Ghanaians will know the ultimate prize winner of the season III of the award winning MTN Heroes of Change programme, tonight.
The winner will be announced among the 10 nominees of the programme at the National Theatre. He or she will receive GH¢100,000 to support his/her community project. Three other winners for the various categories will receive GH¢30,000 each, while the remaining six finalists will also take home GH¢10,000 each.
The MTN Heroes of Change programme which is MTN Ghana Foundation flagship project highlighted the humanitarian activities of the 10 nominees in the areas of health, education and economic empowerment on GTV, Multi TV, TV3 and GhOne channels for 13 weeks. Madam Paulina Opei won the ultimate prize last year.
Below are the 10 nominees and their projects
Madam Joana Mansah Deegbe
The academic performance of schoolchildren in Shiashie, a community in the Greater Accra Region, is picking up following the establishment of a community library in the area.
Previously school children there used to engage in selling of sachet water on the busy road after they closed from primary and junior high schools. But since the commencement of the Shiashie community library project by Madam Joana Mansah Deegbe, a philanthropist about five year ago the children put an end to street hawking. They go to the library to read, according residents.
Teachers of the community primary and junior high schools attributed the children’s recent academic performance to the community library and its founder, Madam Deegbe. “The children are improving because of their daily visit to the community library”, a JHS teacher.
Naa (real name withheld) said that she used to perform poorly in school but, after she started going to the community library after schools she is now fourth in her over 100-pupil class.
In this regard, the children and their parents are so happy to the extent of nominating Madam Deegbe to participate in this year’s MTN Heroes of Change.
Madam Deegbe who was featured prominently on the fifth episode of the ongoing season III of the MTN Heroes of Change, said: “I started the community library first in Adabraka but I observed the children in the Shiashie community need the library the most, so I moved it there”.
She revealed that so far about 500 children passed through her library to senior high schools, while about 100 children used the library as their main place of learning after school.
The activities at the library include reading and writing competitions, storytelling, art and craft exhibitions and Information and Communication Technology.
Madam Deegbe explained that the idea of community library was conceived long time to give special place for the children a place where they could develop their skills and learn new ones, which would help them through life.
The library is to promote and develop the joy of reading among children, many of whom do not ordinarily have access to the wide range of fiction, non-fiction and school textbooks and games and puzzles which the library will expose them to, she said.
Madam Deegbe through the community library is improving reading and literacy skills among the children in the Shiashie community. She therefore needs more resources to enable her expand the library to enroll more children into the programme.
So, if she wins the GHC 100,000 ultimate prize, it will go a long way to enhance her philanthropist work. Besides, the fame, the award will greatly motivate her to keep changing the lives in the area.
Rev Moses Asaah
Reverend Father Moses Asaah who is the founder of Regentropfen Education Foundation, a leading nongovernment organisation (NGO) is a man of many parts-an ordained Catholic Priest, a social worker, and a philanthropist.
As a Catholic Priest, Rev. Asaah has had the poor and vulnerable people in society at heart. He has been working hard since his seminary days to accomplish his dream since his ordination.
His unique passion for social work is immeasurable. He helps individuals, families, groups and communities to enhance their individual and collective well-being.
Rev. Asaah also helps people develop their skills and their ability to use their own resources and those of the community to resolve problems in the country.
Furthermore, as a philanthropist, Rev. Asaah through his Regentropfen Education Foundation provides food and shelter for orphans and other needy children in Namoo and its surrounding communities in the Bongo District of the Upper East Region (UER).
He set up a scholarship fund which helps brilliant but needy children through school, built a library and built a university- Regentrophen University College of Applied Sciences (ReCAS) in the village of Kansoe near Namoo with a hostel facility near completion. Rev. Asaah funds the project through donations from individuals in Germany and Stiftung Regentropfen.
‘Regentropfen’ is a German word which means raindrops. It is not just a name, but more so it serves as the programme of the university college. Rain brings life to humanity and to the whole of creation. In the same spirit, ReCAS is to promote life, according to Rev. Asaah, the founder of the school.
The school which is accredited by the National Accreditation Board (NAB) is located precisely at Kansoe, opposite Namoo Primary School, and it is only three kilometres away from the border to Burkina Faso.
The affable Rev. Asaah’s magnificent contributions to his people in the region did not go unnoticed. They have nominated him to participate in this year’s MTN Heroes of Change.
