On October 29, 2016 Ho will witness the birth and out-dooring of the Ho Sentinel Lions Club. The Club is the latest addition to the over 46,000 local clubs of the Lions Clubs International (LCI) spread over 200 countries. Founded almost a century ago, in June 1917 by Melvin Jones, the LCI is the largest global humanitarian organization with a membership of over 1.4 million people.
Aims
Aims of the Lions Clubs International include:
- To create and foster a spirit of understanding among the peoples of the world.
- To promote the principles of good government and good citizenship.
- To take an active interest in the civic, cultural, social and moral welfare of the community.
- To provide a forum for the open discussion of all matters of public interest; provided, however, that partisan politics and sectarian religion shall not be debated by club members.
- To encourage service-minded people to serve their community without personal financial reward, and to encourage efficiency and promote high ethical standards in commerce, industry, professions, public works and private endeavors.
Lionism in Ho
The Ho Sentinel Lions Club will not be the first Lions Club to be formed in Ho but the Sentinelions have come to stay. About two decades ago, Lions were an integral part of volunteer service in the Volta Regional Capital. Chartered in June 1995, the “Ho Alpha Lions Club” undertook various community projects and their footprints are still around for all to see. The club gave birth to the Asogli Leos Club in December 1997 with 41 members. (The Leo Clubs are the junior version of the Lions Clubs International that nurture and groom young persons in the catchment area for membership of the mature Lions Club when they turn 18).
Choice of Name
Thanks to the determination of a new breed of service-minded individuals, the Ho Sentinel Lions Club is born and poised to lead the way in volunteerism in the Volta Region. Members of the club believe that providing relief against the five social maladies of poverty, poor health, inadequate housing, lack of education and unemployment requires them to be sentinels of the less privileged (who in most cases are the ones hard hit by social problems).
Preparation for Charter
The Prospective Lions have been preparing feverishly for charter for the past six months, meeting at the Tarso Hotel (den of the Lions) to learn about the aims of LCI, the Lions Pledge, the Lions Code of Ethics among others. Various committees have been put in place to see to the successful prosecution of the Charter programme at the GNAT Hall—Ho. Lion Gladys M. Akyea—MJF provides tutelage to the Prospective Lions (PLs).
High Impact Project
Much of the Lions Clubs International projects are executed with funds raised for specified charitable causes. Consequently, funds will be raised during the charter night to support the club’s High Impact Project which would be out-doored at the function.
Conclusion
As time ticks towards October 29, members of the Ho Sentinel Lions Club are reminded and inspired by Melvin Jones’ personal code that “You can’t get very far until you start doing something for somebody else.” The Ho Sentinel Lions Club is indeed ready to guard the poor and less-privileged and to lead the cause of voluntary community service in the Volta Region!