In a bid to alleviate impacts of the Akosombo Dam spillage on residents in the Volta Region, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (LDS) has donated items worth US$300,000 to affected constituencies within the region.
With five large truckloads of items ranging from medical supplies, food, emergency sanitation and bags of rice, mosquito nets, aquatabs, student mattresses with blankets, boots, boxes of canned mackerel among others, the church worked together with Members of Parliament for affected constituencies – South Tongu, Central Tongu, North Tongu, South Dayi and Ketu South – to ensure a fair distribution of the items donated.
A breakdown of donated items included 1,500 mattresses, 1,500 blankets, 1,000 bags of 5kg rice, 500 cans of mackerel, 420 bottles of 12-litre oil, 500 pairs of boots, 1,500 mosquito nets, 250 boxes of sanitary pads, 1,000 packs of T-rolls, 100 boxes of liquid soap distributed among the constituencies.
Commenting on the motive for this kind gesture to victims of the dam spillage, Elder Jörg Klebingat, General Authority Seventy of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints – Africa West Area, said it is simply to keep the second great commandment – which mainly focuses on taking care of other people, and also following the footsteps of Apostle Paul who talked largely on charity and expecting nothing in return.
“We donated these items simply for only one reason, and that is to keep the second great commandment – to take care of our fellow men. Also, we donate without any expectation of getting any favours or something in return. Not all gifts given these days in the world are given out of charity, but we try to follow Paul of the Bible who has talked much about charity; and so, we’re just delighted that we could offer at least a little help for now,” he said.
Detailing future plans of the church for supporting the victims, Elder Klebingat noted that the church is also excited and ready to embark on a further assessment to ascertain other pressing needs of the people and offer them continuous support.
“As a church, we try to be the first on site – and often we’re the last to leave. We will be very happy to continue working with the officials there, and our own people will also be on the ground doing further assessments; and then we will make some decisions regarding what we might yet do for them, because we do realise that once the water has subsided it calls for more support. And so, we look forward to continuing our support in that region,” he explained.
Responding to the church’s plans in supporting efforts of government to provide better accommodation for victims of the flood, he explained that the church will reach out and work closely with local governments to identify the sort of second level needs in that region; and whatever is appropriately doable for them, they will be happy to participate.
For his part, Flint Ekyem Mensah, Director for Temporal Affairs of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints – Africa West Area, noted that to ensure the church responds to the people’s main needs, they reached out to MPs of the five affected communities… who later handed over a list of items their people need to the church.
Touching on how the church can lend a supporting hand to other regions such as the Eastern Region which were affected by the dam spillage, he explained that when the church is notified of any extra support to such regions, they will offer whatever needed support they can.
