Paala, (UW/R), June 10, GNA – The Centre for Women in Agriculture and Nutrition (C-WAN), a Non-governmental Organisation (NGO), has sensitised members of the Paala community on the COVID-19 pandemic and its preventive measures.
It urged the people to strictly follow the precautionary measures outlined by the health experts such as regular hand washing with soap under running water and social distancing to avoid contracting the deadly virus.
Mr Emmanuel Wullingdool, the Executive Director of C-WAN, who led the sensitisation, entreated the people to consume food with highly nutritional value to help boost their immune systems against the virus.
He said the people at the community level did not have any excuse or whatsoever of not consuming food with high nutritional value.
He observed that they had the nutritional food such as green vegetables, dawadawa and fruits among others at their disposal and did not need money to buy them.
The C-WAN is an agricultural and nutrition policy advocacy organisation with the objective of improving the economy of rural folks through agriculture as well as promoting the wellbeing of the people through improved nutrition.
Mr Wullingdool also appealed to the people not to see the closure of schools coupled with economic hardship resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic as an opportunity to marry off their girl children of school-going age.
He said if they supported their children, particularly the girls, to attend and complete the highest educational level of their choice, they would prosper and come back to support the community to develop.
He also advised the children not to engage in activities that could mar their future aspirations but to stay focussed on their education to become successful persons in future and to contribute significantly to the development of their community and the nation at large.
Mr Kwaku Paala, an elder of the community, noted that teenage pregnancy was the main cause of early marriage in the community, as some of the girls engaged in illicit lifestyles, which result in pregnancy.
He said they believed in the education of the girl child and would do everything within their capacity to support their children to be educated.
The C-WAN also donated nose masks, veronica bucket and carbolic soaps to the community, while encouraging them to construct household tippy taps to enable them practice regular hand washing with soap under running water.
Paala is a deprived farming community in the Wa West District of the Upper West Region, which had been bedevilled with numerous challenges including lack of access roads, health facility and inadequate source of potable water among others.
GNA