On August 9th, we visited FUE. Their motto is "A future based on history." FUE opened its doors in 2006. It is a very modern campus -- several buildings of which are still under development. We toured the University and were warmly hosted by FUE's Chairman of the Board, President, and several senior members of the administration including the Deans and/or Vice Deans of the School of Dentistry, Engineering, and Pharmacy. 
The week also included a visit to another rural health clinic that Dr. Addai established. This one was a three-hour drive from CIMS – a drive that took us through many other impoverished rural villages. Dr. Addai and his staff of three administered to more than 150 people that day. It was an amazing thing to witness. They operate in a church that has no electricity or running water. In fact, it is simply a small building with a roof – no windows, no screens, no amenities whatsoever. They set up shop as follows:
One staff member stationed herself at the entrance of the church to log-in patients as they arrived. They needed to show their national health insurance card (available to all Ghanaians) and then were asked to wait their turn while sitting on wooden benches. By 10:30 AM, the church was filled with people (mostly women and children) patiently waiting their turn to see Dr. Addai or the physician assistant (PA) who works for him. At the front of the church they set up two tables with chairs for the patients: one for Dr. Addai and the other for the PA. At the side of the church, two other staff members (one of whom is a nurse) set up the pharmacy. Each time they set up this clinic (about two times per month), they must bring all of their supplies including a very limited repertoire of drugs, stethoscopes and blood pressure cuffs. That’s all. No other bells or whistles are available to administer to the sick on typical visits to this village. Occasionally, they bring along a mobile laboratory but this requires much more in the way of personnel and resources – both of which are so limited.
We have posted several photos of what we observed on this day. Shown in several are Dr. Addai with some of the patients he saw, the pharmacy (photo with various drug supplies on the floor), some of the people waiting their turn, and the exterior of the church where everything took place. Our day ended at about 5:00 PM. We each had some crackers and water to carry us through the day but frankly, when you are so busy, you tend to forget that you have an appetite.
What a small world we live in! Through a series of coincidences, I found out that a former Cornell student, Justin Davis (shown in photo wearing the Survivor T-shirt) was in Ghana for the summer working at the U.S. Embassy. Justin was the former President of Black Students United (BSU), a student organization at Cornell. Our daughter, Jennifer, was also an undergraduate student at Cornell at the time and she and Justin too a few classes together. I (Lisa) got to know Justin when I was Dean at Human Ecology and helped to fund the BSU’s spring break trip to rebuild houses in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. Justin just completed his Masters of Public Policy at Georgetown and decided to work in the diplomatic core. He helped to arrange for President Obama’s recent trip to Ghana. He got to meet the President and his trip here completely changed his life. He intends to work in the diplomatic service for the next several years and then attend law school to work in public interest law. If you follow your passion, you never know where your lives may take you! While in Accra, we got together for dinner at Mama Mia’s Pizzeria with his friend Kojo who studied for two years at Syracuse University and will complete his studies in Ghana where he intends to pursue entrepreneurial ventures. The pizza was excellent and the conversations with old friends wonderful!!
As we prepared to leave this small rural village, the children seemed to come from everywhere to bid farewell. Our host told us that they would probably be talking about our visit and the fact that we took their photographs for years to come.
We took a small break and flew to Accra on the weekend that followed mostly for work-related reasons, namely, Temple University-related teleconferences requiring reliable Internet service. While in Accra, we took a 4 hour drive to give us the opportunity to visit some of the most haunting places we have ever been: the slave castles. We were told that President Obama visited the castles a few weeks earlier during his visit to Ghana. Perhaps you saw this covered on CNN.
Schools don’t have tables and chairs unless the children bring their own tables and chairs.
Shown here are two children carrying a table and chair. They often share one of each in school.
Sown here are the Oyoko village preacher (left in white robe) and two members of the health clinic staff. The fellow in yellow is a physician assistant but his is well past retirement. There is currently no one to replace him.
Shown here is the only maternity bed that Dr. Addai purchased using his own funds for the Oyoko village health clinic. He hopes to have the facility staffed by a midwife some day soon but for now, it is only staffed by an occasional nurse and Dr. Addai when he visits this rural village a few times each month.
The day we visited, as we were about to leave, a member of the village ran up to Dr. Addai to hand him a piece of paper. It was a hand written note from the village police chief alleging that Dr. Addai had stolen the maternity bed. He was asked to go straight to see the chief and we were invited to join him. Off we went to an experience that taught us about the social challenges that can thwart even the most virtuous efforts of people like Dr. Addai. Here is a brief account of what followed:
The main road leading to the village has a small courthouse attached to a shed-like structure where the police chief is stationed. As noted earlier in the blog, the police chief wears a T-shire and shorts – flip-flops too. When we arrived at the chief’s “office”, we were asked to sit on a bench. Joining us were the village preacher, the deputy police chief, Dr. Addai’s faithful assistant, Mr. Aninful, and, of course, Dr. Addai. The chief asked Dr. Addai to tell him why were with him and so began a summary we had heard voiced by Dr. Addai every time we met someone at the University or anywhere else during our visit. It is Ghanaian tradition to always have a host explain the mission of his/her visitors. He explained that we were there to help him establish an infrastructure for his new medical school, to explore Temple University partnerships with the Kumasi University Schools of Medicine and Dentistry, and to help his new initiative (College of Integrative Medical Sciences) form a strategic alliance with Kumasi University.
