Accra, Ghana//- Staff of MTN Ghana Foundation today distributed hampers to 600 babies born on Christmas and Boxing Day across the country.
Babies born a few days before Christmas also benefited from MTN Ghana’s donation.
The 2024 hamper presentation was larger than that of 2023. The leading telecoms giant presented 500 baby hampers to health facilities nationwide.
The hampers, each containing blankets, diapers, towels, shawls, bibs, toiletries, clothes, and other baby essentials, were distributed to mothers in over 16 hospitals in 16 regions of Ghana.
Mothers with multiple births were given additional hampers for each baby.
At the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, the MTN Foundation, which is the corporate social responsibility wing of MTN Ghana, presented 140 hampers to newborn mothers on behalf of their babies.
Samuel Bartels, Senior Manager for Regulatory and Governance Affairs of MTN Ghana, who led a team to present the hampers to new mothers at the Maternity Ward of the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, said similar donations were made nationwide.
This year, the company is distributing a total of 600 hampers at a cost of over GHC 300,000 across the country.
Speaking to journalists after the distribution of the hampers, Mr Bartels said: “Today is Boxing Day, and it is a day of giving. So, at MTN, we give, and we believe in giving and putting a smile on the faces of not only our customers but the people that we come into contact with and society at large”.
So, today is an occasion for us to come in here and give to the mothers who had babies yesterday and today and just to say thank you, everybody, for supporting us throughout the year”.
The rationale of the donation, according to him, was meant to support the newborn mothers.
MTN is committed to celebrating with the new mothers who have successfully delivered on festive occasions like Christmas, he added.
Mr Bartels used the occasion to congratulate the newborn mothers and wish customers and stakeholders of MTN Ghana a very Merry Christmas and a Prosperous New Year.
The nursing mothers thanked MTN Ghana for the gesture.
While thanking MTN Ghana for the support extended to the babies and their mothers, a Senior Midwifery Officer at the Obstetrics and Gynaecology Department of Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, Madam Victoria Djamoe, revealed that the ward recorded seven deliveries on 25th December 2024.
Three babies were delivered on Boxing Day. “Other babies were those who had already delivered this week, and they were in the ward”.
Since 2011, the MTN Ghana Foundation has donated over 2,000 hampers, including this year’s, to babies born on Christmas Day.
The donation is one of the many ways the MTN Ghana Foundation has catered for the health needs of several individuals and medical institutions across Ghana.
The project started with a few regions however, by 2020, all the then 10 regions have been included.
The donation is also one of how the Foundation has helped to brighten the lives of members of the Ghanaian community. The presentation of the hampers was given to celebrate the occasion of the birth of Jesus Christ.
Since its inception in 2007, the MTN Ghana Foundation has improved access to healthcare by building hospital blocks and CHPS Compounds and donating medical equipment to various health centres.
Some health projects the MTN Ghana Foundation has undertaken include the construction of a Neonatal Care Centre for Tamale Teaching Hospital, refurbishment of the 2nd-floor maternity block of the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, construction of maternity blocks for Ejisu Government Hospital and the Tema General Hospital; and the provision of an Emergency Center for Atua Government Hospital.
In all, the Foundation has invested in over 140 projects across the country.
