The Sacred Heart Charismatic Renewal has feted more than 300 street children and vulnerable women within the Bolgatanga Municipality in the Upper East Region with hot meals and assorted soft drinks.
The gesture by the Catholic Charismatic Renewal (CCR) group of the Sacred Heart Cathedral Parish in Bolgatanga led by its Women and Children’s Ministries in collaboration with the Centre for Child Development of the Navrongo-Bolgatanga Catholic Diocese was part of activities marking this year’s Christmas.
Apart from the food, the street children and the vulnerable women were given used clothes and underwent free health screening for various diseases ranging from malaria, typhoid, blood sugar level and hypertension, among others.
The “Christmas on the Street” event is an annual programme of the group in which they share the love of Jesus Christ to the less privileged and vulnerable, particularly, those on the streets and inculcate in the children the spirit of alms giving.
Mr Daniel Amoyea, the Leader of the CCR, Sacred Heart Cathedral Parish, explained that the move was aimed at extending the joy of Christmas to the less privileged on the streets, particularly the children.
He said there were many vulnerable people on the streets, who found it difficult to survive and seek medical attention, hence it was imperative to extend the celebration to the street to ensure inclusiveness and love.
“Christmas is about a show of love and it is because of love that Christ came all the way from heaven to this earth. These children are learning how to give back this love that Christ has given to them to others in this way, inculcating in themselves the love for neighbours and support for the vulnerable,” he said.
Mrs Juliana Amoh, the Women’s Ministry Coordinator, CCR, Sacred Heart Cathedral Parish, indicated that the core mandate of the children of God was to put the joy of Christ on the faces of the less privileged and underscored the need for people to imbibe in themselves the spirit of sharing.
“The me and myself alone spirit is eating too much into us lately because of the hard times which is actually disheartening, so I think that as children of God, as Christians we have been called upon to be our brother’s keeper and that should drive us on,” she added.
Mr Stephen Adongo, one of the teachers of the Children’s Ministry, CCR, Sacred Heart Cathedral Parish, noted that due to vulnerabilities there were some people particularly children who could not afford to be part of the Christmas celebration, therefore, the event is meant to help lift their spirit to be part of the festive season.
Mr Frederick Felix Amenga-Etego, the Project Manager, Centre for Child Development, explained that through the health screening children, who have been identified and needed support would be recruited by the Centre and given the necessary attention to help them to live dignified lives.
“Last two years, we had a child who had a chronic sore on the leg and currently she is living in our residential care programme, there are others we have recruited on different programmes that we run,” he said.
He said the Centre targeted and supported children it discovered on the street who needed some support to either reunite with their families or live in the residential home.
SOURCE: GNA
