Women in Engineering (WinE), a network of Ghanaian women engineering practitioners and student members within the Ghana Institution of Engineering (GhIE), has donated COVID-19 items to three market centers in Accra, Tema and Kumasi at separate ceremonies.
The Mallam Atta Market in Accra New Town, under the Ayawaso Central Municipality, on Friday, 22nd May, 2020, received from WinE members, quantities of nose masks, Veronica buckets with stands, hand washing soap, hand sanitizers and baskets to contain food sold from the floor which is not hygienic.
On Friday, 29th May, 2020, the group simultaneously presented same quantities of items to Tema Community One Market and Ejisu Market in Kumasi.
Presenting the items at Accra New Town Mallam Atta Market and Tema Community One Market, the President of WinE, Ing. Dr. Enyonam Kpekpena explained that on Wednesday, April 22, 2020, she led a group of women Engineers to present a proposal to re-engineer markets in the country, to the Ministers of Water Resources and Sanitation, Hon. Cecilia Dapaah, the Ministry for Local Government and the Ministry for Gender and Children Affairs.
According to the WinE President, the women in Engineering added the baskets to their items because the food that ends up on our tables are from these markets and most often than not, they are found on the floor at the market places, rendering them vulnerable for the transfer of the virus. Therefore, the earlier interventions are put in place, the better it would be for our collective health.
At Accra New Town Mallam Atta Market, the items were jointly received by the Municipal Chief Executive of Ayawaso Central, Alhaji Emmanuel Quaye and the Market Queen, Asafoanye Ogbede. They expressed appreciation to WinE members for their timely donation of the items to help fight the virus.
The Tema Community One market donation was received by the Co-ordinating Director of Tema Metropolitan Assembly, Alhaji Shehu Awudu Kadiri and the market queens in the presence of some of the market women. They also thanked women in Engineering for their thoughtful gesture and appreciated their plan to re-engineer market places in the country.
At Ejisu market, WinE members within the region, led by Ing Naa Lamkai, the Vice Organizing Secretary of WinE, presented similar items to the market, received by the Queen mother of Ejisu, who expressed appreciation to WinE for their donation. She assured WinE that the items would go a long way to fight COVID-19 and also keep their markets clean and hygienic.
In attendance at Accra New Town Mallam Atta market was the President of the GhIE, Ing. Alexander Leslie Ayeh. At Tema Community One market, the event was attended by Ing. Harold Esseku, Vice-President of GhIE, Ing. Naki Tetteh-Anowie, Vice-President of WinE, Ing. Mavis Allotey, Organizing Secretary of WinE, and some WinE members.
