“Motherhood, a call for total responsibility,” was the theme for Sweet Mother, a Mother’s Day celebration event, organized in the New Apostolic Church Dangme District in the Accra Apostle Area under the leadership of District Rector Richard Adjah Tettey on Sunday, 9th May 2021 at Nanoman in the presence of about 90 participants.

The program, which is the first of its kind in the district, was organized to educate and celebrate mothers in the district. It was a two-sectioned program – the first section focused on breast cancer awareness, whilst the second section was a live discussion on motherhood, mother as a wife and conflict in marriages.

Sister Rita Apau, a nurse in the Dodowa Newtown Congregation, gave a concise presentation on breast cancer, elaborating its causes, symptoms and prevention. She urged all nursing mothers to ensure exclusive breastfeeding for six months and then continue breastfeeding combined with solid foods for 2 years as is recommended by the WHO. She identified heredity, age, lifestyle, obesity, hormones, diabetes and hypertension as risk factors of breast cancer. Mothers were educated on how to regularly examine their breasts.

The second section was a live discussion – Motherhood, Mother as a wife and Conflicts in Marriages. The four-member panel featured Sisters Betty Ohene-Saffo (wife of Lead Apostle Benjamin Ohene-Saffo), Victoria Asare (wife of Bishop Charles Asare), Lydia Arhin (wife of District Rector Ebo Arhin) and Patricia Adjah (wife of District Rector Richard Adjah Tettey). The panelists shared ideas and experiences with the participants.

Notable among the discussion was a principle in life which states that ‘how you treat your child when he/she is young is the same way he/she will treat you when you (the parent) grow old.’ The panel made it known to the audience that the greatest joy of every mother is to see her child succeed with a brighter future and advised all mothers to take very good care of their children, open up to them and be a mother and a best friend to their children so they (the children) can trust and share their secrets with them (the mothers), correct them when they go wrong. Mothers were also urged not to shift all their attention to their children at the expense of their husbands, but were admonished to love their homes, their husbands and children and to be sweet mothers to the congregations in which they are.

There was also a poetry recital from the Sunday School children to all mothers. A mother’s day cake was cut and shared with everyone as well. The district presented a mother’s day customized mug to all mothers who attended the event. The men in the district prepared and served meals like jollof rice with gizzard and banku with okro stew, sobolo drinks with popcorn and plantain chips to every mother present. At the end members present shared joy and danced happily to the popular and evergreen “Sweet Mother” song. It was all joy.