The Daniel Ntow Obese Foundation, in collaboration with the Unity Congregation of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana, Nkanfoa has constructed a resource centre to provide computer training and religious nurturing for young people in the church and its surrounding communities.
The facility was built in honour of the late Daniel Ntow Obese for his exceptional dedication in his 32-year service to the Church, serving as caretaker of the Unity Congregation at Nkafoa for 15 years until his demise in 2021.
The Daniel Ntow Obese Children and Youth Resource Centre, located adjacent the church, has a fully equipped ultra-modern 12-seater ICT laboratory, two rooms for children’s service, and a room for youth service.
The two-storey edifice also has a 250-seater conference room, 14 washrooms among other modern facilities.
The Foundation has developed a free comprehensive course to train and certify children in computer programming, coding, designing, and building games, animations and stories, creative expression, and learning, among others to further its cause.
Mrs Elizabeth Obese, widow and Chairperson of the Foundation, speaking at the commissioning of the project, said the family was motivated by the need to give back to society for God ‘s many blessings.
She said the ICT laboratory was intended to empower the youth to build their competencies in ICT which was a critical component of the 21st-century skill set required by young people.
Many pupils in the Nkafoa community, she indicated were learning ICT in school but had never used a computer before, even though they exhibited great potential to do great things if given the opportunity.
“We want to bring ICT to the doorstep of the youth. We are hopeful that whoever passes through this facility is going to be very resourceful she said, adding through the training, they would build the moral character of the young ones to stay away from all forms of vices.”
She also intimated that the 250-seater conference room would be made available to all other Bible-believing churches interested in using the space.
Mrs Obese further announced a scholarship for needy but brilliant students in the church and surrounding communities who wished to pursue tertiary education, starting the 2024/2025 academic year.
She implored young people to seek the face of God and be disciplined to have a bright future.
“As parents, we should know our children and inculcate in them the moral character that will build them up to become responsible citizens of the nation and the church,” she added.
Rt Rev Prof Joseph Obiri Yeboah Mante, Moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana, who commissioned and dedicated the facility urged the youth in the community to leverage the centre to enhance their quality of life.
“We also pray that the church will take very good care of the facility so that it can serve people longer,” he said.
Earlier, he called on the government to take urgent steps to clamp down on the menace of sports betting in the country.
It was his case that sports betting had become an addiction among the youth, creating bad character and destroying the future of young people.
Touching on the dangers of other addictions including drugs, alcohol, and sex, he recounted how a young promising man of God died from alcohol addiction.
He appealed to the youth to stay away from addictive behaviours, stressing that “the best way to stop addiction is not to start it.”
Rt Rev Prof Mante tasked churches in Ghana to establish counselling units to provide specialised counselling to persons suffering from addictions because prayers alone were not enough.
