The first episode of the award-winning Airtel Touching Lives television series aired last weekend on multiple TV platforms.
The series, set to run for 13 weeks, will focus mainly on individuals and communities who are making their change in big and small ways to better their lives and that of others.
The first episode, which aired over the weekend, celebrated the efforts of two wonderful personalities – Ignatius Bugyei and Linda Boamah – whose stories inspire confidence, hope and change.
The episode also followed up with Emmanuel, the amputee shoemaker who received a new lease of life when Airtel Ghana provided an artificial leg for him two years ago.
Ignatius is the ICT teacher at Som Nyame Kodur Junior High School in the Central Region of Ghana. The Airtel Touching Lives team discovered that the school lacked the basic ICT setup (computers and teaching aids) which meant that the ICT instructor could only teach the theoretical aspects of the subject. For practical work to be done, Ignatius has to travel with his students to the nearest town, Twifo Praso located about nine kilometres from their school, where one of the schools has an ICT centre.
Apart from these daunting challenges for both students and teachers, the school also does not have electricity, their source of power – a solar panel – having broken down some years ago.
According to the teachers, it took a lot of sacrifice to be there as living in the town is quite challenging because of these issues of electricity and teaching aids.
In the spirit of helping people make their change, Airtel has promised to repair the solar panels and provide batteries so that electricity can be restored to the community. In addition, the company is renovating the school’s ICT centre and also providing computers and internet connection so students can gain practical knowledge of the subject.
The second story in episode 1 of Touching Lives 3 was equally heartwarming. It looked at how a young woman, Linda Boamah, who became paralysed when she convulsed at age 2, has become an inspiration for many in her community. Her sheer determination to make it in life pushes her to pursue an education although funding this dream proves to be a constant challenge.
Airtel, touched by her plight and determination, has promised to fund her education.
Clearly, the first episode of this year’s touching lives series has set the tone and interest in the multiple award winning programme.
The second episode of Touching Lives 3 will be aired again this weekend on Viasat 1, Metro TV and Multi TV (Joy News) on Friday; TV Africa, GTV and Multi TV (Cine Afrik, Joy TV, Hitz TV, Adom TV) on Saturday and TV3 on Sunday.
