A former Minister for Gender Children and Social Protection, Nana Oye Lithur, over the weekend organised a cookout with the staff and children of Christ Faith Foster Home, Frafraha in Accra.

The event was to commemorate Mother’s Day celebrations 2019. The delegation, led by Nana Oye, spent some time interacting with the children and staff after presenting them with play toys, drinks, and some board games.

Speaking on the cookout, Nana Oye mentioned that one of the struggles with modern motherhood was the responsibility of juggling about a hundred different roles within the shortest time frame. 

Nana Oye also mentioned the strain our social networks places on our family lives and how mothers would sometimes sacrifice their weekends to honour a wedding, funeral or fulfil some social obligation. She cautioned mothers on how constant neglect of quality time with their children could invariably affect their mood, output and overall wellbeing.

“Children who spend quality time with their parents are less likely to have behaviour issues within the family and school setting. Happy, well-loved, and well-adjusted kids are statistically less likely to engage in risky behaviour, it’s not enough to only be there for important occasions or crisis,” the Human Rights activist stated. 

How cooking impacts children’s life

Speaking on the motivation behind the cookout, the Mother of the Year 2018 winner, reiterated some childhood memories on how cooking sessions with her grandmother helped shaped her life into becoming the well-adjusted adult that she had become. 

She stated that those moment spent in the kitchen gave her key survival skills and also an opportunity to practicalise her studies at a very young age.

She stated that cooking provided an opportunity to teach many lessons, math concepts like counting, measurement, and fractions naturally unfold when navigating a recipe with children. 

Explaining how food changes with temperature or how certain foods can help our body be healthy to provide great lessons in science, she said, “while cooking with your child, practice new vocabulary as you describe how the food looks, feels, and tastes.” 

“Being a mother myself to four children within my household and millions more across the country, there are times I almost get overwhelmed with my daily tasks and feel I barely had time for myself. The one way I spent quality time with my children was sharing the kitchen with them and teaching them how to cook a variety of meals, “she explained.

Child safety and security

Together with ‘Chef’ Gladys, Prince and Jessica of the Faith Foster Home, the cooking team made some pancakes and shared with all the other children in what Nana Oye described as one of the most memorable Mother’s Day of her life.

In her closing remarks, Nana Oye mentioned the importance of child safety and security due to a number of recent happenings. 

Commenting on the kidnapping of some girls in Takoradi in the Western Region, the former Minister disclosed her involvement in championing the fight against this unfortunate occurrence. 

She urged citizens to cooperate and volunteer information to the authorities and contribute meaningfully in ending this crisis. 

She also called on the police to, as a matter of urgency, tighten its security protocols and ensure that the citizens of Ghana are safe and can continue living their lives without fear or panic.