Missionary Sisters Servants of the Holy Spirit (SSpS) at a thanksgiving Mass.  

Rev. Srs. Josephine Essuman, SSpS and Cynthia Addi Chanagea, SSpS both of St. Dominic Church with Srs. Charlotte Dery, SSpS and Felicia Tandah, recently professed their first vows at the St. Mary’s Convent at Korle-Gono in Accra, during a Mass officiated by Very Rev. George C. Angmor, SVD, Superior General of the Society of the Divine Word, Ghana Province, while Rev. Sr. Dinah Ofosu, Provincial Leader of the SSpS Congregation received the vows.

At the thanksgiving Mass, Rev. Fr. Wisdom Dordunu, Parish Priest of St. John the Baptist Church at Ordorkor, congratulated the sisters for their feat and entreated the faithful to support them with prayer in their apostolate.

He charged the faithful to strive to have personal encounter with God and trust Him at all times, adding that leaders should develop closer relation with God to help them succeed.

Mr. Dela Salormey, Chairman of the Church’s Silver Jubilee anniversary it was a honour for the Church to have a gift of two Religious sisters at a time the Church was celebrating her Jubilee.

He was assisted by Fr. Dordonu and Mr. Patrick Kaba. Chairman of the Church’s Pastoral Council to present a citation and a gift to the Sisters.

Others societies in the Church and faithful also made various presentation to the Religious.

Sr. Essuman thanked the Priests and the faithful for their support in their formation, urging them to continue praying for them in the apostolate.           

Catholic Health Facilities strategies to prevent Ebola

The Directorate of the National Catholic Health Service (NCHS) has organised a sensitisation workshop for some senior health practitioners of Catholic health facilities along the borders of Ghana to prepare them to manage Ebola cases, should any be reported to their facilities.

It would be recalled that the deadly Ebola virus was reported in the West African countries of Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia as well as in Nigeria and has claimed over 1000 lives, while over 2000 people were infected.

Most Rev. Joseph Afrifah-Agyekum, Episcopal Chairman for Health of the Ghana Catholic Bishops’ Conference (GCBC), who chaired the day’s workshop at Koforidua, said the meeting was in response to concerns about the spread of Ebola virus in the West African Sub-region.

He said the “Church has a duty to  protect human dignity and preserve life, and seeks to know more about the disease condition and what the Conference could do to support the Ministry of Health (MOH) as we work together to manage the  current situation”.

Bishop Afrifah-Agyekum, who is also the Bishop of Koforidua said in doing this, the Catholic Church was not working in isolation but complementing Government’s efforts of preparation, adding that the NCHS will share its actions plan with the Ghana Health Service (GHS) and the Ministry of Health.

He thanked participants for attending the meeting at a short notice, and urged them to make good use of whatever they have until they get more of the protective garments. 

Speakers at the workshop included Dr. Ernest Asiedu of the Health Directorate of the National Catholic Secretariat, who traced the history of the disease, highlighted the mode of transmission with statistics of the death toll. He noted that the disease which spreads quickly has affected many people including some religious health personnel working to provide care to patients.    

In another presentation by Dr. Franklin Asiedu Bekoe, a Public Health Specialist at the GHS, called for better management of information with regards to the disease, noting that there was a strong stigma attached to EVD and there is the need to reduce the fear and panic in the country.

He advised health practitioners to bring their professionalism to bear and follow through the reporting process when they suspect an Ebola case. He mentioned that there were plans for media orientation to curb the unnecessary panic created among the public.

Dr. Asiedu Bekoe said the government has set up three Ebola Treatment Centres in the country: Northern, Middle and Southern sectors, sited in Tamale, Kumasi and Tema respectively. He stated that government was in the process of buying about 10,000 more Personal Protective Equipment for distribution to health personnel to check the disease.

          

Mr. Ivan Tetteh Essegbey, Acting Director of the NCHS, who moderated the workshop said the Directorate has been working closely with the GHS and MOH in sharing documents on the spread of the disease.

He said the meeting was geared to sensitised key managers of the health facilities and the need for adequate preparation of staff to be on alert.

Participants shared experiences and adopted a guideline functioned out along the five thematic areas including; Coordination, Surveillance, case management, social mobilization plan as well as logistics, which aims at improving infection prevention and control.

