Editorial
Significance of Easter
Once again, the occasion of Easter will soon be with us and the need to reflect on our lives as a nation to do away with what is bad while embracing what is good to rebuild our individual lifestyles as well as our nation.
Easter should not be taken for granted. Rather, all Ghanaians must carefully reflect on the occasion and think of the great lessons that can be derived from it towards the fulfilment of our national aspirations.
The occasion is a Christian event that is celebrated every year to mark the resurrection of Christ after His crucifixion and death on the cross. This eventful moment shows that Christ gave His body and poured out His blood as a sacrifice for mankind.
Easter is closely linked to Good Friday the day on which Christ was crucified. This is because without the crucifixion there would not have been the Resurrection or Easter. Many people celebrate the event every year and participate in the activities involved in the celebration but unfortunately forget to take note of its significance.
The death of Christ offered liberation, hope and good life for mankind, signifying that people must always think of what they can do to liberate society and help others to enjoy better life. At various levels of society, people must be selfless and think about what they can do for their communities rather than what they can gain from society.
The concern of everyone in this case must be to ensure that others enjoy better life even if it means that they themselves are going to be denied of certain pleasures of life. It is not easy to allow death to come upon oneself as did happen in the case of Jesus Christ.
Before His death, He was mocked, teased, disgraced and humiliated even though He did not deserve to experience such things. Christ accepted to go through all this for the sake of mankind. If this is the case, then everyone must adopt this positive character on behalf of others in society to raise the quality of life of everyone.
It is equally important to note that Christ, after the resurrection, did not seek to pay back those who played a role in His condemnation and crucifixion. He forgave everyone claiming that they did not know what they were doing.
The great lesson here is that as individuals we need to promote unity, accommodate unfair treatments from others and be prepared to forgive and forget. It is important to go by this principle to manifest the selfless spirit of Christ in our daily lives.
Again, people must be concerned with what is good for the progress of society. This calls for truth, honesty, hard work, transparency and commitment always to achieve what is best for society. At the same time, people must move away from negative tendencies such as drunkenness, dishonesty, greed, selfishness, stealing, embezzlement, corruption, deceit and sexual immorality during occasions such as this.
Easter marks the end of the Holy Week in the Christian calendar and must, therefore, be adhered to and observed as such. The principles of Easter will continue to remain with us until the end of our lives so while we live on this earth, it is incumbent on us to strive for what is good and eschew evil even under very difficult circumstances so as to be able to propel ourselves and the entire country to a higher pedestal of socio-economic development.
The Spectator calls on all Ghanaians to reflect on the coming Good Friday and Easter and pick lessons from them to rebuild our nation.
Editorial
Kudos to Ho Teaching Hospital staff, but …
Dear Editor,
If there is any group of professionals that get bad-mouthed the most, then you are referring to nurses and medical doctors assigned to public hospitals across the country.
For this particular letter, I want to sing the praises of this same group of professionals that work at the Ho Teaching Hospital, famously known as Trafalgar.
Despite the work load and the mass casualties received at the emergency ward of the hospital, the welcoming nature of the nurses and the professional touch by the doctors can’t be ignored. My personal experience has got me travelling from my base in Accra to seek medical services from these professionals.
Special mention has to be made of the likes of Precious of the Pharmacy Department, Dr Brandon Banor (a maxillofacial resident) of the Dental unit, male nurse Justice assigned to the female surgical ward. Words cannot really do justice to their affable, professional caring nature. A simple thank you is all that I can say.
In the same vein, I can’t but call out the bad attitude of the auxiliary staff and contractors of the hospital.
Chief among them is some of the contracted bank staff that handle the payment section of the hospital and the patient registration section (those that check the status of the patient as to whether they are fee paying patients or NHIS sponsored).
The attitude at times leaves a bad taste in the mouth. One such occurrence was a night staff of the registration section who had her legs on the office table whilst talking to patients.
The CEO of the hospital needs to shine his torch light on this support sections before they erode the awesome performance of the direct medical staff of the hospital.
Thank you for the space.
Kwesi Manu
Accra
Editorial
Develop policies to address disability concerns
Dear Editor,
AT the beginning of the year, when I went to the bank to deposit money into my uncle’s account, I observed a very sad situation where a man in a wheelchair struggled to navigate his way around the facility.
This is because the structure is disability unfriendly.
As I stood and watched how the man struggled to move his wheelchair, I felt sad and wondered if this is how the life of a disabled person should be. It becomes worse if there is no one to offer help.
In Ghana, People With Disabilities (PWDs) are often treated differently and are often subjected to all forms of discrimination.
Most of these people find themselves in such a situation as a result of unfortunate happenings such as accidents and injuries.
It is, therefore, not appropriate for anyone to discriminate against them. Discrimination against such persons take many forms, including how buildings are constructed.
Most of the public structures are not disability friendly and impede their movement.
As a country, we should consider the PWDs in designing our structures. I also think that there should be a national policy that seeks to address this issue.
I have a strong conviction that when such a policy is developed by the government, people with disabilities would feel appreciated and also promote social inclusivity.
Ray,
Kasoa
