Prince Ackuaku@60: Rallies support for Children’s Ward of Accra Psychiatric Hospital

A renowned Business Development Coach has made an impressive philanthropic move to celebrate his 60^th birthday. Prince Ackuaku, who is a banker by profession and a lecturer at the National Banking College in Accra, says as a member of the Rotary Club he was inspired by the objectives of the Club.

And so on Monday, August 23 when he turned 60 he elected to mark the day with a donation to the patients at the children’s department of the Accra Psychiatric Hospital. The items worth about GH¢18,000 include one hospital bed, a wheel chair, 5 hospital mattresses, 5 cartons of adult diapers, 50 rubber buckets, 50 eating bowls,100 drinking cups, 50 eating spoons, 50 bathing pales and 50 bathing towels.

The rest include 10 boxes of hand gloves, 1 carton of nose masks, 1 box of toothpastes, 1 box of tooth brushes, 4 sanitary towels, 16 boxes of bottled water, 50 bags of sachet water, 5 gallons of liquid soap, 10 gallons of disinfectants, 5 gallons of sanitizers, 1 carton of milk and 12 crates of soft drinks. The donation also includes an undisclosed cash amount.

Ackuaku who is also the Managing Director of Pinnacle Business Coaching Limited, explained that the donation was a response he got after he put out a call to his family and friends towards the donation to the ward.

“This token is to help the ward in reducing the myriad of challenges you face here. I am thankful to all those who supported me to celebrate my birthday in this glorious manner,” he stated.

“I decided to source for assistance from the Rotary Club, classmates, family and friends, and the Keep Fit Club on the Spintex Road to which I belong to get this donation for the children. We need to pull everybody along to help the needy,” he stated

Receiving the items on behalf of the ward, a member of the Public Relations Team of the Hospital – Mrs Francisca Ntow, and her colleagues wished the celebrant well with exciting “Happy Birthday” songs amidst wishes of God’s blessings.

“Many people celebrate their birthdays in all manner of ways, but thinking of celebrating with these special children of ours is so heart-warming and we cannot thank you enough,” she stated, while appealing for more help support from individuals and corporate institutions.

The children’s ward of the Accra Psychiatric Hospital currently has 13 children on admission, and according to Mrs. Ntow, some of them were found abandoned at the gate of the hospital and others were brought by their parents but they have even stopped visiting.

“These children have no homes apart from the hospital. They are dependent on the nurses since they cannot talk or do anything for themselves. We feed them, bath them, change their diapers and everything. That is why we need a lot of diapers and detergents because we need to ensure that they are always neat and comfortable,” she stated.

The Nurse on Duty at the Ward at the time of the visit, Selina Amankwanor, told journalists in an interview that after the children had been attended to initially, they ought to be sent to specialized homes, however, “They are rather abandoned. Unfortunately, our society does not accept children with such challenges because of stigma.

She lamented the unavailability of prescribed drugs for the treatment of the children, and this she said is having a toll on the ward.

Source: ghananewsonline.com.gh