Orphanage celebrates Chocolate Day

Story: George Folley Quaye, Jirapa
March 25, 2008
THE Upper West Regional office of the Ghana Tourist Board (GTB) has on behalf of the Ministry of Tourism and Diasporan Relations donated some hampers containing boxes of chocolates and other cocoa products to the St Joseph Orphanage at Jirapa in the region.
The donation formed part of the Chocolate Day celebration.
The Principal Resource Officer of the board, Mr Henry Yeledour, who presented the gifts, said the rationale for the gesture was to express their love and concern to the orphans.
He appealed to the privileged in society to support the vulnerable and the less privileged.
Mr Yeledour urged Ghanaians to patronise cocoa products as their consumption would promote good health.
Receiving the items, the official in charge of the orphanage, Sister Lydia Maasangyir, expressed gratitude to the board for the gesture.
Sister Maasangyir said the greatest challenge facing the orphanage was the attitude of the surrogate parents of the orphans, who did not pay regular visits to their children due to financial difficulties.
She added that such parents had been advised and encouraged that their mere presence with their children was more important than bringing money to them.
The St Joseph orphanage was founded in 1939 by the Franciscan Missionary Sisters of Mary, who were then in charge of the Jirapa Hospital.