Saturday, January 3, 2009

Report on trip to Addictive Diseases Unit, Wa Regional Hospital, Upper West Region on behalf of Hopeful Way Foundation, December, 2008

The Upper West Region is believed to have the highest incidence of alcohol and drug abuse in Ghana. It is against this backdrop that Mrs. Mary Bapuuroh, a Nurse, established an Addictive Diseases Unit at the Wa Regional Hospital after undertaking a course on addiction and recovery at the Korle-Bu Hospital in Accra. On December 1st, Chris Darkinson and Theresa O’Laughlin traveled to Wa for three days on behalf of The Hopeful Way Foundation. Despite the bus trip taking 23 hours and having to spend the night on the main road because the fan belt broke, both of us were enthusiastic upon reaching our destination. The purpose of our trip was to provide Mrs. Bapuuroh support in her efforts to deal with the scourge of addiction and to aid in the promotion of recovery and sobriety through attending Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) meetings.

While in Wa, we participated in open AA meetings, spoke at a local District Assembly meeting and met with the Regional Director of the Ghana Health Services in the Upper West Region and the Director of the Hospital. Members of the local District Assembly recognised that alcoholism is a problem in their area and welcomed the idea of establishing AA meetings as a tool of recovery. The Regional Director pledged his support for Mrs. Bapuuroh’s efforts. Although Mrs. Bapuuroh is doing her utmost to set up AA meetings, she needs support. Currently, the one-year-old Unit has 22 patients and the AA meetings take place under a tree. Additionally, addicts need to be informed that the meetings are taking place. When they do come and see the meeting location they often do not return. She and members of the AA group confirmed that our visit was a great encouragement to them. They hoped for future visits and continued collaboration and emotional support from Hopeful Way Foundation and others.

No comments:

Post a Comment