DERY INAUGURATES KITCHE, CANTEEN FACILITY (PAGE 12, NOV 2, 2010)

THE Deputy Minority leader and Member of Parliament for Lawra–Nandom, Mr Ambrose Dery, has inaugurated a £35,000 kitchen and canteen facility for the Nandom Hospital in the Upper West Region.
The facility was provided by the United Kingdom branch of the Foundation for Education Empowerment and Development (FREED), a non-profit organisation made up of Nandom citizens who live abroad.
In an address, Mr Dery commended civil society organisations, particularly the Catholic Church, for its contribution to the socio-economic development of the Nandom area.
He said the church, through the late Archbishop of Tamale, Peter Cardinal Dery, established schools, clinics and more importantly the hospital at Nandom.
He thanked members of FREED–UK for leaving the comfort of their homes to come to Nandom to serve humanity.
He said FREED–UK had been involved in a number of projects and programmes, especially the provision of an ambulance to the Nandom Hospital, which continue to benefit the people in the area.
Mr Dery noted that the ambulance had gone a long way to reduce child and maternal mortality in the area.
“You have been involved in a saintly act and will continue to work and appreciate you since we want this kind of relationship to move forward,” he added.
He stressed on the need for women to be empowered since they are key stakeholders in the development planning process.
According to Mr Dery, the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) can be achieved “if goal three which talks about women is well taken care of.”
He acknowledged the contribution of various youth groups and a Bulgarian neurosurgeon at the Nandom hospital, Dr Moynov Nikolay, for their contributions towards the development of the Lawra district.
Mr Dery suggested the institution of an award scheme for those who come to serve in the district.
The leader of FREED – UK, Miss Anne Hicks, said her group had been supporting Nandom since 2005.
She hoped the facility would go a long way to improve the nutritional status of patients who come to the hospital.
The medical superintendent of the hospital, whose speech was read on his behalf, thanked FREED–UK for their support, particularly in the training of nurses.
For his part, the Paramount Chief of the Nandom traditional area, Naa Dr Puobe Chirr IV, also acknowledged the contributions of the United States and The United Kingdom branches of the foundation for establishing a radio station in Nandom.
In another development, Mr Ambrose Dery is assisting a number of identifiable groups in the Lawra–Nandom constituency to undertake a number of income–generating activities.
These include bee keeping, piggery and shea butter processing.
Inspecting some of the projects, Mr Dery commended the groups for their hard work and urged them to put the money to good use.
He assured them of his continuous support and urged them to take interest in the education of their children, particularly the girl child.