TPRF Launches Model Food-Aid Program in Ghana

Land in Otinibi village outside Accra to house the new center

LOS ANGELES, Jan. 20, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- With a grant of U.S. $250,000, The Prem Rawat Foundation (TPRF) has taken the first step toward establishing its third "Food For People" (FFP) center, this time in the village of Otinibi, Ghana, on the outskirts of the nation's capital city of Accra. The initiative builds on the success of TPRF's current FFP facilities in Bantoli, India, and the Dhading District of Nepal.

Each FFP facility provides a daily nutritious meal prepared from traditional local recipes for children in poverty-ridden areas. The programs in India and Nepal, developed in collaboration with local leaders, have proved successful in improving children's health, encouraging school attendance, and raising community awareness of the need for hygiene to prevent disease.

Linda Pascotto, President of TPRF, says, "Food for People is a model food-aid program based on Prem Rawat's vision of helping people in a way that respects their culture and treats them with dignity. It is inspiring to see the change in the children for whom good health and eagerness to learn has replaced hunger and the need to work for food."

In Ghana, where the operation of the FFP program will be under the supervision of the local Prembaf Ghana charity, the new facility will go up on land donated by Otinibi Chief Nii Kweidza Mansa III, one of the few chiefs in Western Africa to keep his land out of the hands of investors over the years with the hope that it could one day be used to benefit his people.

The chief expressed his appreciation to TPRF during a recent "handing-over" ceremony that officially launched the project. "We have provided the land," Chief Mansa said, "with the understanding that everything that we do here will enhance the development of the village."

Pre-construction work is already underway, including the completion of architectural drawings, the rental of construction equipment to clear the site, and the building of a temporary office needed before excavation work for the project begins.

About The Prem Rawat Foundation (TPRF)

The Prem Rawat Foundation promotes Prem Rawat's message of peace and his vision of addressing fundamental human needs so that people everywhere can live with dignity, peace, and prosperity. For more information, visit: www.tprf.org.

SOURCE The Prem Rawat Foundation