By Emelia Nkrumah
Accra, Aug. 8, GNA -The Street Academy, a non-governmental organisation has carried out a successful health walk with a number of corporate bodies joining over 800 children to walk through the principal streets of Accra.
Organisations such as Barclays Bank, MTN, Goil, Cal Bank, Right to Play and Naidvar Trust participated in the three-hour walk which started at 0700 hours at the Arts Centre through Makola, Tudu, Farisco and the High Street, Jamestown and back to the starting point.
The walk was intended to raise awareness on the plight of less-fortunate children as well as emphasise the need for quality education.
Mr Ataa Lartey, Executive Chief Director of the Academy, described the walk as a successful one as the set target was achieved.
“As we walked through the streets, people stopped us to inquire about the exercise and so we took the opportunity to talk to them about the plight of street children and also their education and how they could help,” he added.
He expressed excitement at the turn-out, stating that the aim was to make the exercise bigger each year.
He said the moment was an exciting one for the children as well as a way of engaging them in a healthy way of living, a key factor of embarking on the walk.
Mr Lartey entreated other corporate bodies to join the cause of the Academy in alleviating the challenges faced by street children.
Ms Felicia Owusu, School Nurse said it was important to exercise, adding that “exercise was good for the body, the mind, and the soul.”
She encouraged the kids to make exercise their daily routine and advised them to take their studies seriously saying, education is the key to success.
“We are going to have fun, but we encourage them to learn hard because we are doing our best for the community, so they must also help themselves, and be determined to be great people in future.” she added.
On the sideline of the event was Street Academy’s international partner Naidvar Trust, who are in the country and also took part in the walk.
Ms Debora Lee, Founder and President of Naidval Trust, the International partner of the Academy noted that there was the need to raise awareness about the needs of children in extreme poverty, hence their reason for joining the health walk.
She added that “we all have a role to play the lives and future of children hence the need to remember that, if we want a positive future, then we have to look after the children because the children are our future.”
GNA