AMURT clinic Project

April 2007: 13 graduates from the recentvillage health promoters programme at Seva clinic.Bridget and Silje, Kids Worldwide volunteers, ran the programme.

Introduction:

Over the past 20 years, AMURT and AMURTEL-GHANA have been serving rural areas in Ghana through provision of health care (primary health clinics and outposts) and preventative health care such as focussing on the provision of clean drinking water. Community ownership and management is an important factor in our work, as well as being financially self-sustainable.

AMURTEL is the womens managed branch of AMURT (an international non government organisation) and has opened several rural clinics in the Greater Accra and Central Regions of Ghana, some of which have their roots leading back to the mid 1980's. Currently the main clinics that AMURTEL take charge of are Domiabra, Akwakwaa and Nyanoa. They also train students to open new health outposts in other needy areas and focus especially on the needs of women and children.

AMURT has primarily focussed in the last 20 years on water treatment: building dams and purification facilities to supply clean drinking water to remote villages in the Volta Region. However in May 2003, AMURT also decided to extend their services to the provision of buildings for health care. The Seva Clinic is community owned and community managed. AMURT helped with the organizing and start up capital. A second satellite clinic opened in Adalekpoe village on May 1st, 2004. We plan to assist a third community, Workpoe to open their own clinic in early 2005.

All the rural clinics regularly serve patients from many small village communities within a 10 km radius. At times patients also come from very distant villages in the interior. The common complaints are malaria, colds, diarrhoea, and injuries. The clinics also deliver babies in the maternity ward, and provide support through ante-natal and post-natal consultations.

More about the clinics:

Seva (Volta Region):
This project is somewhat different from other projects being managed by NGOs in Ghana. We are trying to create sustainable community based projects which are independently managed and run by the local people. The emphasis is on receiving all the patients promptly, warmly and lovingly. The clinic absorbs members of the local communities as staff and trains them accordingly.

Seva clinic is very remote; at times serious cases are brought that the staff are not equipped to handle. For this we have available a Landrover, to use as an ambulance to rush the patients to the hospital in Adidome, about 25 km away.

Solar power has been installed at the clinic. There are separate staff quarters with four rooms in which local staff stay. Volunteers will be provided with one of these rooms which can accommodate two people.

Domiabra (Greater Accra Region):
There may be from 5-10 patients a day (market day is always busier with about double the number coming in), and usually from 10-20 deliveries a month. The majority of cases are with women and children, and common treatments include first aid, malaria and typhoid.

We try to lay stress on preventative health and the staff are all hand-picked members of the local community. As such, they are expected to participate as much as possible in ensuring that there are safe and hygienic drinking sources in the villages and educating pregnant mothers about how to look after their children, as well as advice on birth control measures etc. We would like to develop more of these kind of interactions with the surrounding communities through puppet plays etc and we hope that the ideas and inputs of volunteers will stimulate this to become a reality. Teaching aides and materials that can be gathered before coming will always be most welcome.

Akwakwaa (Central Region):
Akwakwaa clinic was opened in 2002 and has been run in rented premises. Shortly after opening the clinic, and seeng the interest of the community and its needs, AMURTEL purchased 5 acres of land with a beautiful river and coconut trees on which to build a proper clinic facility. The clinic building was completed in 2005 and now staff quarters are under construction.

Akwakwaa clinic

Who do we need?

• Qualified nurses, midwives & doctors

• Nursing and medical students

You must be patient and have the initiative to be ready to impement your ideas, sometimes with little direction from staff.

What will you be doing?

• Receiving patients, diagnosing and treating

• Training local staff

• Organising community out-reach programmes through teaching hygiene, sanitation, nutrition, family planning, AIDS awareness, etc.

Volunteer nurse Nikki from San
Francisco with local trainee staff.

Volunteer placement:

The clinics being managed by AMURTEL can accommodate up to 4 volunteers. The volunteers will stay in either Domiabra or Akwakwaa (which is nearing completion of construction). Domiabra is located one hour west from Accra. Akwakwaa is located 2 hours north of Accra in the Central Region.

The clinics under the guidance of AMURT can accommodate 2 volunteers at the Seva clinic. This is in the Volta Region, approximately 3 hours east of Accra, nearing the Togo border.

Volunteers will be placed according to need and you will be informed after your application has been accepted, which project you will be liable to be placed in. We reserve the right to change this though, depending on changes in bookings and the needs of the volunteers and respective clinics.

Project Directors:

Domiabra and Akwakwaa:
Didi A.Vinamra is a very senior and experienced nurse of 35 years. She was trained in Zaire and worked there for 20 years before becoming a full-time volunteer for AMURTEL and missionary worker for Ananda Marga. In 1992, Didi arrived in Ghana and has been busy here ever since.

Seva:
The project director is Samuel Tsamenyi. He heads the clinic committee which is comprised of members of the local communities. Samuel is a local who has been active in community development works for many years.

Mothers waiting outside Seva clinic for postnatal care.

Volunteer Coordinator:

Dada Daneshananda, from Norway will communicate with all interested volunteers. Dada has been based in Accra, Ghana since 2000 and regularly goes around to visit the projects. Dada is also involved in managing a water project in the Volta Region.

The Environment:

Village life has its own charms, but one must be ready to tolerate some of the difficulties. Water is sometimes a problem at some of the clinics so you may be expected to bathe with a bucket and from river or rain water. In some clinics, there is no electicity, so you will be using a kerosine lamp at night.

Village life is almost timeless, and very dreamlike in comparison to the rushing life of the West. We work at night by candlelight or kerosene lamp if there is a late delivery or emergency case.

Food and Accomodation:

Seva clinic:
Both food and accommodation will be provided and covered in the fee although volunteers are expected to buy thier own drinking water and snacks.

Domiabra & Akwakwaa:
Volunteers will buy and cook thier own food in the facilities provided in the volunteer quarters. For this reason, you will give slightly less donation than the other Ghana volunteers: