The African Foundation for Women Empowerment (AFWE) on Saturday, 18 December 2021, held its maiden annual health outreach programme at Saforo, a suburb of the Akwapim South Municipality of the Eastern Region.

In partnership with private health service provider Aegis healthcare, the non-profit organisation brought together widows, children and the less privileged in the deprived community, for free medical screening.

The Executive Director for AFWE, Marcia Mprah, told the media that the choice for a community health outreach stems from the desire to make health services available to the women who may have been denied same or have been unable to access health facilities due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, which was accompanied by lockdowns and associated restrictions to health facilities.

She added that many individuals are also reported to have shied away from general OPD services due to the fear of contracting the deadly virus.

“December, being a festive season for us, is as an opportune moment to rally more young girls and women for health screening purposes, which would, in turn, help tear down the barriers for most women who have been unable to access quality health care throughout the year and that’s why we commenced this exercise at Saforo,” she said.

AFWE also donated some bags of rice, mackerel, biscuits and souvenirs to the community.

Some benevolent individuals including Abel Antonio Cárdenas Tuppia, the Ambassador of Peru to Ghana; and Director-General (DG) of the National Lottery Authority (NLA), Mr Samuel Kwabena Awuku, also supported the good cause by partnering the foundation to celebrate the women of Saforo.

AFWE, launched less than a year ago, says it is positioning itself as a non-profit organisational tool and platform that seeks to harness, refine and also develop the African woman to achieve desirable goals in society by extending assistance that will break down uneven social structures, which limit the potentials of women on the continent in order to ensure they succeed in life through education, health care, livelihood skills and community development services.

AFWE envisions an African society where women are given equal opportunities and empowered to explore their full potentials and capabilities in their environment through the creation of sustainable and institutionalised support mechanisms that promote their social, economic, cultural and moral development.