Doris recently returned from Ghana and gave us some updates on how the office is doing. In 2021 there were 171 babies born to BR Ghana clients, 54 of which were abortion-minded and were encouraged by BR to choose life!
Birthright Ghana answered more than 11,000 calls; provided 985 pregnancy tests (some mailed to women who were unable to travel to the office); helped 806 nursing mothers; and currently has 15 women enrolled in the Hopeless to Hopeful project.
A few times a year Doris fills barrels with donated baby items and sends them to Ghana to support mothers and babies in need.
On this latest trip, Doris visited her home village of Abutia Agove in the Volta region of Ghana. Doris was asked to speak at the clinic there due to the recently high number of teen pregnancies and the shortage of medical supplies for women and babies. While there, Doris presented the maternity staff with some of BR’s baby supplies (pictured left) which were much needed and appreciated.
Doris also spent time visiting the Dawhenya Community Clinic (shown in photo below) which is 3 miles away from the Birthright Ghana office outside of Tema. There is a hospital located in Tema but it is still too great of a distance for most of the women to travel for regular pre-natal care.
“Let’s say Philly is Tema,” explained Doris. “Most people in West Chester cannot afford to travel to Philly regularly for their prenatal check-ups and most of the roads are unpaved. Those that are able to get to Tema could spend the entire day waiting at the hospital to get seen. Doctor to patient ratio is about 1,000 per doctor.”
Many women turn to the Dawhenya clinic and to Birthright for help and the two organizations have a working relationship to better serve the pregnant women of their communities. Recently a doctor in Delaware had donated four scales to Birthright Ghana who in turn donated one of those scales to the clinic to help with prenatal education and client visits.
“The situation is very different from what we see in the U.S.,” Doris said. “Ghana is a developing country. We figured to help our clients stay healthy and alive, we have to team up with this clinic near us and God being so good, almost all of them stand for life and some are our friends and our own BR volunteers.”
Keep up the amazing work Doris. You are truly making a difference in the lives of the women and babies you continue to support and serve.