She said Christmas was about caring for and sharing with neighbours, especially children, adding that there was reward in giving.

    In a speech read on her behalf by the Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection (MGCSP), Nana Oye Lithur, at the 90th annual children’s party of the Princess Marie Louise (Children’s) Hospital in Accra on Tuesday, Mrs Mahama stressed that sharing brought out the beauty of Christmas.

    Show love

“We have a responsibility to make this Christmas very memorable for children, especially the vulnerable, by taking the opportunity to show them love and care,” she said.

Mrs Mahama said a lot had been done by the government to protect children through the implementation of several policies, noting that the recently introduced Child and Family Policy (CFP) would ensure the well-being of the country’s children.

She presented items, including babies’ cots, bags of rice and sugar, gallons of oil and toys to the hospital.

Some friends of the hospital and benevolent organisations also donated items and cash to the hospital.

They included some members of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church, the St Rose’s Old Students Association, the Ladies and Knights of Marshall of the Roman Catholic Church, the 31st December Women’s Movement, the Creative Foundation and the Royal Bank.

Parents who were visiting at the time, as well as schoolchildren who were invited to the party, were also given Christmas presents.

Spend time with the family

Addressing the parents and the children at the get-together, the Parish Priest of the Christ the King Catholic Church, Rev. Father Andrew Campbell, urged Christians to make Christ the centre of the Christmas season.

He urged parents, fathers especially, to spend time with their children in the house during the festivities, as children were mostly seen with their mothers.

“Eat, drink, sit, pray and enjoy the Christmas festivities with your families whom you have ignored as a result of work, meetings and other engagements. It is my desire that no father will engage in any work or business activity but spend time with the children in the house,” he said.

Personal hygiene

For his part, the Medical Superintendent of the hospital, Dr Eric Sifah, advised parents and guardians to ensure that children practised good hygiene by, among others, washing their hands with soap and water before and after meals.

Caritas Italiana, one of the wards at the hospital, received the Best Decorated Ward award for the occasion.