Females in different professions have joined forces to launch ‘The Influential Woman Foundation’ (TIWOF) to support the less privileged in society and offer them economic support through skills training.
Mrs Ezra Abena Baah, the Executive Director and Founder of the Foundation said the move had become necessary because of her hard life experience after she lost her father and considering how some vulnerable groups could be facing similar challenges.
‘I was privileged to be born with a silver spoon in my mouth, attended a good private school and had all I needed until my father passed on, then I had to live with an auntie. I was immediately withdrawn from a government school. Sometimes students and teachers had to contribute to buy me food and books.
‘So one day, I looked back and it dawned on me to become a blessing to others and not to wait to gain the whole world, to help people in need and that was how TIWOF came to being in May 2020,’ she said.
She said the Foundation focused on four thematic areas d
ubbed – ‘I craft’, ‘StreetMax’, ‘Go with the Flow’, and ‘Pinktober’
With the ‘I craft’, she said the Foundation trained people to make items local drinks including ‘sobolo’ and laundry materials like liquid soaps among others.
It also shared hot packed meals, drinks and water with children and other vulnerable people on the streets during Christmas under its ‘StreetMax’ programme.
Under ‘Go with the Flow’, the Foundation distributed sanitary pads to students and educated them on menstrual hygiene, she said, adding that ‘Pinktober’ was a period where they organised breast screening every October as a breast cancer awareness month for members of the public.
Mrs Baah said the Foundation would on December 23, distribute packed hot meals and drinks to 500 persons on the street.
She said it was the desire of the Foundation to be able to spread love and support to vulnerable groups in all 16 regions in the next few years.
Their biggest challenge, however, has been finance, she said and expressed optimism that
more benevolent people who could relate to their mission supported them to touch more lives.
Mr Frank Papa Kwabena Kumi, President of Pali Centre for Transformative Leadership, addressing attendees at the launch in Accra, advised the Foundation to be intentional in sticking to its vision and mission, while not living by default.
He said the Foundation needed to be sensitive to the environment, explaining that an environment determined and dictated an individual’s behavioural pattern.
‘I have seen people urinating in front of Accra mall, especially some ‘trotro’ drivers and mates. The same Ghanaian when he travels to London or America, will not do that. The environment will determine how you behave,’ he added.
Mr Kumi who said the resultant effect of today’s parental neglect shall become tomorrow’s dysfunctional home or generation, bemoaned the non-holistic nature of Ghana’s educational system, saying its curricula were outdated.
‘One’s sitting for an exam cannot determine the intelligence. No wonder the
politicians take their children abroad’.
He said it was demeaning how the nation only had a gross enrolment of 20 per cent into all tertiary institutions.
He also condemned the non-holistic content from the church and the media, especially social media, adding: ‘Prayer sessions online are sometimes demonstrated and people also post just anything on social media irrespective of whether it is authentic or not.’
To address these challenges, he said everyone including members of the Foundation had to embrace the concept of self-leadership and always cross-check content while being discerning on every piece of information.
He also asked them to have collective group initiatives and identify and pursue critical paths to make a difference.
‘Research has shown that by 2025, 50 per cent of workers will have to be re-skilled because their work will be done by machines. So you must increase your problem-solving skills to remain relevant,’ he said.
Source: Ghana News Agency