Domeabra & Akwakwaa Community Clinics
Domeabra Community Clinic
Didi A.Vinambra is a life long volunteer and a certified trainer with the Ministry of Health in Ghana
The Clinic in Domeabra gets on average 8-12 patients a day, which doubles on market days. The staff, consisting of Didi, Gilbert and the TBA (Traditional Birth Attendant) Akele along with Didi’s students, also conduct between 5-10 antenatal consultations a day and usually assist 8-12 deliveries per month. The majority of the patients are women and children. Common complaints include malaria, colds, diarrhea and injuries.
Mothers from Domeabra and other surrounding villages have brought their children to get vaccinated on Babies Vaccination Day. Didi A.Vinambra attends to one of the mothers and her baby
At the Domeabra Clinic we focus on preventative health and the staff are all members of the local community. They are involved in making sure that there are safe and hygienic drinking sources in the villages and talk with pregnant mothers about bringing up young children as well as giving advise on birth control measures. The clinic is planning to develop more of these kinds of interactions with the surrounding communities through puppet plays and theatre and we hope that the ideas and inputs of more volunteers will stimulate this to become a reality.
The trainees
Many mothers come to the clinic regularly to get their babies checked. Here one of the trainees, Mary, is feeding one of them.
At the moment Didi has 6 students, Richards, Mary, Ojasina, George, Abigail and Christiana, who live and train at the clinic and are given a monthly allowance. Didi often co-ordinates trainings with AMURT's other clinics, so that all staff and trainees can benefit from each other, as well as from the knowledge and expertise of volunteers coming from abroad. Just last summer (2006) Mary and Richards, trainees at Domeabra, went to Mafi Seva Community Clinic for a four week training course with nurse Mila from Canada and Suniiti, a midwife from England. In the past some of Didi’s trainees have stayed to work with her and one of her first graduates, Elizabeth, subsequently went to work with AMURT in our Mafi Seva Clinic in the Volta Region.
Community midwifes are being trained in delivery techniques, October 2006
Didi A.Vinambra and the Traditional Birth Attendants (TBAs) that underwent training in October 2006 with Sunitii, a professional volunteer midwife from England
Future plans
Didi’s next plan is to build a proper hospital in the village. Recently construction was started on a fence around the plot, which is the first step towards securing the land that was given by the community for this purpose.
Akwakwaa Community Clinic
The health outpost in Akwakwaa, Central Region, was first opened by AMURTEL in 1999 and the permanent clinic was established and opened in 2002. Some of Didi Vinambra's trainees were sent out to staff this post as part of their practical training. Not only were they successful in their work, but also they caught the attention of local chiefs, who invited them to provide health care assistance in their own villages. As a result we opened another clinic at the beginning of the year 2003 in Nyanoa.
Getting independent
The clinic at Akwakwaa
At first the Akwakwaa Clinic was run in rented premises, but soon after opening the clinic, and seeing the interest and needs of the community, AMURTEL purchased 5 acres of land with a beautiful river and coconut trees on which to build a proper clinic facility. The clinic building was completed in 2005 and now staff quarters are under construction.
The staff and their work
The staff at Akwakwaa. From left: our watchman Mam Ali, project coordinator Didi A.Vinambra from Zambia, Sarah, our TBA Ante, Bernice, Isaac, Wisdom
Apart from our watchman Mam Ali, the Akwakwaa Clinic is staffed by Isaac, Wisdom, Sarah, and our TBA Ante. They treat an average of 9-14 patients daily, and conduct 112-115 antenatal and 3-5 deliveries a month. Some TBAs, wise old women from the communities, have also joined our trainees in the two clinics, where our facilities ensure that deliveries are made safely and that any complications are dealt with early and effectively.
