HEALTH EDUCATION

As a pilot project, this spring, a local nurse provided a public health training to thirty interested community members in two of our partner villages. These trainings focused on how to identify serious illnesses in children, when to seek treatment, basic first aid, and sanitation.

After the training, our community partners asked for help to continue the health trainings and to have them for youth and adults in each of our six partner villages. The staff of our partner organization and the teachers at our early childhood learning centers will also be trained in how to provide first aid for their students. The estimated cost for supplies, food at each meeting, and the nurse is $1200. None of the villages we work with have reliable access to clean water. Most families carry their water from the stagnant pond pictured right.

​At this time, drilling boreholes has been estimated as costing more than one hundred thousand dollars per well. Water purification efforts have, so far, proven unsuccessful. To address some of the health issues associated with lack of access to clean water and sanitation, our community partners are actively engaging in hygiene and hand washing education at the schools and in community sessions. This photo is of a community demonstration in which youth put on a play about hygiene. We would like to expand this effort by funding more trainings, purchase of supplies, and hiring of local nurses to support the program. We hope to raise $2000 for the first stage of this project.

insurance and first aid supplies

Ghana has a national health care system for children. The annual fee to join is approximately US$20. Children under 12 receive a photo ID card that allows them to use local health clinics and hospitals, in emergencies. A national health care service employee comes to the school and takes photos of each child and officially registers them. This also enables children to have a national ID, which is important as most do not have birth records. Four years ago, we provided 30 youth with health insurance. We stopped that project when the Ghanaian government made changes in its health program. But, now, with improvements to the Ghana health insurance program, we would like to provide health insurance to students enrolled in our programs. The estimated cost for one year to register 150 children for health insurance and to monitor the use and effectiveness of the program, is $5000. 

​In 2018, we will provide first aid supplies to both of our early childhood education centers and separately for our two youth soccer programs. These supplies will help address minor concerns as well as provide an opportunity for staff and teachers to implement what they have learned in the health education classes. Estimated cost $500, in addition to donated supplies.