Rev. Asaah who was featured prominently on the fourth episode of the ongoing season III of the MTN Heroes of Change, said: “I don’t want any child to suffer they way I did. That is why I set the Regentropfen Education Foundation and school to support the people”.
He believes that every human person is made in the image and likeness of God and has at least a God-given talent. The given talent(s) need an appropriate environment and help for its actualization.
So, therefore, no social, cultural or religious background of a person should hamper his or her development in the country.
John Amankrah Essel
He can’t read nor write but that does not deter him from contributing his quota to the growth and development of education in the Breman Asikuma, a town in the Central Region of Ghana.
John Amankrah Essel single-handily established schools from primary to junior high within the very remote communities in the Breman Asikuma area to give children quality education.
Watching him from TV set when his humanitarian activities were aired, revealed an old man who loves education and will do anything possible to provide a brighter future for the one young ones.
Mr Essel’s project was featured prominently on the seventh episode of the ongoing season III of the MTN Heroes of Change which is MTN Ghana Foundation flagship project.
Explaining the rationale behind his investments in education, Mr Essel said he doesn’t want to see any child who is out of the education ladder. Education, he said in Fanti dialect is the enabler of the society.
This motivated Mr Essel to spend his money on the provision of quality education for the children in the Breman Asikuma and its surrounding communities.
Over 300 children have benefited from the project which is funded through his personal income as well as a small token paid by the parents of the pupils, according to him.
Previously, there used to be a high rate of school dropout in the very remote communities but after he established his schools there, it is changing for the better. He wants to do more but his resources are limited.
He therefore needs more resources to enable him see his vision through. So, Mr Essel needs your votes to enable him win the ultimate prize.
Genevieve Basingha
She wanted to be a Nurse and later a Medical Doctor in the future but her dream cut short due to an accident in Wa in the Upper West Region of Ghana which led to her deaf and dumbness.
However, with a determination, Genevieve Basingha managed to complete Junior High School in 1994, and later attended the Mampong School for the Deaf in the Eastern Region, the only Senior High School in Ghana for the deaf and dumb.
After completion, Madam Basingha went back to her hometown Wa and started apprenticeship to become a seamstress. Luckily, she fell in love and got married to her current husband in 1997.
The couple, according to narrations migrated from Wa to Obuasi popularly known as “Gold City” in the Ashanti Region of Ghana due to the husbands work. Madam Basingha could not therefore complete her apprenticeship.
At Obuasi, she did not to give up on the many abandoned deaf and dumb children everywhere in the city. Madam Basingha therefore renewed her passion to set up one of the few Schools for the deaf and dumb in the country in the year 2014.
She established the Research Utilization School for the Deaf (RUSFORD) in Obuasi with few deaf and dumb pupils. Within three years, Madam Basingha has single-handily provided access to basic education for over 200 deaf and dumb children who never thought that they would ever have access to education.
She does not treat these deaf and dumb children as just pupils, Madam Basingha has made them her family.
With the help of her deaf but abled and supportive husband, Madam Basingha provides home, food, security and clothes for the pupils and staff of the school through all the hard times even when the parents of these deaf and dumb children, the community members and the government have turned deaf ears and blind eyes on their pleas.
Madam Basingha is also one of the two teachers who teach over 60 pupils from Nursery to primary School.
Her RUSFORD project was featured prominently on the ninth episode of the ongoing season III of the MTN Heroes of Change which is MTN Ghana Foundation flagship project.
Despite being deaf and dumb, Madam Basingha was nominated by the people of the Obuasi municipality to participate in this year’s MTN Heroes of Change programme.
She is one of the contestants of the ultimate award tonight.
Jack James Dawnson
Jack James Dawnson has been in the forefront of the fight against the nonconsensual exploitation of Ghanaian children, particularly trafficked children in any part of the country.
His foundation-Association of People for Practical Life Education (APPLE) which operates in Atitekpo in the Volta Region is working hard work to stamp out the activities of child trafficking among communities along the Volta Lake.
In Ghana, the practice is widespread in the fishing, coastal and farming communities in the Volta, Central and Brong Ahafo regions, despite government’s efforts to stop it.
For instance in the Volta Region, Yeji, a small fishing community by the Volta Lake is the notorious hotspot of trafficking, with many of the children trafficked from the poor coastal areas to that part of the county.
His APPLE project was featured prominently on the eighth episode of the ongoing season III of the MTN Heroes of Change which is MTN Ghana Foundation flagship project.
Explaining the harrowing ordeals the trafficked children go through, Mr Dawn said the children sometimes worked on empty stomachs on the sea, while others fall into the water and die.
