Airtel Ghana says it is pleased with the public response to its corporate social responsibility initiative, Touching Lives, which is currently airing across various TV stations in the country. Touching Lives, an initiative by Airtel Ghana which offers support to ordinary Ghanaians doing extraordinary actions in the lives of their families, communities and humanity in general has so far shown on television two episodes which have raked in a lot of reviews from the public.

The Managing Director of Airtel Ghana, Philip Sowah said “when Touching Lives was launched we made it absolutely clear that in telling the stories of these heroes in our communities, we are looking forward to inspiring viewers not to just get touched by the stories they watch on their television screens, but to be spurred on in giving a helping hand to those around them who need it”. Mr. Sowah added that the response Airtel has received at the corporate level has been overwhelming. “When you have colleague heads of businesses phone you to say ‘great job, I think we will learn from you’ then it goes a long way to tell the story being spread across the country”.

The Head of Corporate Communications and External Affairs of Airtel Ghana, Donald Gwira also added that the influx of public response on Airtel Ghana’s social media interfaces including Facebook and YouTube attest to a general acceptance of the series, a situation the company is most pleased with. According to Mr. Gwira “before Touching Lives began screening, we indicated that we are riding on three key themes, i.e. empowerment, impact and sustainability. We are happy to note that people watching these episodes are feeling empowered to consider making a sustainable impact in the lives of people. This is what we want to drive and we are happy Touching Lives is doing just that”.

The current episode showing on television since Sunday March 18 recaps the story of how an ordinary Ghanaian is being helped to get disabled off our streets. The new story is entitled ‘A Mad Obsession” and it tells the story of Ilyasu and his Bahass Foundation. The Bahass Foundation has existed for 7 years now and is entirely funded by Ilyasu’s business interests. (He has 4 herbalist shops). With his team of 30 volunteers, he bathes and feeds the mentally challenged, distributes medication, organizes recreational activities and religious services and runs awareness programs. There are 128 registered beneficiaries of his program. He has been honoured by the community for his works and has managed to re-integrate 3 mentally challenged people back into the community.