Category: General

The Department of Community Development and Social Welfare of the Effia-Kwesimintsim Municipal Assembly (EKMA) has sensitised students within the municipality on issues of teenage pregnancy and illegal abortions. Madam Alimatu Sadia Abubakari, a Senior Social Welfare and Community Development Officer of EKMA, who presented on the socio-cultural and economic effects of early pregnancy particularly on the girl child, prayed that they rather focused on their studies to become more responsible contributors to family life later in life. In the municipality, she noted that teenage pregnancy was gradually becoming a matter of concern amongst dwellers of Kwesimintsim and Apremdo areas. Mr. John Afful, an officer from Marie Stopes International, engaged the students on the effects of teenage pregnancy, such as obstetric fistula, giving birth to under weight babies, still birth, school drop-out and the risk of contracting Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs) among other things. He mentioned that students ought to d esist from sexually related activities, adding that they stood the risk of contracting STDs should they get involved in such activities. Mr. Afful advised the students to treat any suspected case of candidacies and make their reproductive health a priority. The students were therefore urged to abstain from premarital sex that might lead to unwanted pregnancies and later lead to illegal abortions. Source: Ghana News Agency

Rev. Mrs. Patricia Akpene Tegbe-Agbo, the National Coordinator of the Women's Ministry of the Global Evangelical Church has challenged women to eschew the habits of idleness and laziness to avoid poverty. She said God had endowed women with exceptional creative abilities and skills however, it behoves us to identify them and turn them to generate income. Rev. Mrs. Tegbe-Agbo who is also a Chartered Marketer was speaking at a business Seminar on the theme: 'How to Create and Maintain Wealth in an Economic Downturn'. It was organized by the Tema Presbytery of the Women's Ministry of the Church and held at the Yahweh Chapel, Lashibi. Over three hundred women participated in the one day seminar. Rev. Mrs. Tegbe-Agbo said the theme for the Women's Ministry for the year 2024 is 'Empowering Women for Holiness and Change' and one area we wish to focus on is finance. 'As Women's leaders, we want to empower our mothers and sisters to be financially sound. If women are financially independent, it will prevent us fr om falling prey to some vices.' The National Coordinator took the women through some wealth creation strategies, wealth maintenance strategies as well as exceptional customer service skills. Mrs. Margaret Kpodo, the Tema Presbytery Women's Ministry Leader, encouraged the women to put the knowledge acquired from the seminar into practice so as to turn their financial situations around. Source: Ghana News Agency

The Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection has begun the 88th cycle cash grant payment to beneficiary households under government's Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) Programme. LEAP is a social protection programme for extremely poor households aimed at reducing extreme poverty by smoothening consumption and promoting human capital development through cash grants and access to other social services. A statement from the Ministry to the Ghana News Agency, signed by Dr Myles Ongoh, Head of the LEAP Programme, said the Programme had a total number of 350,141 households. Out of the number, 325,960 households would be paid nationwide. The statement said for the 88th cycle payment, households with one eligible member would be paid GHC128.00 while households with two eligible members would be paid GHC152.00. Households with three eligible members would be paid GHC176.00, and households with four or more eligible members would be paid GHC212.00. However, the remaining 25,181 households, the statement said, would not be paid due to ongoing validation and reassessment exercises across the country. 'We are grateful for the continuous support to the LEAP programme from our partners (UNICEF, The World Bank, World Food Programme and Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office, Accra)) and other stakeholders,' it said. Source: Ghana News Agency

