Merton International School has launched a fund raising initiative aimed at refurbishing the Pediatric Theatre of the Korle- Bu Teaching hospital in Accra. The initiative is to raise GHC 150,000 to purchase equipment for the surgical ward as a result of the bad state of the theatre due to lack of financial support over the years. According to the Chief Executive Officer of the school, Mrs Elizabeth Baitie, the state of the theatre was brought to the attention of the school by Dr Ampeadu Mensah, a doctor at the centre hence the initiative to refurbish the surgical ward to save the lives of children. The initiative, she said, also formed part of the school’s corporate social responsibility. The lack of equipment for surgery in the pediatric ward, she said, meant that children needing surgery had to be taken to the adult ward or sometimes had to wait for as long as three years, depending on the urgency of the situation before they were attended to. Mrs Baitie said in the pediatric ward too, it was common to see children sharing beds which were not healthy at all. That situation, she said, had frustrated doctors as well as students who had decided to add their voices to the clarion call for something to be done about the situation. “Doctors are becoming increasingly frustrated at this situation and if something is not done urgently to salvage the theatre, a lot of lives will be lost and children, the future leaders of this country will unprecedentedly have no place in this country to rise up to leadership positions,” she explained. She, therefore, appealed to all well meaning Ghanaians to support the school in its quest to refurbish the centre. Mrs Baitie also explained that as part of measures to help raise the GHC 150,000, the school was organising a musical night dubbed “Simply Music” on May 12,2012 at the College of Physicians and Surgeons in Accra. She added that donors could also text JT to the short code 1376 on all networks to contribute a minimum of 30 pesewas while people could also patronise the concert by buying the tickets for “Simply Music” at GHC30.00. Unibank has supported the initiative with GHC10,000 while Ghana Commercial Bank supported with GHC5,000. Starlife assurance has also given an undisclosed sum to support the project.