In the month since the All-Africa Service Project took place, leaders in several countries have expressed their thanks to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for all of the work done in the community.
On Aug. 17, members and friends of the Church throughout Africa served in various ways such as planting trees, painting, visiting and donating to orphanages, cleaning up streets, picking up trash, filling potholes, weeding and cleaning at schools and health centers, donating blood and more.
This was the 18th year for the All-Africa Service project, leading to volunteers providing thousands of man hours in service to their communities.
On Sept. 5, Elder Alfred Kyungu, General Authority Seventy and president of the Church’s Africa West Area; and Ghana Cape Coast Mission President Christopher L. Morgan met with Francis Nchor, assistant chief of police for the Ghana Central Region, to share more about the All-Africa Service Project.
In planning for the day of service, the police had requested help with safety at the police checkpoints and barricades. And so, on Aug. 17, 135 missionaries from the Ghana Cape Coast Mission, along with 10 missionaries from the Ghana Accra West Mission, traveled to 11 locations throughout the Central Region of Ghana. They cleaned and applied reflective tape to 179 police barriers and checkpoints, explained the Church’s Africa Newsroom.
Nchor thanked the leaders for the help with public safety, and President Morgan expressed gratitude for the opportunity to provide the needed assistance.
“We are all children of God, and we want to take good care of each other,” President Morgan said. “We also want to be good citizens in our communities. We are grateful for this opportunity to assist our police force, and we pray for their safety and wellbeing.”
In the country of Liberia, the mayor of the city of Monrovia, John Charuk Siafa, praised members of the Church for the citywide cleanup service project they carried out for the day of service.
The volunteers picked up debris, swept sidewalks and loaded trash onto trucks on Aug. 17.
Siafa called on other organizations and concerned individuals to follow the leadership demonstrated by the Church.
“We want to thank the Church for this exemplary action shown in community service,” the mayor said, adding that “block by block we can change things.”
Central Monrovia 2nd Ward Bishop Emmett Tarpeh thanked the city for their support and participation during the cleanup.
“We are grateful for your manpower, tools and trucks to collect those piles of garbage we had packed, even though we came with our own tools, but yours really helped us,” he said.
In the country of Nigeria, a government official in the state of Lagos thanked the Church for all the cleanup work done on Aug. 17.
‘’We are grateful to the Church for collaborating with us each year in helping to keep Lagos clean,” Adewunmi Adesina said. “We are open to collaborating with you on other projects that would help provide a cleaner and healthier environment for our people.”
