By Yussif Ibrahim
Adomfe (Ash), Nov. 2, GNA – The Adomfe Epicenter in the Asante-Akim South Municipality, has officially been weaned off the support of The Hunger Project-Ghana, having attained self-reliance after 17 years.
The Hunger Project has been working in Ghana since 1995 to build sustainable community-based programmes, using the epicenter strategy, which employs a range of activities to empower communities to take charge of their own development, including health, education, and agriculture among others.
Following an evaluation of how far they have come after 17 years of mentoring by The Hunger Project-Ghana, the Adomfe Epicenter that comprises five communities scored 90.2 per cent, which is beyond the threshold of 80 per cent required to be declared self-reliant.
The construction of the Epicenter, which comes with a clinic, food bank, and conference room, construction of a two-unit Kindergarten block at Kurofa, establishment of cocoa, oil palm and coconut nursery project as well as teak plantations in some communities are some of the achievements of the Epicenter.
As part of efforts to empower the people to sustainably manage the Epicenter after their exit, The Hunger Project in 2022 launched a social enterprise project and provided them with 120 foldable chairs, eight canopies, 20 students’ mattresses, and a tricycle.
The idea was to rent the items to generate income for the Epicenter to improve its revenue streams.
Mr. Samuel Afrane, Country Director of The Hunger Project, at a ceremony to mark self-reliance of the Adomfe Epicenter, applauded the people for demonstrating the desire to take charge of their own development.
He said rural communities that were seen to be poor and impoverished had huge potentials and only needed opportunities to be able to develop.
“For the past 17 years, we have gone through several trainings with them, trying to change their mindset so that they will not see themselves as too dependent on others but see themselves as people who can do things for themselves to be able to come out of hunger and poverty,” he stated.
He said the Epicenter had made significant progress since The Hunger Project entered the community, citing the upgrading of the CHPS compound in the facility to a health centre as an example.
According to him, school enrolment, which was extremely low had also increased from about 50 per cent to over 90 per cent over the period.
He said they would continue to monitor the progress of the Epicenter in the next two years to ensure they do not abandon the principles of self-development.
“Despite our exit, if we have any project that we believe will inure to the benefit of the people we will bring it, just that they will be in the driver’s seat this time around,” the Country Director assured.
Mr. Reuben Antwi, the District Director of Health Services, paid glowing tribute to The Hunger Project-Ghana for their immense contribution to healthcare in the area through the Epicenter concept over the years.
“It’s been a great 17 years of receiving support from The Hunger Project and I think today the Epicenter deserves to be weaned off so that it can rely on itself in the provision of services to the people in the area,” he observed.
He said it was a great privilege for the Health Directorate to have the Adomfe Epicenter, which has been elevated to a health centre, providing out-patient department, maternal and child healthcare, family planning, and other emergency services.
GNA