 |
| Akumaa Mama Zimbi |
Ace actress and cultural icon Akumaa Mama Zimbi,
known in privately life as Mrs. Joyce Akumaa Dongotey-Padi, hosted over 2,000
widows from across all corners of Ghana last Saturday.
Widows from places like Twifo Praso,
Dunkwa-on-Offin, Tema, Bawku, Hikpo, Techiman, Sampa, Accra, Ketekrachie,
Elmina and many other parts of the country gathered at Pavilion A of the Ghana
International Trade Fair Centre, Accra for the 4th national Widows Alliance
Conference (WAC).
This is an initiative by Mama Zimbi Foundation (MZF)
through its Widows Alliance Network (WANE) project for sustainable
socio-economic development of widows in Ghana.
Activities at the conference included traditional
drumming and dancing, cooking competition, exhibitions and song ministrations
by Annette Danso and DSP Kofi Sarpong.
Rev. Dr. Gabriel Ansah, the Chancellor of Nasem
University Fellowship, who was the keynote speaker, encouraged and motivated
the widows and gave them practical solutions on how they could come out of
their shells and live their lives fully as God wanted.
At the conference, Mama Zimbi stated that widowhood
was not by choice or curse, as it was just like any natural phenomenon that was
ordained by God.
According to her, “the Bible (James 1:27) ‘Religion that God our Father accepts as
pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress
and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.’ So, how can someone
become a widow without the death of her partner? Why then does our society
brand widows as witches, murderers and public outcasts? Therefore, widows and
widowers in Ghana are to be treated as any dignified human being.”
Mama Zimbi added, “Widows especially have not been
treated fairly treated traditionally and even in modern times in Ghana. Though
it has proven quite difficult to get rid of some bad widowhood rites because
many people still have strong attachment to all sorts of superstitious beliefs,
education through advocacy and the provision of employable skills as what Mama
Zimbi Foundation (MZF) is doing through its Widows Alliance Network (WANE),
should be the most appreciable long-term solution to these problems plaguing
our society.”
“This is because the women who mostly succumb to
these rites are the ones whose source of livelihoods is non-existent. There is
the fear of hardship, hunger, and fear that the education of their children
will be truncated and so on. If these women had their own source of income
without always being so dependent, then their woes could be reduced modestly.”
She concluded, “Widowhood brings a lot of challenges
like economic burden, single parenthood and loneliness, so Ghana needs to help
its widows and widowers to grow in self confidence and lead a normal life as
every other human being. It is for this reason why the annual National Widows
Alliance Conference (WAC), an initiative of the Mama Zimbi Foundation (MZF) for
sustainable socio-economic development of widows for advocacy and national
widows cohesion came about.”
The conference, in its fourth year, is organized on
a large scale as the grand occasion where all of Ghana and Africa are made to
appreciate the roles widows are playing as ambassadors of change in their
communities. It also serves as the ideal dialogue platform for the advocacy of
a comprehensive policy and legal direction for elevating the standards of
widows in Ghana. This conference is organised on June 23 every year, and it is
also to celebrate the United Nations International Widows Day.
Sponsors included Imajin Advertising, Nestle Ghana
Limited, Ice Cool Purified Water, Bloom Cakes and More, Danny’s Decoration,
Asadu Royal Waste Management, Cocoa Processing Company Limited and Ghana
International Trade Fair Centre. The media partners were Multimedia Group
Limited, Media Fanbern, Daily Guide, DDP Outdoor Limited and News-One.
credit: NEWS-ONE
Comments
Post a Comment