The 2nd edition of Share-Your-Lunch, a social-media action initiative that seeks to share food with the underprivileged in the society who cannot afford 3 square meals a day has been held at Galilee, Chorkor, a fishing community in the Greater Accra Region on Saturday 17th December, 2011.
Having had the maiden event in Darkuman Zongo last September, the Chorkor edition reached more than 300 children, twice the number of people the maiden event reached. The event as usual started from a Facebook group page called ‘Share-Your-Lunch in Ghana’ where members make online lunch pledges and delivered those pledges by bringing lunch meals to share with people who can hardly afford a nourishing afternoon meal.
The most significant part of this Share-Your-Lunch event was the construction of Hand Wash Centers (HWCs) to demonstrate and teach kids proper hand wash before and after eating and anytime they visit the toilet, among others. This culminated in the building of 3 tippy taps for hand washing with soaps and hand wash stickers and posters provided by the Community Water and Sanitation Agency, as well as the usage of hand pump liquid soaps donated by Bethel Industries, a private hand wash and sanitizers company in Accra to support the HWCs.
Speaking to the media, the Project Support and Event Manager of Share-Your-Lunch, Tanko Abdulai Ibrahim, emphasized that though the primary objective of the initiative which occurs every 3 months is to share food with the vulnerable, it is also important that children are given additional skill when they come and as such the introduction of the Hand Wash Stations.
Speaking on behalf of pledge makers who came to share, Mrs. Ewuraba Julia-Faith Bassaw, Chief Pledge Maker of the Chorkor edition entreated those present to keep on sharing with the needy since it is fair to do so especially when they could have also been in that situation and would need people to show love to them too.
On where and when the next Share-Your-Lunch would be held, Tanko Abdulai Ibrahim indicated that the normal voting system on Facebook would proceed for a venue to be selected and that the next event would be held in March 2012.