Deaf members of the Church of Christ conducted a six-hour clean-up at Agona Swedru Municipal Government Hospital to mark 40 years of their group’s establishment in the church and surrounding towns.
The group cleaned cobwebs, scrubbed the Out-Patients Department (OPD), Emergency Unit, male, female and maternity wards, and swept the entire hospital compound.
Preacher Mills said the exercise marked the beginning of the 40th anniversary celebrations nationwide, adding that several activities had been planned, culminating in a grand durbar to be held in Kumasi in the Ashanti Region.
He explained that through the church and the support of other stakeholders, a school for the Deaf was established at the Agona Swedru Salvation Army Basic School. As a result, many deaf members had acquired vocational and technical skills, with some graduating from universities and others securing gainful employment.
Preacher Mills used the occasion to appeal to parents with deaf children at home to bring them to the Church of Christ for rehabilitation to help them integrate fully into society.
He added that deaf groups had also been formed at the Mankessim and Saltpond branches of the church to enable members to hear and understand the word of God through sign language.
Mr Daniel Opoku, a member of the group, speaking through sign language, expressed appreciation to the church for giving them the opportunity to become active members of society.
Miss Efuah Effah, another member, appealed to the government to offer equal employment opportunities to deaf graduates from universities, vocational and technical institutions to help them become financially independent.
She also called on companies and other institutions to consider persons with hearing impairment for employment.
Dr Julius Abuku, Medical Superintendent of the Swedru Government Hospital, commended the deaf group and their leaders for the unprecedented clean-up exercise and urged other churches, groups and institutions to emulate the initiative.
