The Upper West Regional branch of the Ghana Red Cross Society (GRCS) has celebrated the World Red Cross and Red Crescent Day with some students in Wa to revitalise the spirit of volunteerism among the school children. The celebration was also to revamp the visibility of the GRCS among the populace as the knowledge and enthusiasm of the Society among the people was gradually diminishing. Speaking to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) during an engagement with students of the Fongo M/A Junior High School, Madam Maria Johana Yuorpor, the Upper West Regional Chairperson of the GRCS, said being a member of the GRCS was an opportunity to volunteer one's services to society. She, therefore, encouraged the students to volunteer with the humanitarian Society and to render their charitable services to help make their communities and the world a better place for all. Madam Yuorpor explained that Fongo M/A JHS used to have a strong and vibrant GRCS club hence the need to visit the school to rekindle their interest in the So ciety. The students were sensitised to the operation of the GRCS, disaster preparedness, mitigation and management, volunteerism and COVID-19 prevention and safety precautions among others. The team also visited the Wa Municipal Hospital Children's Ward and the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) to make a modest donation to the children on admission as part of the World Red Cross and Red Crescent Day celebration. Mr Emmanuel Djan, the In-Charge of the Children's Ward, expressed appreciation to the members of the GRCS in the region for the kindness and generosity they had shown the children. Madam Georgina Maaliwombu, a Neonatal Nurse at the NICU of the hospital, while thanking the GRCS for the visit and donation, appealed to the Society to support the facility to celebrate the 'Yellow Month' dedicated for public sensitisation, awareness creation, and advocacy to neonatal jaundice. Mr Abdul Rauf Issahaku, a volunteer with GRCS in the region, in a presentation at the school on disaster preparedness and mi tigation, urged the school children to contribute in any little way to preventing disasters, both natural and artificial, particularly floods and fires. He emphasised the need to keep the gutters and drainage systems clean to ensure easy flow of rainwater, which was necessary to help prevent flood. 'It is important we all keep our gutters clean to prevent them from getting choked by the garbage, which can lead to the occurrence of flood,' he explained. Some of the children who participated in the sensitisation thanked the GRCS team for the knowledge imparted to them and expressed willingness to become active volunteers in their communities. This year's World Red Cross and Red Crescent Day celebration in the region was on the theme: 'I Give with Joy, and the Joy I give is a Reward.' Other activities lined up for the celebration in the region were a route march along the principal streets of Wa and a football match between members of the GRCS and the Cadet group in the region. Source: Ghana News Agency