Healthcare
Health Clinics and Mampong Government Hospital
We’ve built seven clinics in Ashanti including a large polyclinic at Dome village, in the north of our area. It is purpose-built for migrants from the wider Sahel who come south because climate change has made it too hard to sustain life in their home villages. They arrive unwell, exhausted and malnourished.
We hand all our clinics to the District to staff and manage, with the exception of the eye clinic which, thanks to Specsavers Leicester, has all the equipment a UK Specsavers would have. There our optometrists screen eyes, distribute second-hand prescription spectacles and, when they’ve identified enough patients needing cataract operations, call on the eye surgeons from Komfo Anogye Hospital in Kumasi, to visit and operate.
Close to our home village, Mampong Government Hospital has been run down over the years. In 2022, we converted a disused café into a Mothers & Babies’ Unit, furnishing it with beds, incubators and radiant baby warmers. In its first year of operation, the unit treated 592 babies, of whom 99 per cent survived.
The Hospital is short staffed, so Ashanti Development sends volunteer medical staff to work there for a few months at a time. They sometimes partner with District Health officers to screen the health of people from a single community, giving priority to migrant villages. They tell us they find the shortage of equipment and staff frustrating and say this challenges them to go outside their comfort zone. Even so, they tell us they love their time volunteering.
Women and Girls
Many girls miss school during their periods due to lack of sanitary products, and some drop out entirely. In vulnerable situations, some engage in transactional relationships, often with older men offering financial support. Education around menstrual hygiene, family planning, and sexual health is patchy, and teenage pregnancy remains common.
We support a small team from the local Health and Education Directorates to provide practical resources and education, including reusable sanitary towels. The team works with boys, parents, and village elders to encourage conversations about gender, health, and support for young people.
Diabetes, obesity and high blood pressure
Diabetes, obesity and high blood pressure are common problems in Ashanti. At the District’s request, Ashanti Development has donated one glucometer with strips for each of the sixteen clinics in the area. Clinic staff now test every patient and then explain to them what the results of their test were and how the patient can improve their long-term health.
Children’s Health
When we first started work in Ashanti, many babies and toddlers were close to death from starvation. In response, we now give their mothers Weanimix, an infant food supplement consisting of powdered beans, corn and groundnuts, with instructions on how to use it. Initially large numbers of infants needed Weanimix; by 2023, only 54 children in the District did, reflecting increased prosperity.
Similarly, for children of pre-school age, at the start we provided free school lunches, occasionally supplemented by breakfasts. We still provide lunches in exceptionally poor villages. They are prepared by our cook and follow a set menu every day including fish, meat, eggs and beans. Alongside this, we also organise twice yearly tablet distributions to treat parasitic worm infections affecting many children, especially those without shoes.
Disabled Centre
We built a centre for people with disabilities in Sekyere Central District, providing training space, IT access and community facilities.
Support our work
Your support helps us continue and extend our health, nutrition and education programmes in Ashanti, reaching children and families in the most vulnerable communities.
Donations fund essential treatments such as deworming tablets, as well as practical education and resources that help protect children’s health and enable girls to stay in school and make informed choices about their futures.
For information about volunteering, please visit our Volunteers page.
To discuss supporting larger projects, such as building a clinic or specialist unit, please get in touch.
Ashanti Development