Accra, Nov 19, GNA- The First Lady Mrs. Rebecca Akufo-Addo has welcomed back from China, the first batch of 15 Ghanaian pupils who participated in a football tournament under the Ghana-China Exchange Programme.
The pupils, drawn from SOS schools in Tamale, Kumasi, Tema, Asiakwa, and other parts of the country were in China for a ten (10) day sports and cultural exchange programme facilitated by the Rebecca Foundation, and the Belt and Road Collaborative Innovation College (BRCIC) of China.
The Team, which left Ghana for China on 20th October returned on 1st November, 2018.
The programme afforded the Ghanaian pupils to engage in various activities with their Chinese colleagues including football matches, cultural dances and folklore.
The Ghanaian team beat the Quingdao Licang Experimental School by 10 goals to win the trophy in a keenly contested soccer competition.
Formally welcoming the pupils at her Office in Accra, Mrs Akufo-Addo, who doubles as the Founder of the Rebecca Foundation, expressed her delight at the opportunity offered the children to engage in various activities with their colleagues on the other side of the globe.
She advised them to use the exposure offered them by their trip, as a stepping stone to aspire to greater heights.
The First Lady urged corporate bodies and other benevolent institutions and Individuals to support the Rebecca Foundation in its humanitarian endeavours, which included the construction of the Mother and Baby Unit at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital and the recently launched Learning to Read, Reading to Learn Project.
Narrating their experience, the pupils said the trip was an eye-opener and that it exposed them to the culture, education and the history of the people of China; an opportunity which for most of them, would have been only a dream.
They described China as a very clean country and its people as friendly and hard-working citizens who practiced a high level of environmental hygiene.
The pupils used the opportunity to present to Mrs. Akufo-Addo, the trophy they won in a football gala competition with their Chinese counterparts.