Once these formalities were completed, the chief read the charges to Dr. Addai. Essentially, he was accused of stealing equipment from the old health clinic that Dr. Addai himself established in 2007 on the main road of the village. In particular, the maternity bed was mentioned. Dr. Addai listened politely and then began to tell the police chief (who was recently appointed to the post) the history of his Oyoko health clinic. He noted that in 2007, the tribal chief (not to be confused with the police chief) invited Dr. Addai to establish a clinic there. Dr. Addai was given a small one room house on the main road to use but it had no floor, no running water, and, of course, no supplies. Dr. Addai invested over $40,000 of his own funds to install a cement floor, water system, and to purchase a variety of supplies including a maternity beg, some surgical instruments, etc. Later that year, the tribal chief died and his son became the new tribal chief. We later learned from Dr. Addai, that in contrast to the elder tribal chief who was very forward-thinking, his nephew who is now in power is very much the opposite. He has no formal education and is, according to Dr. Addai, trying to restore old ways of treating people with illnesses – pure traditional medicine. The health clinic Dr. Addai established was his first target. Dr. Addai was told that he needed to close the clinic immediately. And so he did in late 2008.
Upon hearing about this decision, the village preacher was appalled and invited Dr. Addai to meet with him to discuss possible solutions to enable Dr. Addai to sustain a clinic in the village. The preacher gave Dr. Addai a small 2-room house in the middle of the village as a place for the establishment of another clinic. He also agreed to help him steward the clinic in Dr. Addai’s absence (Dr. Addai lives and works in the Kumasi area and only visits the clinic a few times each week). Dr. Addai began to move the supplies he had purchased that were sitting unused in the now-closed original clinic on the main road. That’s when all the trouble began.
The tribal chief learned that supplies were being moved from the original clinic his father had given to Dr. Addai. He contacted the police chief to inform him that Dr. Addai needed to be arrested for theft. And so, here we were at Dr. Addai’s side as he told this story to the police chief. Of course, he left out the parts about his speculation regarding the tribal chief’s agenda aimed at restoring old ways of treating patients using, in some cases, solutions based upon superstitions. His main message was that he, himself, had purchased all of the items taken from the old clinic. Moreover, he noted that had all of the receipts to prove this. To our surprise, Dr. Addai explained that all he really wanted to preserve in his new clinic was the maternity bed. He told the police chief that he really didn’t care if the tribal chief insisted that he return all of the other items. The maternity bed was critical for the women in the village.
Dr. Addai was told that there would be further investigation of the matter to confirm what was just communicated. He also told Dr. Addia to produce the receipts to which he referred as soon as possible. Dr. Addai agreed to do this the next time he visited. Lesson learned: Never throw away your receipts!
At the end of the interrogation, the village preacher, who had been absolutely silent the entire time, stood up and began to berate the police chief in his native language. We were clueless about what he was saying to the police chief but it was clear to us that he was giving the police chief a much-deserved piece of his mind. He was very angry to say the least. The police chief listened attentively and said nothing. We didn’t know what would happen next but in the end, the event came to a close and we were all politely invited to leave. Off we went but as we were getting into Dr. Addai’s car, the police chief ran to us and asked us (Richard and Lisa) to give him our telephone number so he could reach us if he needed. I (Richard) handed him my card and we then drove away.
Several teachable moments manifested during our visit to Oyoko. First, we learned how a rural village filled with young children can exist with so little and yet have its people live satisfied with what they have. Yes, they want to improve their condition, but the families live in peace, parents take the best care of their children with what little they have, and, as a community, they are open to help from benefactors like Dr. Addai. Second, we learned that the tenacious and selfless efforts of people like Dr. Addai are very fragile. Tribal leaders control the future of such rural villages in many ways. The social fabric of these in-need communities is only as strong as their stewardship. Fortunately, Oyoko has a committed village preacher who is respected and loved by all and not afraid to stand up and voice distain for injustices including the one aimed Dr. Addai on this day. By the way, we later learned from Mr. Aninful (Dr. Addai's assistant) that the preacher did, in fact, tell the police chief just what we both thought he was saying. He chastised the police chief for accusing Dr. Addai of theft. He used words like “shame on you” over and over again. We are more than confident that Dr. Addai will be exonerated.
Here is the mission statement for CIMS:
"We educate future leaders in the integrated natural and conventional health sciences that integrate mind, body, spirit and nature. Through education, research and clinical services, we improve the health and well-being of the human community.
The School commits itself to playing a key role in establishing the credibility of science-based African natural medicine. We believe African traditional medicine complements the orthodoxy of allopathic medicine if properly subjected to modern scientific scrutiny and development. We will therefore work hard to evolve the College into a fully developed, well resourced, mature academic health center where tradition and orthodoxy meet in a harmonic union.
In pursuit of its vision and mission, the college dedicates itself to:
A. Academic excellence: curricula which present the cutting edge of natural and conventional medicine philosophy and practices; programs which facilitate students’ developing high-level academic and/or clinical expertise; utilization of teaching methods which optimally facilitate student skill and knowledge base development; and an educational environment which incorporates and models the principles of both conventional and natural medicine.
B. Pioneering research: foundational inquiry into the underlying concepts of traditional African medicine; iterative research which continuously evaluates the efficacy of therapeutic strategies and agents; and research partnerships to deepen and broaden the types of possible inquiry.
This is my favorite photo so far. We were greeted in Oyoko by so many children who were on a school break. They had never seen a white person. Can you believe that? It's true. They knew we were with Dr. Addai who runs the only health clinic they have ever known. He established the clinic in 2007.
Our visit to this small rural village was as heart- wrenching as it was rewarding. This photo shows some of the small "houses" in which the people live.
The road to Oyoko is long and windy. This is the paved portion but we quickly reached the red clay portion that led into the small village. This is where we each had several teachable moments -- one of which would happen in a small village police facility. Here's a preview of what we learned: police chiefs in this part of the world wear T-shirts and shorts and serve as judge and jury.
