Making Charity the Centerpiece of a Bold Life

 

April Asante had always felt strongly about giving back to others through charity. In fact, she felt it was her own personal mission to succeed so that she would help the less fortunate brethren. Thus, when she met Darrel Annan, it was a match that was perfect. Darrel also believed in acts of generosity as a means of enriching one’s life. With this in mind, when the couple married, both decided to give back a portion of their income to various charities, but their commitment to these acts of generosity was quite profound. Since 2008, April and Darrel have given more than 40 percent of their earnings to others in need.

With April being a civil servant and Darrel being a laboratory technician, their contributions are rather sizable. Over the course of the last decade, their efforts of giving back have touched the lives of many. Organisations such as Meaningful Life International and Doron Medical Center to which they have made donations seek to help individuals develop their minds through leadership training, access quality healthcare and access to potable drinking water. And while this degree of giving might be assumed to cause financial hardships, this is not the case. Darrel and April are doing just fine and they find fulfilment in what they do!

Again, we seek to embark on another outreach in this hard and difficult times amidst this Covid 19 pandemic. The Covid -19 pandemic has been very devastating to many of the communities that we work in. Because of high illiteracy rate in our communities, even the very concept of the viral infection, its spread and prevention are not well understood by many. It’s been predicted that repercussions of the pandemic are likely to cause increased hospitalization, deaths and food shortage. Desperate attempts to mitigate this inexplicable impact have driven many rural dwellers of Ghana to resort to drinking all sort of concoctions, and consulting of idols for protection.

 These are some of the reasons why Meaningful Life International sees the urgent need to intervene by educating, providing basic personal protective equipment (PPE) and donation of some food items to some of the most affected rural communities of Ghana. We have listed ten of these most deprived communities that needs our support in these critical times. These are; Adeheta, Deti, Alege-Akura, Ebitiyie, Yadodo, Kpakplamuni, Jynvuuri, Torgbekorpe and Boasi.

With the same noble act of giving like Darrel and April, we invite you to join us as we embark on this outreach to some of these communities. MLI acknowledges your passion for the welfare of the vulnerable in society and community development, and would therefore like to present a unique opportunity for partnership in reaching these rural communities in Ghana who have been severely hit by the covid-19 pandemic. Our purpose is to provide basic food items, health education, face masks and hand sanitizers to 800 individuals in each community. With your partnership, we can successfully implement this project we anticipate, that will bring great relief and transformation to these deprived communities.

REPORT ON THE EMERGENCY COVID-19 RELIEF PROJECT AT DEDUKOPE ON THE 10^th OF APRIL, 2021

The COVID-19 pandemic is challenging health systems across the world. Rapidly increasing demand for care of people with COVID-19 is compounded by fear, misinformation and limitations on the movement of people and supplies that disrupt the delivery of frontline health care for all people. When health systems are overwhelmed and people fail to access needed services, both direct mortality and indirect mortality from preventable and treatable conditions increase.

This research called for an urgent need to partner with The Church at Rancho Bernardo, San Diego to reach out to the people of Dedukope in the Volta region of Ghana.

On the 10^th of April, 2021, our team together with some partners embarked upon this important outreach at the Dedukope community. Upon our arrival, we were welcomed by the natives who were all excited about the day’s activities. The program commenced with an opening prayer, praises and worship by the local Assemblies of God church and the welcome address was done by the pastor, Rev. Joshua Anane.  Rev. Godwin Ahlijah (PhD) the C.E.O of Meaningful Life International in his address explained the purpose of the outreach and encouraged the people to keep their trust in the Lord in these difficult times. He was full of praise to the Church at Rancho Bernardo for heeding the call to come on board to partner with MLI to organize this outreach. He thanked the leadership and members of the Church for their generosity and love towards God and humanity.

Dr Lenusia Ahlijah educated the community on the Covid-19 pandemic and its preventive measures. She encouraged them to observe the covid-19 protocols by observing social distancing, regular hand washing and personal hygiene among others.

We provided food packages to over 100 families which consist of 5-kilo bags of rice, a 5-litre bottle of oil, tin tomatoes, tin fishes, hand sanitisers, and face masks. We also distributed hand sanitisers and face masks to over 500 people who gathered for the program. The children were not left out of the party. Each child received drinks and biscuits and the atmosphere was like that of Christmas! It was heart-warming to see the joy on their faces as we distributed the items to them.

A total of over 500 individuals directly benefited from this outreach to the glory of God. Programs such as this are a great way to bring people together, to serve and share blessings and to give hope. Through these outreaches, we know that in our way, we are providing hope and new opportunities for our less fortunate brethren.

Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will repay him for his deed. – Proverbs 19:17