A photo of the presentation
Pharmaceutical giants, Zinaida Group on Wednesday demonstrated their commitment to investing in educational facilities by commissioning a new washroom facility for teachers and students of the Yilo Krobo Senior High School in Somanya in the Eastern Region, to address the sanitation needs of the school community.
The group also handed over a Sheller to the chiefs and people of Adjikpo, a suburb of Somanya to aid farmers in de-husking, shelling and winnowing of their harvested maize.
The gestures formed part of the Zinaida Groups’ corporate social responsibilities (CSR) to their host community with whom they have co-existed peacefully over the years.
At a short ceremony at the school, officials of the Zinaida Group led by the CEO, Pharm (Dr.) Samson Sampson Ofei handed over the keys to the 6-sitter toilet and washroom facility to the school’s management led by the headmaster.
Headmaster of YIKROSEC, Mr. Philip Narh Odonkor received the keys to the washroom which replaces the old facility that is currently not in the best of shape.
Pharm (Dr.) Samson Sampson Ofei said the gestures were influenced by his love for and to give back to the community where he stays.
“In the first place I realized as students, when we go to YIKROSEC, it’s not easy for students to move from the town, go there when you want a place of convenience, you find it difficult, there’s nowhere, they have to walk far before they do that. It’s a real bother…so I decided to ease their suffering a little by providing this,” explained the CEO.
The headmaster expressed his profuse gratitude to the benefactors and urged the school’s old students’ bodies and other philanthropists to emulate the gesture of the Zinaida Group.
Presentation of a sheller
At Adjikpo, a suburb of Somanya, farmers in the community will no longer worry about a facility to de-husk and shell their harvested maize, thanks to the benevolence of Pharm (Dr.) Samson Sampson Ofei and his group who presented a Sheller to the community.
The presentation of the machine will assist the farmers to de-husk, shell and winnow the maize before they are put bagged either for consumption or for sale.
The CEO noted that the plight of the poor, aged farmers inspired him to provide the equipment to ease their plight and toil.
He asserted: “You’ve realized that it’s a farming community and basically what they do is farming and I realized the need to help society…and you see the old men carrying cassava, maize from the mountains coming down, when they bring those produce, even de-husking them is a whole lot of trouble for them so I felt that I should find a way of helping them.”
Asked how the plight of the community came to his attention he said, “Walking through the community, I see a lot of challenges around and I think this is one of the main challenges because I’m a farmer myself…and I see the suffering.”
Wekumatse Kwadjo Lartey who received the equipment on behalf of the community in an interview said the equipment wouldn’t only help the farmers to de-husk their maize but also provide job opportunities for the youth as well as raise revenue to address some needs of the Adjikpo community.
“With this equipment, during the farming season, they’ll bring their produce and this will bring some income to enable us address some of our pressing needs,” said the traditional leader.
Describing the difficulties members of the community faced with de-husking, shelling and winnowing their maize, Wekumatse Kwadjo Lartey said the people manually engaged in the strenuous activity.
He observed, “before the donation of this machine, we used our bare hands to do the job so presenting this machine to us will eliminate all those difficulties and this will facilitate the whole process for us as well as fetch the community some revenue.”
He promised to ensure that the equipment is thoroughly maintained to ensure that it lasts long to serve its purpose.
The traditional leader however appealed to the CEO of Zinaida Group and other benevolent organizations to help address other needs in the community including a befitting place of convenience for the people.
Assembly member for Adjikpo Electoral Area, Emmanuel Essel also extended his appreciation to the Zinaida group.
He however stressed on the earlier appeal by Wekumatse Kwadjo Lartey for assistance towards the completion of two places of convenience currently under construction for the Adjikpo community.
“We are through a self-help project currently putting up a public place of convenience which is currently at the lentil level. The local Assembly has contributed to the project so we are appealing to him (Pharm (Dr.) Samson Sampson Ofei) not to turn his back on us but come to assist us,” the Assembly man appealed, adding that the situation was resulting in open defecation in the area.
He also appealed to other philanthropists to come on board and help address some of the social challenges confronting the Adjikpo community.