The guide indicates that screening of Ebola suspected cases must start right from the entrance of the health facilities to the consulting room as well as recommends the setting up of an isolation unit or case holding area within the hospitals, where suspected cases would be kept.

While waiting for the 10,000 PPEs, participants decided to improvise with raincoats and wellington boots for use by health personnel. All health personnel in the care pathways must observe infection prevention and be serious with hand washing.

In order to minimise the fear and panic among the public, participants agreed on the need to identify key persons to engage the media on Ebola Viral Diseases, as well as give sensitisation training to staff, while increasing public education on the disease.     

*Bishop Afrifah-Agyekum with the participants at the Workshop.

Bobie wins business idea competition

An Organic Farmer, Mr. Osei Bobie Ansah, has won the Business Idea Competition for candidates for the second edition of the MBA in Global Business and Sustainability Social Entrepreneurship Track run by ALTIS- Graduate School of Business and Society of the Catholic University of Millan, Italy and the Catholic Institute of Business and Technology (CIBT), Accra.

The Competition was organised for prospective Students of second barge of the MBA Global Business and Sustainability Social Entrepreneurship Track at CIBT.  

After several hours of presentation, Mr. Ansah emerged winner of the 30 participant in the competition and received a full scholarship of €4,000 to read the programme, while David Mumuni and Mabel Ansah picking the second and third places respectively.

Mr. Joseph Aboagye, Accountant at CIBT, on behalf of the President of CIBT, Rev. Msgr. Thomas Ankrah, presented the award to Mr. Ansah and congratulated him and thanked the other participants for their efforts, urging them to continue to pursue their business ideas.

In a remark, Mr. Ansah recounted how he started developing the idea in 2009, and thanked God for giving him the opportunity and the gift to develop to support people and society.   

He said the award which was his greatest so far would spur him on to scale up his expertise and help him become more efficient in running and developing his project, and promised to work hard to be a worthy ambassador of the programme.

The Master’s programme is an internationally recognized degree that gives entrepreneurs or would be entrepreneurs the opportunity to transform their business ideas into plans for startup, develop business skills and help candidates to receive local and international mentorship support to help the development of their businesses, as well as ensure students exposure to potential investors.

The programme which is built around candidates business ideas, blends classroom work and on-line training, which allows a flexibility for the students to still continue with their current job.

*Mr. Bobie Ansah(right) displaying the award.       

No handshaking during Mass

·         Bishop directs faithful

Most Rev. Joseph Afrifah-Agyekum, the Catholic Bishop of Koforidua Diocese, has directed Priests and faithful of the Diocese to stop handshaking during the Kiss of Peace at Mass but instead smile at each other or give a gentle wave.

The directive are part of precautionary measures put in place by Prelate in Koforidua to curb the spread of the Ebola Virus. The outbreak of deadly disease in the West African Sub-region has claimed over 1000 lives.

The Bishop has asked Priests and Extraordinary Ministers of the Holy Communion to put Communion in the palm of the faithful and not on their tongue, noting that since the disease was transmitted through body secretion including saliva, sweats, mucous, it was better to adopt the measure for now.

The Bishop also instructed that Holy Water receptacles at the entrance of the Catholic churches be dried up and urged the faithful to limit or stop handshakes at public functions such as funerals, weddings, and naming ceremonies among others.

Bishop Afrifa-Agyekum, who said these in an interview at Koforidua admitted that though the measures were going to be a challenge to our culture, he stressed it was necessary for us to adopt these actions to prevent the outbreak of Ebola in Ghana.

He urged Parishes to continuously read the Ghana Catholic Bishops’ Conference’s (GCBC) statement on Ebola Virus to the faithful, and entreated them to invite experts to speak on Ebola and create the needed awareness among their congregation.

In its statement issued at Sunyani a fortnight ago at the end of the Second National Pastoral Congress, the Conference, called for intensive prayers to end the spread of the disease and advised Catholics and the public to help prevent the disease.

Noting that prevention was key, the Conference entreated the faithful to wash their hands often with soap and water or use sanitizers, wash fruits and vegetables well before cooking as well as avoid physical contact with people with suspicious signs and places of outbreak.

The statement signed and read by its President Most Rev. Joseph Osei-Bonsu, Catholic Bishop of Konongo-Manpong, urged people to report suspicious cases to the nearest Hospital or healthcare facility.