Ghana�s Afro-pop singer Rebecca Acheampong popularly known as Becca, yesterday, Tuesday December 1, launched a campaign to raise funds to the tune of $150,000 to register 10,000 Ghanaian children under the National Health Insurance Scheme throughout the country.
This generous humanitarian gesture dubbed �The children�s Ball� was officially opened for the general public, Philanthropist, individual and corporate organizations to contribute their qouta at the Ghana International Press Centre. Speaking to the press, Becca said she was inspired to take up this responsiblility upon herself by an unfortunate incident she encountered at a Hospital.
�On Saturday February 21, 2009, I was visiting a local hospital when I saw a disheveled woman sitting on a bench and staring blankly into the air, drained of all hope! It seemed her world had come to an end. Her son, a four-month old baby died and she only needed just GH�15 to save him. My heart sunk because that is an amount of money many of us waste on unessential things on daily basis,� Becca narrated her sad experience.
She referred to a statement by the late Indian leader Mahatma Ghandi that says �We must become the change we want to see�. For this reason the young female singer has decided to make a change by doing something about it. �I want to do something small which will be significant enough to all those poor little children dying needlessly or their poor parent� Becca stated.
Becca gave a breakdown of how the campaign is supposed to run. �This campaign of mine for the sake of transparency shall run as follows�:
All donations shall be made directly to Deloitte Ghana
70% of all donations shall be made immediately and directly to the needy children.
30% shall be saved towards administration and organizing of the Children�s Ball on 13th February 2010 to raise more money.
Hospitals such as the Children�s Hospital in Accra shall provide the Department of Social Welfare with list needy children.
The Department of Social Welfare shall screen applicants to ensure that truly deserving only shall benefits.
Deloitte Ghana will then pay for those recommended by the Department of Social Welfare.
Itemized statement shall be issued annually to donors to enable them know the specific individuals they are paying for.
Becca on the behalf of donors shall periodically pick names at random and pay them visits to ensure that there are no ghost names and of course all donations shall be announced in the press.
The Afro-Pop diva called for the active participation of the public to make the event a resounding success. �I�m aware of an old Ethiopian saying that spider webs joined together can catch a lion. That is why I will need the support and goodwill of all of us here in the coming days, weeks and months to secure a solid foundation of health for our children. One of the things you shall be hearing from me in the coming week is a song called �Forever� whose first three months sales shall be dedicated to this course�, Becca concluded.
At the press conference, Becca presented a personal cheque of GH�3,000 as seed money for the fund. Allied Oil Company donated GH�1,000 and Amalgamated Bank also donated GH�2,500. Aside the general collection of funds from individual and companies who wants to support, an event dubbed �Becca�s Children Ball� charity event, will climax the project in February 2010 to help raise the awareness and funds to support unfortunate children.
There will also be a dinner and other fun-filled activities on the night with Becca. Comedian Basket Mouth from Nigerian and legendary Hugh Masekela from South Africa and other Ghanaian artistes will also be there to grace the occasion.
The patron for this maiden edition of this �Children�s Ball� is H.E. Mr. Isaac Diwan, Country Director of the World Bank. It is also supported by the National Health Insurance Scheme, Children Hospital, Social Welfare and Deloitte Ghana.
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