He revealed that the fishermen are also interested in the service of children ranging between four to five years old because they are able to remove small fingerlings from the fishing nets. “That is why the fishermen buy them”, Mr Dawnson stated.
Since the inception of the APPLE project about four years, over 2,000 trafficked children from 18 communities have been rescued and sent back to their parents to continue their education.
“Although there are a lot of children out there to be rescued, we consider the prevention of trafficking and child labour more critical in the development of the child and in the elimination of worst forms of child labour in the area”.
The interventions they used for these short time achievements are integrated, according to Mr Dawnson. “We focus on rescuing the trafficked children, sensitization and awareness creation for changing mindsets and giving educational support to at risk children, involving children in the whole process, building the capacity of community actors and strengthening community governance structures for dealing with the problem from source”.
We also support the communities in poverty alleviation and food security schemes, especially for the mothers so they can take better care of their children, he added.
Mr Dawnson who is also a devoted social worker wants to do more but his efforts are being hampered by resource constraints.
Joseph Asakibeem
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.
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.
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.
Dr Michael Adusei-Nsowah
The desire of many young professionals is to work in the cities and enjoy the best of social amenities, but Dr. Michael Adusei-Nsowah, is in a rural area fighting eye diseases among children, adolescents, adults and the aged.
The optometrist also left some fat paying jobs to set up his Micro Eye Health Project at Akrokerri, a town in the Ashanti Region to be taking small token as consultation fees. But he drives his satisfaction from the impact he is making on the lives of the people.
Through his Micro Eye which is a rural outreach eye health project, Dr. Adusei-Nsowah has treated over 15,000 people with various eye problems across 52 communities in the area.
The project started with a loan about some few years ago, it is largely self-funded. Dr Adusei-Nsowah travels to health facilities in Asonomaso in the region to give medical help to people who require eye treatment.
Residents of Akrokerri said if not for the timely arrival of the project, majority of them would have gone blind, stating: “Dr Adusei-Nsowah is a Godsend”.
It is therefore not surprised that the people of the area have nominated him to participate in this year’s MTN Heroes of Change programme.
Dr Edusei-Nsowah who was featured prominently on the third episode of the ongoing season III of the MTN Heroes of Change, said: “I started the project when we went for an outreach in rural district and we found out that there were a number of eye diseases in the rural areas of the country”.
“I am a health care innovator who believe in sending quality and affordable health care to deprived communities through various technological and educative media”.
Dr Adusei-Nsowah’s objective is to reach people in Rural, Peri urban and deprived communities with quality, affordable eye care services and products/ public health interventions through various tele-ophthalmology ,technological and educative media, as expressed in the Vision 2020 global eye care objectives.
Rev Monsignor Alex Bobby Benson
Reverend Monsignor Alex Bobby Benson is noted for the provision of care and support to marginalised HIV/AIDS persons living in any part of the country.
He does this through Matthew 25 House which is the first HIV/AIDS care, education and hospice centre in Ghana. Rev Monsignor Benson takes inspiration from the biblical quote- “For I was hungry you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, in prison, you visited me what you do to the least ones you did it for me” (Matthew 25:31-40). That is why he christened the Matthew 25 House.
The centre founded by Rev. Monsignor Alex Bobby Benson, a Priest of the Koforidua Diocese of the Roman Catholic Church in 1999 is still the foremost Non-Government Organization (NGO) which provides care and support for people living with HIV/AIDS (PLHIV) and Orphans and Other Vulnerable Children (OVC) in Ghana.
Since its inception the Mathew 25 House based in Koforidua, the Easter Regional capital has grown from nine resident PLHIV to over 70 and increasing.
Affected persons are given regular medical screenings, psychosocial counseling, care, food, supplements and training in income-producing work. The children are given supplies for school such as books, fees, transportation, clothes and shoes.
In addition to services for PLHIV and OVC, the House has a meal programme which serves from 200 to 1,000 persons once per month depending on available funds. People in need come for the kind of support that only a community can give such as fellowship, group activities and dignity.
Besides, Matthew 25 House teaches income generating skills to its residents such as batik fabric dying, charcoal and palm oil production and simple farming. Interest-free loans are provided to patients who are able to begin their own self-supporting work.
Nana Prof Osei Darkwah III
His numerous achievements in academia and traditional leadership are yet to be celebrated publicly in Ghana. But his stellar philanthropic transformation story of his village-Patriensa in the Asante Akim District of the Ashanti region has been hailed locally and globally.
