One hundred and twenty-six-year-old Salomay Boye was among thousands of widows who thronged the McDan La Town Park at La in Accra Thursday to participate in a health screening exercise organised by the McDan Foundation, the corporate social responsibility arm of the McDan Group.

In the company of one of her granddaughters, Ms Boye, a mother of 16 with only four surviving arrived at the venue as early as 7 a.m. to have her eyes and other essential organs screened.

The centenarian, who was full of energy and could walk alone with little support from her walking stick, revealed that her health had always been her priority, hence her decision to participate in the exercise.

After successfully undergoing a full-scale screening, Ms Boye defied the hindrances associated with her age to challenge her daughters with energetic dance moves, a drive that threw the gathering into a state of shock.

The enthusiasm with which she performed and the euphoria that characterised the atmosphere summarised the extent to which the beneficiaries, including persons living with disabilities valued the gesture.

More than 5,000 widows drawn from La, Teshie, Nungua, Osu, Tema and surrounding communities benefitted from the exercise which has been running for the past six years.

The beneficiaries, some of whom had been widows for more than four decades, were screened for dental and eye diseases, diabetes, hypertension, malaria, typhoid fever, and other ailments.

Additionally, the beneficiaries were given free medication, where necessary, and counselled by a team of medical officers from the 37 Military Hospital, led by a Physician Specialist at the Hospital, Col. Dr Clement Nii Mensah Laryea.

It was a moment of celebration and merrymaking for the beneficiaries as they were also treated to good food, music, and thrilling cultural performances.

They also received food items, including assorted drinks, rice, biscuit, and cooking oil.

Rationale

The Chairman of the McDan Group, Dr Daniel McKorley, who led the presentation, said the annual exercise formed part of efforts by the Foundation to give back to society and assist the widows to experience the joy of the season.

“McDan has been very consistent. We believe in giving back to society especially in this season of love and giving. This is my own community and constituency and I believe it is about time we share. All the people here are my mothers and grandmothers and I feel it is about time I come here, break bread with them, and have the medical team check them up. This is what McDan Foundation can do to support society,” he said.

Dr McKorley, while interacting with the women, expressed profound gratitude to them for honouring his invitation and pledged his readiness to continue to support them.

He appealed to corporate organisations and persons in the position of extending help to the needy to support the less privileged and contribute to poverty reduction because “government cannot do it all.”

Appreciation

For his part, a Deputy Minister for Communications and Member of Parliament for La Dadekotopon, Mr Vincent Sowah Odotei thanked Dr McKorley for the gesture done his constituents.

He also appealed to all wealthy natives of La to “come back home” and support the development of the area.

Some of the beneficiaries of the exercise were full of praise for Dr McKorley for sustaining the programme, which they said, had become an important occasion on their calendar.

They also expressed appreciation to the medical team for the counselling offered them and resolved to adopt positive health practices to improve on their health conditions.