The First Lady of Turkey, Mrs Emine Erdogan, has commended her Ghanaian counterpart, Mrs Lordina Mahama, for her hard work and dedication to the welfare of the needy and vulnerable in society.
Having monitored the charitable activities of the Lordina Foundation, she said, she was highly impressed about the successes the foundation had chalked up over the years by putting smiles on the faces of the less privileged.
Mrs Erdogan gave the commendation when she paid a courtesy call on the First Lady in her office in Accra Tuesday, after which the two women made presentation to the State school for the Deaf at Adjei Kojo and three vocational institutes in the country.
Items
The 80 deaf pupils were each provided with a hearing aid, while the three vocational schools — Our Lady of Fatima at Sampa in the Brong Ahafo Region, the YWCA Kayayei Project in Accra and the Atorkor Vocational Training Institute in the Volta Region — were each provided with 10 industrial machines, 10 over-lock machines, seven hand machines, 14 button covers, sewing kits, bag packs, among others.
Hospitality
Mrs Erdogan described Ghana as a unique country with much hospitality.
She said Ghana had a young population with a lot of potential and gave an assurance that the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA) would assist Ghana in providing support in the fields of education, infrastructure and production.
“This is the first time I am visiting an African country and I am so happy because Turkey and Africa share unique values. Africa has always been friendly to us; our hearts are one and united,” she indicated.
The Turkish First Lady expressed the hope that the bilateral relations that already exist between the two countries would grow further, especially with assistance from civil society groups such as TIKA.
Values
For her part, Mrs Mahama indicated that she and her counterpart shared a common value, which was to see to the welfare of the needy and the under-privileged in society.
She said the presentation of the items to the three groups would help with their training to perfect their skills and create employment opportunities for them.
Support
The First Lady said her foundation had been presenting working tools and equipment to skilled persons such as tailors, hairdressers, barbers and the visually impaired as start-up support for their businesses.
Visit
The two First Ladies visited the Osu Children’s Home, which is one of the seven orphanages in the country that receive constant support from the Lordina Foundation.
The Children’s Department of the orphanage currently has a population of 45 babies, comprising 28 boys and 17 girls.
They later presented an industrial washing machine, a deep freezer, toys, diapers and assorted biscuits and crackers to the home.
Credit: Graphic Online
