Creche for Databank staff

Saturday, March 27, 2010 (The Mirror Pg 29)

By Rebecca Kwei
In its bid to meet the needs of parents with regard to caring for their children, Databank has opened a creche for its staff on its premises in Accra.
Christened Data Kids Crèche, it is to give nursing mothers returning to work a child-friendly work environment that encourages and eases the transition back to work while nursing their babies.
Additionally, it is also aimed at reducing the challenges that working mothers face in working full time and caring for their kids.
The crèche started operating in September last year with four children and presently has eight toddlers between the ages of eight months and two years and four ‘after school’ pupils. The ‘after school’ pupils visit the crèche after school to wait for their parents.
According to the Mother of the crèche, Captain Anna Adams (retd), a retired nursing officer of the Ghana Armed forces, the crèche opens from 7.15 a.m. to 5 p.m. or till the last child is picked up.
She said the ‘after school’ pupils were also helped with their homework when necessary as they waited for their parents to pick them up.
Capt Adams (retd ) is supported by three other tutors to take care of the kids.
The crèche is fitted with a kitchenette and has a washroom and the children are fed with their own food they bring from home.
At the inauguration of the crèche, the Executive Chairman of Databank, Mr Ken Ofori-Atta, said the crèche demonstrated the culture of family spirit at the bank.
He said the crèche would enable nursing mothers (and fathers) to have the peace of mind when working, knowing that their children were safe, which also increases productivity.
He commended Keli Gadzekpo, Executive Vice-Chairman of the bank, who he said was instrumental in the setting up of the crèche.
Mr Ofori-Atta expressed the hope that other corporate bodies would emulate the example, adding that it was important for corporate organisations to invest in the development of children and make women have easier times while working with them.
The Head of Human Capital and Administration, Mrs Felicia Gyamfi Ashley, said the bank thought it wise to address the needs of staff that affected productivity.
For instance, she said, if a nursing mother left a child at home in the care of someone she was not really sure of, then she would not have the peace of mind to do what was expected of her at work, since she would be constantly thinking of the security and safety of the child.
She said the crèche had been beneficial to the staff, adding that for now services at the crèche was free of charge but that might change in the future.
She also indicated that the bank gave seven days paternity leave to the male staff to enable them to ‘bond’ with mother and child after delivery.
Mrs Sophia Quarm, whose husband, Emmanuel Quarm, works with Databank, has her eight-month old baby, Nathan, at the crèche, and she said “the crèche has helped me tremendously”.
She said she was happy with the services of the crèche and that the mother of the crèche, who is a retired nurse, and her staff were doing a good job, adding that “she sometimes provides me with knowledge that I otherwise wouldn’t have known”.