Escof Zinnia Foundation empowers teenagers of Gomoa Debiso community

By Eunice Hilda Ampomah, GNA

Gomoa Appiakrom (C/R), June 21, GNA - Escof Zinnia Foundation, a local Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) has organised an empowerment programme for teenagers of Gomoa Appiakrom Debiso.

The programme is to empower them to achieve their dreams and desist from immoral acts.

The NGO also organised a get-together for the community, a quiz for school children and an award ceremony.

Ms Esther Coffie, Founder of the Foundation told the Ghana News Agency in an interview that the community was chosen because of the high numbers of school dropouts and teenage pregnancies.

Ms Coffie noted that the Foundation has a vision of ensuring that deprived communities have an improved standard of living.

Mrs Evelyn Boakye, Senior Nursing (SN) Officer at the Mallam Atta Government Clinic who educated the community on alcoholism said excessive alcohol intake destroys the abusers health as well as the welfare of the entire community.

She said it can also cause liver sclerosis, a disorder that may protrude the person’s stomach and gradually cause a liver failure.

 “Some drink and behave as if they are mad when they may not be mad because alcohol has a big negative influence on drinkers. No medicine can prevent a person from being an alcoholic unless the drinker develops self-control and determination to quit it”, she said.

Advising the youth on teenage pregnancy, Mrs Boakye said some parents drive their female children out to be taken advantage of by men, adding that parents need to work hard in order to perform their expected responsibilities.

She advised parents to be concerned about the kind of peers their wards engage with.

“Pregnant Teenagers lack funds to feed properly and this affects their foetus, a state which leads to their children having stunted growth”, 

The SN Officer disclosed that it is never true that if a lady or guy who does not engage intimately with the opposite sex, becomes unwise or dumb, and therefore advised them to dissociate from friends who find pleasure in immoral acts.

“No one will employ a teenager who is nursing a baby or has a child that needs constant attention because it reduces efficiency”, she said.

Mrs Boakye urged parents to establish good relationship and win their trust so that can share their problems with them.

“Teenagers please focus on your dreams and abstain from sex. However, those who cannot abstain should use condoms to stay safe from Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) and pregnancy”, she said.

She mentioned unpleasant smell of discharges from the reproductive organs of both males and females; stomach or lower abdominal pains; pains during sexual intercourse; swelling of scrotums as some signs of STIs.

She noted that STIs can lead to impotency or infertility, mental disorder and blindness, and urged members of the community to desist from keeping multiple sex partners to stay safe.

GNA

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