Be Good Ambassadors Of Ghana

Vice-President John Mahama has asked Japanese volunteers serving in various parts of the country to project Ghana positively to the rest of the world after they have left the country at the end of their service.

He asked the volunteers to endeavour to promote the positive aspects of Ghanaian culture such as its hospitality and etiquette wherever they find themselves.

Vice-President Mahama made the appeal yesterday when 10 Japanese volunteers paid a courtesy call on him at the Castle, Osu.

The volunteers, who are in the country to serve under the Japan International Co-operation Programme, will be deployed to various regions of the country to serve in the education, health and vocational sectors.

The Vice-President also asked the volunteers to share their expertise with the local Ghanaian, stressing that the Japanese work ethic and good sanitary practices are worth emulating.

“You can add a little to make the lives of the people you are serving better,” he said, adding, “make your experience (in Ghana) a learning experience.”

Mr. Mahama assured the volunteers of the government’s determination to ensure their fruitful stay in the country.

Mr. Keiichi Katakami, Japanese Ambassador to Ghana, noted that the Japanese International Co-operation Agency (JICA) had been dispatching volunteers to improve science, mathematics and vocational education, especially in second-cycle schools in the rural areas.

He said, JICA has also started posting volunteers to Ghana Education Service district offices to assist circuit supervisors with the view of improving the capacity of Science and Mathematics teachers through training.

Mr. Katakami said, under the programme, volunteers have also been assigned to guinea worm epidemic areas in the northern part of the country to help eliminate the disease, adding, “JICA is now trying to focus on HIV/AIDS through volunteer activity.”

Since the inception of the programme about 32 years ago, about 1,006 volunteers have been to Ghana to serve a two-year period each.

The first batch of volunteers, made up of seven Science and Mathematics teachers, a vegetable growing volunteer and a rice growing volunteer, arrived in Ghana on August 17, 1977.

Source: The Ghanaian Times