As part of measures to ensure yet another smooth and stress free Hajj operation and ensure the welfare of Ghanaian pilgrims this year, the Ghana Hajj Board under the leadership of Chairman Ben Abdallah Banda and Alhaji Farouk Hamza in collaboration with the accredited Ghana Hajj Agents have held the second edition of Hajj orientation for prospective pilgrims.
The orientation held at the pilgrims Affairs Office of Ghana, Hajj Village in Accra was aimed at equipping prospective pilgrims especially the first time pilgrims on how to perform Hajj as well as the dos and donts of Hajj pilgrimage.
It also offers the prospective pilgrims the knowledge of how the Hajj journey begins and how they are to comport themselves during their stay in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia so as not to tarnish the image of Hajj Board and Ghana.
Prospective pilgrims were urged to have the injection of Yellow Fever and the vaccination of COVID 19 before embarking on the journey to the holy land .
There is the need to meet the requirements due to peculiar health related issues of every country which calls for every prospective pilgrim to have the injections so as to protect themselves from being infected.
Last year Hajj operations was described as the most smooth and stress free in the history of Hajj operations in Ghana which won Ghana the highest respect in the eye of other countries with both the Chairman and his Executive Secretary assuring all Ghanaians of a most unique and successful Hajj operations this year.
Addressing the participants, the Executive Secretary of the Hajj Board Dr. Farouk Hamza revealed that measures put in place by the Board will ensure stress free Hajj as was done last year.
According to him measures have been put in place to ensure that gate crashers will not have access to where Ghanaian pilgrims are camped.
The Ghana Hajj board he said has provided qualified Doctors and nurses who will be in charge of health related issues of Ghanaian pilgrims from Madina to Mecca in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
On his part, Chairman of the Hajj Board reiterated that prospective pilgrims were taken through some basic practices of Hajj rituals and forbidden items outlined by the Saudi Arabia Authority as well as process through which a pilgrim will go at the Hajj Village before the departure.
According to him, the Board will be feeding all Ghanaian pilgrims with two square meal during their period of stay in Madina, Mecca and Mina adding that hotels for Ghanaian pilgrims are closer to the Mosque of the holy prophet in Madina; thus, easy accessiblity to prayers.
Similar programmes were held in Kumasi and Tamale.
Besides the spiritual education such as the supplications, intentions and others to be imparted by the Islamic clerics constituting the Daawah Committee, the programme allows the Medical Department of the Hajj Board to teach prospective pilgrims how to keep themselves healthy and access the medical facilities available during the month-long stay in Saudi Arabia.
Also to be imparted in prospective pilgrims during the orientation programme is an overview of Hajj 2024 to psych them up for the religious exercise.
The extreme heat during the pilgrimage calls for hydration by pilgrims through consumption of sufficient water, some pilgrims however avoid washroom visits much to the detriment of their health.
During the orientations, the medical personnel educated prospective pilgrims about what heat stroke is.
Activities are peaking at the Hajj Village, the control centre of operations for the pilgrimage. Stakeholders are scheduled to undertake an inspection tour of the location ahead of the commencement of flights from both Accra and Tamale respectively.
Flights from Tamale will commence from May 28 till May 31, while Accra flights will start on June 2 and end on June 6, flights from both ends total nine.
Source: WadataOnline.com /Muhammed Faisel Mustapha
