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Soccer for Dreamers set to pilot Ubuntu Online Academy Initiative
Soccer for Dreamers, a US-based non-governmental sports charity foundation, is set to pilot its Ubuntu Online Academy initiative in February next year with the target of reaching at least 20,000 youth by the end of the year.
The Ubuntu Online Academy is aimed at equipping the youth including young male and female footballers in the country with the essential elements and skills to help them flourish well in the corporate world, job market, and as entrepreneurs.
Already, some players from the Women’s Premier and Division One leagues as well as male juvenile players plying their trade in the juvenile, Division Three, and Two leagues in the country have been hooked onto the platform to be able to get the necessary training and skills to be able to get side hustles to support them during and after their careers.
According to Madam Sylvia Akwaboah, president of the Foundation and mother of co-founders of the Foundation Jed, Baruch, and Kayden Akwaboah, interactions with young male and female footballers to know their problems after presenting them with football equipment and menstrual cups last year as well as this year, brought to light the need to equip them further to be able to fend for themselves.
Speaking after a round table discussion organised at the Lancaster Hotel in Accra on Tuesday to seek the expectations of business owners, and heads of corporate bodies among others on what they expect from the youth when it comes to employment, madam Akwaboah noted the interactions with the players gave them a deeper understanding of their plight, and this gave birth to the idea of coming up with the online academy to help them.
she stated that teaching them how to fend for themselves would better serve them than the foundation always coming back to donate to them.
According to her, the roundtable meeting served its purpose, because never would she be able to sit and conjure up what the different sectors have their experience, and their pin-points.
“Having the main actors in the job market give up their input so we know exactly what they want us to put as content on the online platform to serve them and to serve our youth, is most valuable.”
She disclosed that since the launch of the academy in August, it was the first time engaging with stakeholders, employers, business people, and corporates about what their pin-points are in terms of recruiting the youth.
“After today, we know what exactly to serve our youth and their employers on the platform, and to further create more content to get us going.”
She announced that they are now reaching out to primary, secondary, and tertiary youth as well, and with the hope of reaching 20,000 youth at the end of next year,
To this end, they are recruiting 200 volunteers to be trained and equipped to help the Foundation hit its target.
“Any youth out there who wishes to volunteer is welcome on board. They should just go on to the Ubuntu online Academy and then register to be a volunteer, ” she added
The Ubuntu Online Academy is free and all one needs is to register, and all the courses will be available for free.
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Swedru All Blacks back to winning ways, Roshan humble King Faisal
Sekondi Rospak FC made it eight wins in eight successive home games after three second-half goals from John Amoah, Joseph Ntow and Stephen Anthony Kofi. John Amoah opened the scoring in the 55th minute after a barren first half. Joseph Ntow added to the tally in the 56th minute before Stephen Anthony Kofi rounded things up in the 74th minute to give Rospak a 3-0 win over former Premier League side King Faisal.
Elsewhere at Swedru – leaders Swedru All Blacks humbled PAC Academy in an emphatic 2-0 win. Zayat Bubakari scored first for Swedru All Blacks in the 27th minute before Rudolf Junior Nana Kwasi Mensah made it 2-0 in the 34th minute. Swedru All Blacks are top of the table with 36 points – 4 points ahead of second placed Rospak FC.
Meanwhile, Former Premier League side Cape Coast Mysterious Dwarfs recorded their fourth successive home victory after beaten New Edubiase United 2-1 at the Robert Mensah Park. Enoch Odoom struck first for Cape Coast Mysterious Dwarfs in the 19th minute but Steven Asante equalized for New Edubiase United before halftime. After the interval, Godfred Eshun scored from distance in the 65th minute to help Cape Coast Mysterious Dwarfs secure all the points.
Here are the results in Zone Two
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Cervical Cancer alert: Avoid sex at early age
The Programmes Manager of Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) of the Ghana Health Service (GHS), Dr Mary Efua Commeh, has advised young girls to avoid sex at an early age.
This, she explained, will give the cervix the opportunity to mature before they become sexually active.
“You need to delay what we call the first sexual intercourse as much as possible to give the cervix the opportunity to mature before the person becomes sexually active,” she said.
Dr Commeh stated this in an interview with The Spectator in Accra on Tuesday as a part of the Cervical Cancer awareness month.
According to her, cervical cancer was the second leading female cancer in Ghana with a total of about 3,072 cases annually, and out of that, 1,815 deaths are recorded, representing more than 50 per cent.
She indicated that “If young girls are going to be sexually active, then you need to talk to your parents about being vaccinated.”
She explained that vaccinating young girls against human papillomavirus (HPV) has been found to be a very effective way of preventing cervical cancer.
“There are countries that started HPV vaccination years ago and they are not seeing any cervical cancers now because they would have eliminated most of the high-risk HPVs in their women. So if the high-risk HPV is not there, then obviously the results on cervical cancers are going to go down,” she added.
Dr Commmey said the HPV vaccination is recommended for young girls aged nine to 14 years, adding that it had been found to be highly effective, not just for cervical cancers but for other HPV-related cancers, such as anal cancers, cancers of the vagina, genital warts, amongst others.
She further elaborated that the idea is to put up a barrier before the HPV comes in and that once a young female encounters it, she is already protected.
She also mentioned that for cervical cancers, the main cause is called HPV infection, saying generally, all sexually active women acquire HPV at some point in their lives.
However, the Programmes Manager of NCDs at the GHS mentioned that the body has a way of clearing the HPV, explaining that it is a natural mechanism that goes on, unfortunately, there are a few women whose HPV persists.
Moreover, she noted that the numbers for Cervical Cancer tend to be much higher because at times, clients would wait, and try all sorts of medications before they finally report to the health facility saying “we actually lose some women before they get to the hospitals with over 75 per cent of the cases coming in its third and fourth stages.”
Dr Commey, therefore, called for public awareness while ensuring the availability of information for prevention and control.
By Jemima Esinam Kuatsinu
