Ghana: Sisters bring relief to sick and pregnant women in rural Amankwakrom
By Sr. Sylvie Lum Cho, MSHR
Holy Rosary Health Centre, Amankwakrom, in Ghana’s Apostolic Vicariate of Donkorkrom, provides and sustains health care services to the poor, neglected and marginalized.
Run by the Missionary Sisters of the Holy Rosary (MSHR), the Centre is often a salvation for so many villagers from the District and beyond, as they are assured of quality health care, and they know they will always be attended to, whether they are able to pay or not.
Amankwakrom, like the rest of Afram Plains, suffers very high poverty rates. Many patients die at home because they cannot afford specialists hospitals for treatment.
Some pregnant women prefer giving birth at home for fear of medical bills, and many are rushed to the health centre on motorbikes, the major transport means, because of the complications. Due to the poor road network, some prefer not to take the risk of venturing on the bad roads lest they lose their babies, or even their lives.
Inhabitants also suffer water shortage, with only two boreholes to serve the needs of a big community as Amankwakrom.
There were no sanitary facilities available in the area, which creates extensive health and environmental problems. There is also no market at Amankwakrom, and inhabitants have to travel for about 11.2km to the other town, Donkorkrom.
Contribution of the Missionary Sisters of the Holy Rosary
The Holy Rosary Sisters, moved by the need to be close to the people they serve, had left the comfort of their Convent at Donkorkrom to reside in the old nurses’ quarters at Holy Rosary Health Centre, from where they reach out to the patients and see to the day-to-day running of the facility.
Apart from their routine health care delivery, the sisters have resorted to sourcing for funds through project writing. This has contributed so much to the growth of the health facility.
Since 2016, when Sisters took over the management, a humble two-block facility has seen tremendous growth and expansion.
The two pioneering MSHR sisters, who heeded the cry of the poor at Amankwakrom, were Sr. Rose Farren, a medical doctor and Sr. Nkechi Oraebosi Caroline, a staff mid-wife, later joined by Sr. Cecilia Dike, a nurse mid-wife.
In 2020, the construction of a new Out-Patient Department (OPD) block, complete with a pharmacy, laboratory, scan room, injection room, and a male ward, represented a remarkable development.
Three years later, the modern Maternity Block was unveiled, along with contemporary restroom facilities. These changes reinforced the commitment to enhanced healthcare services.
The Health Centre has evolved from 2 staff in 2016 to 42 presently, including three midwives. In average, 105 patients visit OPD weekly, with around 25 utilizing the Maternity Block.
All the above developments were possible thanks to the indefatigable efforts of the religious sisters, in collaboration with the donors.
Beyond their work at the Centre, the Sisters of the Holy Rosary also periodically carry out sensitization training within other communities and schools within Amankwakrom regarding health and other related issues.
They also organize free health screening for the people, which includes taking of Vital Signs, Checking of Sugar, Laboratory test, eye and tooth screening.
Support from the local Church, Community and other Stakeholders
The local Church leaders have been a great encouragement and support to the mission of the Sisters at Amankwakrom.
The local chiefs are not left out. Even though they lack the means to support the Sisters financially, they express joy and satisfaction at what their community is becoming, thanks to the Missionary endeavors.
“Though poor, the chiefs are always by us. Anything we are doing, they will tell us to call them. They rally their people to come for communal labour when called upon,” admitted Sr. Nkechi.
The Health Insurance Scheme according to the Facility in-charge has also been very helpful.
Above all. “the Health Centre survives largely through Divine Providence; the goodwill from people,” Sr. Nkechi testified, sharing her belief that “just do the mission, and the God of the Mission will sustain it”.
“If we keep to the faith with which we started in Amankwa, we shall never lack,” Sr. Farren had buttressed.
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