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- communities come together and open their own clinic -
The Mafi-Seva Community Clinic is located in
North Tongu District of Ghana's Volta Region. As the communities
realized their potential through the work on the Zongo water
project they decided to start a community clinic and requested
AMURT to assist them in early 2002.
A meeting was held on April 26, 2002 last year where we
collectively decided to open a clinic. The communities took the
responsibility to prepare the building and send candidates for
training with Didi Ananda Viinambra at the AMURTEL clinic in
Domeabra. It took longer than planned, but by the end of March
2003 the communities had made ready a nice five room building in
Seva village. We arranged the furniture, basic equipments and
start up inventory of medicine. On May 1st the clinic opened
with assistance of staff from the AMURTEL clinic in Domeabra.
The communities came together
to take
the initiative to build the clinic.
Meeting at the clinic site May 2003 |
The staff at Mafi-Seva clinic
in front of the
staff quarters with the ambulance
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The communities responded very well. On May 2nd the first baby
was delivered in the maternity ward and patients started coming
from surrounding villages. Already the first month they were
able to pay staff salaries, operating expenses and restock of
medicines, in other words, the clinic was
self-sufficient from the start.
Giacomo Boselli of AMURT Italy in Parma made contact with the
Jolly Casa Company who agreed to assist the Seva Clinic. A
second building, toilets and a bath-house was constructed at the
Seva Clinic compound this fall. The building houses the staff..
The Jolly Casa Company also, very generously donated funds to
buy a second-hand Landrover Defender for the Seva Clinic.
It serves as an ambulance to bring patients to Adidome hospital,
and for out-reach services to remote villages.
Safe delivery and a place to
recover after
giving birth is provided by the maternity
ward in the Seva Clinic. |
The mother of the second baby born at
the
Seva Clinic. Maternal bliss shines from
her face, it was her firstborn, a girl. |
Future include installation of solar panels for lighting,
appliances and a small refrigerator for storing snake serum,
vaccines and certain important medicines. Two more communities,
Workpoe and Adalekpe have built facilities and AMURT will assist
them to open health posts, that initially will function as
satellites of the Seva clinic. With the ambulance, accommodation
facilities, increased capacity of the clinic, we are now ready
to receive international medical volunteers to serve in the
clinic.
The key behind the success of the project lies in the community
participation. The clinic is managed by a committee of
representatives from Seva and nearby villages. With open
communication and transparency in the finances, the communities
patronize the clinic and feel it as their own. In a meeting in
November the clinic staff, presented all accounts and statistics
from the first six months of operations to members of the
communities, thus building trust. The clinic averages nearly
around 150 patients and four baby deliveries per month. At the
end of 2003 the clinic had been able to save a good amount for
the future security of the clinic. We believe that the clinic
can be a model for other clinics to be opened by AMURT in Ghana
and other countries. It is the community spirit and confidence
instilled by the water project that made this project possible.
Pre-natal counseling and
check-ups
is available at the Mafi-Seva Clinic
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The Land rover serves as an
ambulance to
take patients to Adidome hospital.
It is also used for outreach to remote villages. |
AMURT Ghana home page
The Mafi-Seva Clinic is self-sufficient now. AMURT hopes to
continue to assist the communities to improve the services
offered at the clinic and to help more communities open their
own clinic. Donations will be used for medicines, medical
equipment, furniture, training and to improve the clinic
facilities.
To contribute you can:
2. Send a donation via the
AMURT Global
office in Washington DC, USA.
3. Send a donation to Ghana:
AMURT
Account number #3702602
BARCLAY'S BANK
Makola Branch, Accra
GHANA
FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:
AMURTEL Ghana, our sister organization, provides good quality health
care
in rural villages,
focusing especially on women's needs
(safe motherhood)
and preventative health care for children.
Visit
AMURTEL Africa website |