Dr Kurtis Andrews, 44, a dual citizen of Ghana and Canada,?and an adherent of the powerful Dagbamate Shrine, believes the traditional place of worship possesses all there is to spirituality. The PhD holder in Ethnomusicology, who annually patronises the shrine, known as 'Afetorku Gbodzi,' trusts the teachings of the centre, combining practical indigenous African religion and spirituality that has stood the test of time. He acknowledges the remarkable feeling of unity and fellowship the shrine brings not only to the community of Dagbamate but to all its members.? 'It truly represents a viable manner in which the traditional worship (dekornusuborsubor) and modernity can work hand in sync for the development of the people,' he said.? Kwamivi Agbodeka,?a 64-year-old farmer?and a member of the shrine,?idolises the Afetorku?Gbodzi?as a provider of protection to him and his entire household. 'Our god is a god of principle and always gentle, just?abide by the dictates?and you will be free?to live,' he added. Ku mase Dzamesi, another worshipper at the shrine, believed their god is a listening and powerful one. 'You can belong to any religion and still worship our god if you need protection,' he noted.? Some female traders from Kumasi and Accra,?who spoke to the?Ghana News Agency (GNA)?on condition of anonymity, said their problems had been?largely?solved at the feet of the Afertoku Shrine. All these samplings gave credence to the beliefs of a supreme being in the context of traditional or Indigenous African religion?and customs. Belief ?Generally, these traditions are oral rather than scriptural, including belief in a supreme creator, belief in spirits, veneration of the dead, use of magic, and traditional medicine. The knowledge of God in the African Traditional Religion is not much different from the idea of God that Christian missionaries preached in Africa. It is, therefore, important for African theology to ascertain the meaning of African Traditional Religion, both because of the service this tradition r enders to Christian theology as 'a dialogue partner'. It is also because the very self-awareness of the African theologian and of African theology itself, to a large extent, hinges on a proper articulation and appreciation of Africa's pre-Christian past. Africans believe in the existence of a mystic, invisible, and hidden spiritual power in the Universe. The Dagbamate Shrine, (Afetorku Gbodzi) fits into these realms and continues to play the spiritual and divinity roles it has played over centuries, at its headquarters, located within the Akatsi South Municipality of the Volta Region. It is about nine kilometres south of Akatsi, with the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and Togo to the east.? The population of Dagbamate is over 1,000, with most of the residents,?who settled in the area in the late 16th Century, related to the founder, Torgbui Zatekpa. The village has developed a national and international reputation for its powerful traditional Vodu Shrine, which registers visitors from Africa, America, Eur ope and elsewhere, annually. The?enclave?has all the modern amenities including running water, electricity, a health centre, schools, guest houses, as well?as?modernised shrine buildings, and shops. It is classified as one of the cleanest communities in the Volta Region. Although many?dwellers?still practice subsistence farming, increasingly the sons and daughters of the village are leaving to study and work in the cities and abroad.? Residents in Dagbamate have a simple,?religious,?and gentle rural lifestyle predicated on farming and trading with their main staple crops being cassava, maize, beans, groundnuts, and chilli pepper. Chiefs and Elders ??Dagbamate's Council of Elders is led by Chief Torgbui Klu Agudzeamegah II.? The Council of Village Elders consists of the chief, the queen mother, and more than a dozen opinion leaders, who are?local farmers and traders as well as managers, educators, and public bureaucrats.? A separate Council of Elders, known in Ewe as the Hanuawo, administers the Apetork u Shrine.? Torgbui Klu Agudzeamegah was installed as Chief in 1989, more than a century after the death of the first chief, Klu Agudzeamega, in the 1800s.? Culture and Tradition ??The people of Dagbamate are proud of their tradition and culture and passionate about keeping them alive with special reference to environmental sanitation. They believed there is a direct relationship between environmental cleanliness and the sanctity of the gods. It is because of this passion that visitors from all over the country and?beyond?come to experience the musical and dance, spiritual and healing traditions and experiences.? The village continues to develop socially?while preserving the values of tradition that have kept it strong over many decades. Festivals? The festivals are the highlights of the village calendar, eagerly anticipated by thousands of people,?who throng Dagbamate from around the country and the world for?their religious and?spiritual?atonement.? The main festival: the Apetorku Annual Festival, w hich coincides with the Christian Easter celebration, is held at the Apetorku Shrine with a sitting capacity of over 1,000 for?a continuous?nine days. Talulu, which is a mid-year festival, takes place on the last Saturday of October.? Performances from different traditional groups such as Yewe, Breteke, Korku, and Zanugbetorwo herald the event. The festival is characterised by cultural displays and sacrifices to the gods for spiritual atonement, fortification and making of new vows. The Apetorku Shrine? The Apetorku Gbodzi is the?place of worship and the heart of the village. It is where members go for spiritual and physical healing, and cleansing and receive protection against evil influences.? It has an?active programme of Sunday worship, daily pledges and vows. Adherents worship the Apetorku, a god belonging to the Vodu African Traditional Religion that teaches self-discipline, unity and peace.? The shrine is also the impulse behind community development?and?projects such as electrification, educat ion, health, sanitation, water, and roads, among others that?have been undertaken. Ngorgbea Kofi Davor takes the leadership role amidst other priests in performing rites at the shrine. Members of the Apetorku Shrine are entitled to free accommodation, including free food during the Easter and Mid-year festivals.? Taking pictures in the forest is not allowed, nor is it allowed to?snap or possess pictures of the sacrifices, which are deemed taboo. The icing on the cake is the usual rains that accompany the rituals when thousands congregate. Spiritual?benefits of the Apetorku?Shrine? A good number of people come to the shrine, recognised as a major hub for the treatment of spiritual-related?issues, to seek solutions to their problems.? Ngorgbea Kofi Davor, interacting with the Ghana News Agency (GNA), mentioned some spiritual benefits members derive from the shrine. These include academic progress, financial success, relief from a mental disorder, barrenness, and full protection from evil powers such as taking an evil plot against a member, and a magic power plot. Those who come for spiritual relief and protection are only asked to make a pledge, which they fulfil after recovery without charges, he said. Conclusion Traditional religion and culture need not be seen as vestiges of the past; they are acutely relevant to our contemporary society and are well suited to meet the challenges that modernity and post-colonial Africa bring. This will be easily realised once people remove the stigma, self-hate and confusion that was brought by the colonial enterprise, especially Christianity. From philosophy, language, music, dance, astronomy?and cosmology, each of these are embedded within and transmitted via traditional spiritual practices. 'African spirituality simply acknowledges that beliefs and practices touch on and inform every facet of human life, and therefore African religion cannot be separated from the everyday or mundane,' Jacob Olupona, Professor of Indigenous African Relations, Harvard Divinity Sch ool, has said. Source: Ghana News Agency

The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) and the Ministry of Employment and Vocational Training announced that the deadline for the applications to the call of projects for the Phase 2 of the Mobi-TRE project "Hajti bik" has been extended to March 31, 2024. The project is aimed to implement joint projects between promoters in Tunisia and Tunisians living abroad (Germany, France, Côte d'Ivoire and Saudi Arabia) in a bid to select 30 projects in regional development zones. Promoters wishing to access funding under this project should apply on https://www.moubader.tn/ platform. the "Mobi-TRE" project Phase 2 "Migration as a resource: mobilising the Tunisian diaspora and stabilising disadvantaged communities in Tunisia." The project is funded by the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation (AICS) and implemented by IOM, in close collaboration with the Ministry of Vocational Training and Employment as well as institutional partners and authorities in Tunisia at national and regional levels. The Ha jti Bik component of this project aims to mobilize innovative initiatives contributing to Tunisia's economic development, with particular emphasis on regions with high migration potential. This Call for Projects focuses on promoting the effective realization of a Matching between a Tunisian entrepreneur and a Tunisian investor Resident Abroad (TRE). It aims to create sustainable jobs, reduce poverty, and promote the link between migration and development. Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse