Day: March 11, 2024

Hours after winners of the 96th Academy Awards (Oscars) were announced on Sunday night, the Hollywood Arab Film Festival (HAFF) congratulated Tunisian filmmaker Kaouther Ben Hania on her success in entering the race, even though her film "Four Daughters" did not appear on the list of winners among the 321 films competing in 25 categories. "Her success as well as that of the film, Four Daughters, with the international buzz it made is a huge achievement for the Arab film industry," the HAFF said. "Even though the film didn't win in its category, we're proud of her achievement of making it to the Oscars nominations," it further said. "We look forward to more films from the Director and we cheer her on in her filmmaking journey." Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse

Dr Gloria Clarissa Dzeha, Board Chair of Accra Girls' Senior High School (AGSHS), has urged parents to socialise their girl-children in ways that will help the girls to develop inquiry minds. She noted that parents mostly gave baby dolls and cooking items to girls whilst boys were provided with computer gadgets and play items such as helicopters. Such an approach, she said, restricted girls to childbearing and domestic roles whilst the boys would dismantle and fix back the gadgets to develop engineering and technological minds. Whilst acknowledging that it was good for girls to learn childbearing and domestic roles, Dr Dzeha emphasised, however, that girls should also be exposed to computer gadgets, puzzles and other activities that would enable them to explore and develop inquiry minds. Dr Dzeha said this when she addressed some students of AGSHS during the 2024 International Women's Day celebration under the adapted theme: 'Inclusion for Progress and Respect'. The event, which took place on the school' s premises, was organised by the Accra Girls' Old Students Association (AGOSA). 'God has blessed both males and females. Everything that the men must have to get to the top, God has also endowed us as women with it, so we have no excuse to say that we don't have what it takes to reach the top,' Dr Dzeha said. She stressed, however, that for women to reach the top, they must make deliberate effort, psych themselves up, remain resilient and take charge of their own lives. She encouraged the students to be versatile so they could create multiple sources of income and push the frontiers of national development. Mrs Miranda Degraft-Amanfu, National Vice President of AGOSA, said women needed to change their mindset and understand that whatever they put their minds to, they could achieve it. She urged the students to find what they loved to do best and commit to excel at it. 'Whatever your hands find doing, do it with all your heart, and it will take you where you never dreamt that you would go,' she said. Sh e added that girls must be bold, speak up, and stand up for what they believed in, and through that, they could 'conquer the world'. Mrs Gifty Andoh, Headmistress of AGSHS, encouraged girls to take their education seriously and work hard to empower themselves so that, they would become worthy role models, lead their society and attain the respect they desired. Source: Ghana News Agency

The Trust Hospital has marked the International Women's Day with a call on organisations to prioritise mental wellness of women. Held on the theme: 'Nurturing Resilience; Empowering the Productivity of Our Heroines through Mental Health Care', the Hospital said due to the role women played in society- balancing family responsibilities with professional aspirations - ensuring they were well mentally, was very key. The call was made at an event to commemorate the Day at the Trust Hospital Premium Centre, which saw about 94 staff members and about 10 guests from partner institutions such as ECG, ADB, and the TUCEE group participating. Dr Juliana Oye Ameh, CEO of the Hospital, said the silent struggles women faced in balancing family responsibilities with professional aspirations was enormous, hence the Hospital's resolution to pay attention to women's mental health. She said the Hospital had committed to support and empower its female staff members in both their personal and professional lives. Dr Ameh said the Hospital was working to ensure that its heroines felt valued, appreciated, and equipped with the necessary tools to overcome the challenges they faced. Dr Cecilia Tutu-Danquah, a Counseling Psychologist and Lecturer at the University of Ghana, Legon, and the founder of TUCEE, delivered a speech on strategies for helping women build resilience and increase productivity. Dr Tutu-Danquah identified five key areas that could help women achieve those goals. They are Wellbeing, Personal Abilities, Coping Strategies, Productivity, and Contribution. She emphasised the importance of mental health as a crucial component of overall well-being, noting the need to prioritise mental wellness and incorporate it into one's holistic approach to health. Dr Tutu-Danquah said it was important to maintain a balance between mind, body, and spirit and crucial for one to seek help when necessary to live a fulfilling and happy life. Mrs Lilian Annan, Director, Nurses and Midwifery Services at The Trust Hospital, also said i t was easy to overlook one's well-being due to the ever-increasing responsibilities that came with working in the healthcare industry. She said the dedication to tending to the needs of others could often overshadow the importance of taking care of oneself and urged health workers to pay attention to that. Source: Ghana News Agency

