MTN to invest $100,000 prize money into Yello Care legacy projects
MTN Ghana Foundation said it would invest all the $100,000 it received last year for winning the Best Yello Care Activity in the MTN Group into its Yello Care Legacy Projects in Ghana.
MTN Ghana Foundation Coordinator, Frazier Malcolm said as per the rules of the game they are supposed to invest the money into social projects so they have chosen to refurbish dilapidated schools and hospitals across the country and also undertake new projects where necessary.
“We are still working on finalizing the list of specific projects that we will tackle but at least all the projects will be Yello Care Legacy projects,” he said. “In a month or two we will be showcasing the projects.”
MTN Ghana Foundation Yello Care activities were adjudged the best among the group of 21 countries last year at a ceremony in Johannesburg.
The Foundation undertook United Against Malaria, One Goal Education for All, and a football-related project in which they held football clinics and rehabilitated a football pitch at Sakaman in Accra.
Frazier Malcolm said they were judged on impact of the projects and the level of staff participation.
The United Nations also recognized MTN’s United Against Malaria project as a major contribution to global health at the Champions of Global Health event at the UN.
This year MTN Yello Care focused on the environment, and MTN Ghana planted 15,770, which was 15 times what the MTN Group mandated it to do.
As a result of the achievement of MTN Ghana, the MTN Group has decided to plant 150,000 across its 21 operations, so each of the 21 operations has been asked to plant an additional 7,500 trees.
Frazier Malcolm said MTN Ghana received large tracks of land in parts of the country to plant more trees and there was a request for 33,000 seedlings in Ashanti Region alone, so planting an additional 7,500 trees would not be a problem.
He however added that land acquisition in Accra for tree planting was a big problem.
“The plan this time is to plant and grow trees in groups and not in singles like we did in the past along the major streets and they all died off in no time due to human activity,” he said.
He said the trees included fruit trees and other trees of economic values like mahogany that can be cut down for timber and it would re-grow.
Frazier Malcolm said in parts of the country like Dodi Asantekrom at Akosombo, the people actually cut down young trees and use them for firewood and charcoal as their main source of income “so we provided them bee hives on those same trees so they could harvest the honey for income and allow the trees to grow.”
He said there were also plans to build fire belts around the newly planted trees, prune them, and MTN workers have also been scheduled to visit the trees occasionally and ensure they are in good shape.
By Samuel Dowuona
MTN Ghana Foundation said it would invest all the $100,000 it received last year for winning the Best Yello Care Activity in the MTN Group into its Yello Care Legacy Projects in Ghana.
MTN Ghana Foundation Coordinator, Frazier Malcolm said as per the rules of the game they are supposed to invest the money into social projects so they have chosen to refurbish dilapidated schools and hospitals across the country and also undertake new projects where necessary.
“We are still working on finalizing the list of specific projects that we will tackle but at least all the projects will be Yello Care Legacy projects,” he said. “In a month or two we will be showcasing the projects.”
MTN Ghana Foundation Yello Care activities were adjudged the best among the group of 21 countries last year at a ceremony in Johannesburg.
The Foundation undertook United Against Malaria, One Goal Education for All, and a football-related project in which they held football clinics and rehabilitated a football pitch at Sakaman in Accra.
Frazier Malcolm said they were judged on impact of the projects and the level of staff participation.
The United Nations also recognized MTN’s United Against Malaria project as a major contribution to global health at the Champions of Global Health event at the UN.
This year MTN Yello Care focused on the environment, and MTN Ghana planted 15,770, which was 15 times what the MTN Group mandated it to do.
As a result of the achievement of MTN Ghana, the MTN Group has decided to plant 150,000 across its 21 operations, so each of the 21 operations has been asked to plant an additional 7,500 trees.
Frazier Malcolm said MTN Ghana received large tracks of land in parts of the country to plant more trees and there was a request for 33,000 seedlings in Ashanti Region alone, so planting an additional 7,500 trees would not be a problem.
He however added that land acquisition in Accra for tree planting was a big problem.
“The plan this time is to plant and grow trees in groups and not in singles like we did in the past along the major streets and they all died off in no time due to human activity,” he said.
He said the trees included fruit trees and other trees of economic values like mahogany that can be cut down for timber and it would re-grow.
Frazier Malcolm said in parts of the country like Dodi Asantekrom at Akosombo, the people actually cut down young trees and use them for firewood and charcoal as their main source of income “so we provided them bee hives on those same trees so they could harvest the honey for income and allow the trees to grow.”
He said there were also plans to build fire belts around the newly planted trees, prune them, and MTN workers have also been scheduled to visit the trees occasionally and ensure they are in good shape.
By Samuel Dowuona