Nana Osei Darkwa III who is a professor and a traditional ruler of the Patriensa has been using his own resources to bring significant development in the areas of agriculture, education, employment, health and technology to the people.
His changing lives story was highlighted prominently on the sixth episode of the ongoing season III of the MTN Heroes of Change which is MTN Ghana Foundation flagship project.
Explaining the rationale behind his investments in the farming community, Nana Prof Darkwah III who is also the President of Ghana Technology University College, said he was doing that to improve the living standards of the people.
“I believe that all the charity projects will improve the lives of my people”, he stated.
“I am from here and I have known the needs of this village from my childhood. I already had plans of developing this village to a city standard, thus, all that I lacked growing up will be available for the young ones growing up.
After I ascended the throne in the year 2014, I called all leaders of this village and showed them the plans I had and where I want to see Patriensa in five years time”, Nana Prof Darkwah III who is a renowned Ghanaian ICT expert further stated.
These projects, according to him have created direct employment for over 147 people in the village and several indirect jobs. While his agric merchanisation project has helped to eradicate hunger in the area.
“Patriensa was the first village to have had internet access available to everyone in the year 2000 and I have revived the farming in the village by providing transportation, accessible roads, rest stops and education on modern ways of farming. Cocoa production is now on the high. Seven students have benefited from my education fund so far and the water fountain in the center of the village has given Patriensa a great look.”
The people in Patriensa described Nana Prof Darkwah III as a “blessing” to the village and country at large.
Ibrahim Bafara Alhassan
Ibrahim Bafara Alhassan is using his self-funded Vision Farms poultry project to help eradicate poverty among the people of the three northern regions of Ghana.
The project started from the Upper West Region through Northern Region and to the Upper East Region has been hailed as a successful poverty eradication project in the regions.
Through Mr Alhassan’s project, over four-thousand people and their dependents have been lifted out of the poverty bracket, while several others are in line to benefit from it.
Narrating how the project started, Mr Alhassan said: “I remember some widows in the Bussa community in the Wa Municipality used to go round begging for alms. I sat one of them down and asked her why she was going round begging and I realized that it was because of the number of children she was having. So, I advised her to go into poultry rearing and she was trying not to buy the idea but I convinced her to accept the idea”.
He continued: “So, we trained her and gave her 10 birds to start with. Some few months later, when I visited her place I realized that the woman was doing very well and all the 10 birds were surviving. So, I was a little touched and said to myself if this woman is able to do this, while other people are still begging”.
“Then the vision came that why don’t we extend such assistance to other people in the community and give them training and some of the birds to start with”.
Mr Alhassan added: “It was through this that the Vision Farms poultry project started. Vision Farms started in 2014 in Wa in the Upper West Region and in that year we were able to train 1,400 bird out-growers and supply them with about 14,000 birds” .
“Currently in 2017, we have trained about 3,000 out-growers and supplied them with about 30,000 birds in all the 11 districts in the Upper West Region. Also, we have moved to Northern Region where we have trained 1,600 out-growers and supplied them with 16,000 birds” .
“Later, we realized that we cannot be given the birds continually, so now we give them the birds and pick some percentage from it. We use the percentage or what we called recovery to buy some and give to another group. In total, we are able to train 4,600 out-growers and supply them with 40,600 birds in both Upper West and Northern regions. We are hoping to move to Upper East Region this year to replicate the same project there”.
The beneficiaries of the project are optimistic that Mr Alhassan is going to win the ultimate cash prize to enable him finance his activities of the Vision Farms poultry project.
Ahead of the event, the Executive Director of MTN Ghana Foundation, Mrs. Cynthia Lumor said, “MTN Heroes of Change tells the amazing stories of people who have worked hard to make a positive difference in the lives of others. We hope that by highlighting the examples they have set, wemotivate more peopleto transform their communities and small and big ways.”
She added, “We thank all the nominees for goingthe extra mile to positively impact society through their projects. Everyone is a winner and we wish all finalists the very best in this final event”.
Judges and entertainment
The panel of judges are Rev. Albert Ocran (Motivational Speaker), Dr. Doris Dartey (Communications Consultant), and Mr. Sidney Casely Hayford (Economist).
Guests at the awards event will be entertained by Kofi Kinaata, OJ, Nana Ampadu and Osei Korankye.
Instructively, the MTN Heroes of Change 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.
By Masahudu Ankiilu Kunateh, African Eye Report