A 15-year-old, Junior High School (JHS) three pupil of the Blessing Academy at Afasebong, in the Atwima Kwanwoma district got drowned in the Dwahyen River at Takyiman New site, on late afternoon, Saturday. The pupil, whose name was not given by Mr Emmanuel Amankwah, Head Teacher of the school, for some reason, said the pupil asked permission from the school authorities to buy food from outside the school on Saturday, afternoon. However, he said on reaching the bridge over river Dwahyen, the pupil met some friends who were swimming in the river and invited him to join and swim. According to Mr Amankwah, upon getting into the river the pupil got drowned and his friends could not save him because they were also drowning when they tried to help him. The friends raised alarm but when some masons who were working on a nearby building in the area got to the scene the boy had already been swept away by the river. When Ghana News Agency (GNA) got to the scene in the evening, some good Samaritans were trying to re trieve the body from the river but to no avail. Nana Afriyie Takyi, Nifahene of Atwima, who poured libation at the river to ensure that the body was brought to the riverbank also confirmed this to GNA. The Denkyemuoso Police Command visited the river in the early hours of Sunday and saw the body at the riverbank. The body has since been deposited at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) for autopsy. Meanwhile, Atwimahene, Nana Antwi Agyei Brempong 11, had advised parents to ensure that their children do not loiter about aimlessly. He also called on private schools that have boarding facilities to ensure that the children were well-catered for and were safe in their care. Source: Ghana News Agency

A 1,500-seater capacity multi-purpose hall, known as the 'Great Pink Hall' of the Lassia-Tuolu Senior High School at Lassia in the Wa West District has been razed by fire. The fire, which occurred at about 1:00 am on Sunday, March 10, 2024, destroyed food, cooking utensils and furniture. No casualty was recorded. The Wa District Directorate of the Ghana Education Service and other stakeholders have consequently closed down the school as temporary steps are being taken for academic work to resume. Mr Amatus D. Tug-uu, the Wa West District Director of Education, confirmed this to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in an interview at Wechiau, on Monday. He said measures are being put in place for the third-year students to go through their registration, which started today, Monday, March 11, 2024. At the time of the incident, the student population on campus was 833 out of 1,215 because the second-year students were on vacation. He lamented: 'The hall is a multi-purpose Hall. That is what we use for Basic Educat ion Certificate Examination, workshops, church service, dining, assembly, and many other things, so once the hall is down like this it means the school is down. 'In fact, I am bleeding inside with the happenings.' He appealed to stakeholders and the public to assist the school put up a temporary kitchen and a store to enable the cooks prepare food for the students when they return. Some of the items destroyed included 900 student desks, 500 dining tables and benches, ten student mattresses, a public address system and musical instruments. Others were: 23 cooking pots of different sizes; five iron pots (size 30); a deep freezer and a stabilizer and 530 service and soup pans and lids. The food items that were also destroyed by the fire included: 24 bags of maize; two bags of dried cassava (konkonte); 15 cartons of mackerel; 24 gallons of vegetable oil; a gallon of palm oil and a bag each of dried okra and salt, among others. He encouraged the students and their parents and guardians to exercise restraint while steps were taken to restore full academic work. Source: Ghana News Agency