MTN Heroes Of Change Nominee Provides Care For Deformed Children

The story of the eradication of the spirit child phenomenon can never be told without mentioning the contribution of Joseph Asakibeem, a committed social worker.

He has devoted all his life for ensuring that the inhumane practice is abolished in the Sigiru village and six surrounding communities in the Upper East Region of Ghana.

Mr Asakibeem works in partnership with Afrikids Ghana, a Child Rights Non-governmental Organisation, the government and other stakeholders to achieve this feat.

Watching him from TV set when his humanitarian activities were aired, also revealed a young man who has the passion to help his communities recover from the many years of the spirit child phenomenon.

Mr Asakibeem’s project was featured prominently on the first episode of the ongoing season III of the MTN Heroes of Change which is MTN Ghana Foundation flagship project.

It was initiated in July 2013 to recognise and reward persons who have provided significant humanitarian services to their communities through personal sacrifices.

The MTN Ghana Foundation is the corporate social responsibility (CSR) arm of MTN Ghana, the leading telecoms service provider in the country.

He was nominated by his people to participate in this year’s MTN Heroes of Change which is currently aired on GTV every Saturday at 5:30pm;Multi TV on Sundays at 5:00pm;TV3 on Sundays at 6:30pm; and GhOne on Sundays at 7:00pm .

The purpose of the TV shows is to highlight the humanitarian activities of Mr Essel and the nine other contestants for the ultimate cash prize of GH¢100,000.

The ultimate Hero of Change winner will receive GH¢100,000 to support his/her community project. Three selected winners for the various categories will receive GH¢20,000 each, while the remaining six finalists will also take home GH¢5,000 each.

Explaining the rationale behind his support for the deformed children , Mr Asakibeem said: “In the areas where we have successfully ended the harmful practice that puts children with disabilities in danger, we are demanding better support from the education and health systems for the children we have protected”.

“In these communities, children living with disabilities were previously abandoned or neglected, but after years of changing attitudes we have seen incredible shifts. The next stage is to support the families of these children to ensure they are provided for and have equal opportunities to go to school and live a happy, healthy and safe childhood”.

“We have seen more and more children starting school since we started work in the area and, whilst we will continue to ensure this continues, we are now looking to improve the quality of teaching they will receive”.

Based in Sirigu in the Upper East Region, Mr. Asakibeem also provides medical aid to children born with varying deformities.

He educates the community to about the true state of these children while encouraging them to desist from killing them as they are falsely perceived as spirit children.

Mr Asakibeem is hoping of winning the ultimate cash prize to enable him finance his activities to ameliorate the plight of the deformed children.

He therefore needs more resources to enable him see his vision through. So, Mr Asakibeem needs your votes to enable him win the ultimate prize. You can do so by texting his short code name (Joseph) to 1406.