As part of the celebration of its Silver Jubilee, the St. Theresa of the Child Jesus Society in the Catholic Archdiocese of Accra has handed over a refurbished Dining Hall to the St. Paul Catholic Seminary at Sowutuom, Accra.
The Society, within a short period, furnished the dining hall with 39 tables, over 100 chairs, and painted both the interior and exterior.
The handing over which took place on June 18, 2023, was made on behalf of the Society by Dame Obaapanin Gloria Kwasie, founder of the Society in Accra in 1998.
She said the executives of the Society decided to do charity work at the Seminary by refurbishing the dining hall which had been in a bad state, thanking God for enabling them to complete and hand over the project.
Thanking God for His manifold blessings, goodness and mercies for the Society, Dame Obaapanin Kwasie said the gesture to the Seminary was not the first by the Society but on many occasions, branches and individual members had supported in diverse ways.
She assured the Seminary authorities that the Society would continue to give its charitable support for the growth of the institution and the Seminarians.
The Rector of the Seminary, Very Rev. Fr. Joseph Okine-Quartey, on behalf of the Seminary, expressed gratitude to the Society for a good work done and for the Society to continue to grow from strength to strength.
Excursion to Shai Hills
Meanwhile, the Society members visited the Shai Hills Resource Reserve in the greater Accra Region on Saturday, August 5, 2023 also as part of the 25th Anniversary.
They had the rare opportunity to experience the serene atmosphere of the Reserve, climbed the Mogo hills, an isolated hill that was used by the Shai tribe for camping their young ladies who were of age to go through their puberty rites (Dipo).
The members also climbed the Sayu Mountain to the Sayu caves, the ancestral home of the people of Kordiabe. The cave was once the home of the tribal chief of Shai people and as well served as his Palace. The mountain trail is about 200m of gentle terrain which gives visitors the opportunity to enjoy the rugged beauty of the hillside and surrounding plains.
The members also had the opportunity to see animals like monkeys, zebras, antelopes and python.
Mr. Francis Nsekpa, a Tour Guard who took the members round explained that the Resource Reserve is one of the smallest protected area in Ghana declared a forest reserve in 1962 with an area of 46.7 km and was made a resource reserve on November 5, 1971 by a Legislative Instrument (LI) 710.
According to him, historically, the reserve was an ancestral home of the Dangme-Shai between AD 1000 and 1892. The Shai’s migrated from Nigeria, walked on foot, settled at different areas until the settled at the recent Shai Hills Resource Reserve.
Four tribes occupied the various Hills at the Reserve, namely, the Sayo, the Manya Yo, the Adwuku and the Hieweyo. Though the clans were independent on each other, they had similar cultures which are common to each other.
Sharing their experiences, most of the members were very excited to leave boredom to have fun and seeing animals they hadn’t seen before.
Dame Obaapanin Gloria Kwasie, founder of the Society in Accra, who led the members, expressed thanks to God for a successful excursion. According to her, the society decided to organise this event for relaxation and to release members’ stress.
“We are very excited because it is a very long time some members have gone out like this. We have exercised and enjoyed the serene atmosphere of the place,” she stated.
She, however, appealed to the members who could not participate due to obvious reasons to avail themselves in the upcoming food bazaar at the Nicolson Park at Burma camp on Saturday, September 2, 2023.
Opanin Lucy Adokpah, President of the St. Theresa Catholic Church branch of the society, described the excursion s interesting and encouraged the branches and deaneries to occasionally organise such extra-curricular activities.
“The climbing of the hills is an exercise worth participating,” she added.
On her part, Onua Fidelia Azuma said her experience was that of body vitality and exercise.
Opanin Akosua Boahema Sasu, the Secretary of the 25th Anniversary Planning Committee, who had the rare opportunity to hold a python and placed it around her neck, expressed gratitude to the organisers for the initiative of exposing members to nature through the excursion.
