Back to Oyoko Village: You won't believe this one but it's all true.

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.