Societies told to retrace positive aspects of cultural practices

Tamale, April 9, GNA - Alhaji Iddrisu Adam, Tamale Metropolitan Chief Executive has called on societies to retrace some positive aspects of the cultural practices, particularly the extended family system to help draw children away from the streets

They should however do away with the negative tendencies of the practice that turns to shun orphans and motherless children to ensure that children have love and care and should not be denied love, for reasons that were not their making.

He said 'it was high time we reversed to pick aspects of the culture that promoted the existence of the extended family system that ensured that no child was left on the streets'.

Alhaji Adam said this in a speech read on his behalf at the formal inauguration of 'Ansaani Children's Home in Tamale at the weekend. The home was founded in 2001.by a retired nurse Mrs. Fati Issaka, who sought to provide care and support for orphans from the ages of 0-3 years in the northern sector.

Alhaji Adam said the days when societies treasured the extended family system, there was nothing like streetism.

He therefore, stressed the importance of helping the needy children in society to grow to fulfil their quota to society. He said due to the inability of some parents to take care of their children the streets continue to congest with deprived ones. He said the Tamale Metropolitan Authority in collaboration with Manpower Development and Employment has taken 45 orphans and were now being offered formal and informal training from the World Bank project. Alhaji Adam commended the authority of Ansaani Children's Home for its establishment and called on the public to contribute generously to sustain the home.

Mrs. Fati Issaka said the abandonment of a baby in 1971, when she was in active service at the Tamale Teaching Hospital has been her motivation in setting up this home.

She said the mission of setting up of this facility was to nurture the abandoned until they were adopted into foster homes and other well-established orphanages.

She appealed to the public to contribute generously by kind or cash to help improve the activities of Ansaani to enhance the lives of the abandoned babies.

Mrs Josephine Taylor of Child Aid, a charitable non-profit making organization based in Tamale said her outfit would always contribute towards improving the lives of infants.

Mrs Taylor, who is also an employee of the British Airways said, Child Aid was also aiming at sourcing funding to give scholarships to orphans between 4-15 years and commended Mrs Issaka for her wisdom in bringing alive this initiative.