Annual Reports
Annual Report Berekum Foundation 2023
The 75th anniversary of the HFH was celebrated in 23! In the meantime, the hospital has grown from a small maternity clinic to a fully-fledged teaching hospital. A new OPD is being built (with the administrative part of the hospital on top of that), and a new Antenatal clinic, which is now under construction next to the maternity block. So big plans, a lot of progress, plenty of challenges, also because more and more patients are coming and inflation and the economic crisis are really noticeable in Ghana, in Berekum and in the hospital itself. The need for trained personnel in healthcare is increasing, not only due to demographic developments but also because there is a risk of a brain drain again, especially towards the United Kingdom and Canada.
During the 16th and 17th working visit that took place in 2023, skills and drills were given to the house officers and midwives. Education was provided to the student midwives at the midwifery school. The house officers and tropical doctors (in training) also operated and learned daily. See the report of the working visit. A high dependency unit (a type of intensive care) was set up in the delivery room complex for sick pregnant women and also for the intensive observation of mothers who had undergone a difficult caesarean section or other interventions. This was in response to an audit on maternal mortality in the hospital.
The collaboration with the Training Institute for International Health and Tropical Medicine (OIGT) was also continued in 2023; tropical doctors in training from the Netherlands are trained for their required six-month internship in the tropics in Berekum by local doctors and Ghanaian specialists. Four Dutch tropical doctors per year do their internship here and live in the guesthouse that was built under the auspices of our foundation. A total of around 25 co-assistants from Groningen, Nijmegen and sometimes Leiden also stay there each year. For them a safe and good environment to gain experience with global health issues and tropical medicine and to make contacts with their colleagues from Ghana.
Without the enormous help of Mr. Edward Mintah, nurse anesthetist, these weeks would not have been possible: he quickly picked up all coordination, appointments and organizational matters and we owe him (again!) a lot of gratitude. He also arranges all matters for the foundation throughout the year. He is worth gold.
Sponsorship money was obtained this year from various foundations, churches, and donations from individuals. Our sincere thanks, expressed by many in Ghana, therefore goes to all donors and people who care about this work. Without wanting to disrespect people, we would especially like to thank Wilde Ganzen and the De Bruijn-Kleinen foundation for their generous contribution in 2023. With their help, we managed to lay the foundation to purchase a minivan bus for the hospital for outreach activities. You can read the annual financial report on our website.
Wilde Ganzen also supported us in 2023. We are delighted with this, not only because our financial pole is significantly longer, but also because our expenses and income, both in the Netherlands and in Ghana, are subject to meticulous audits. We are a Foundation with zero on the bow meter!
As a final step in the construction of the delivery rooms, the challenge was taken up to build a sanitary block. This was almost completed during the visit in October 23.
Annual Report Berekum Foundation 2022
The covid-19 pandemic finally on its way out made the fifteenth working visit to Berekum possible. In May 2022, a team consisting of Arnold Kruse and Vincent Jongen (gynaecologists) and Hans Visscher (anesthesiologist) visited the Holy Family Hospital in Berekum again.
During the visit, skills and drills were given to the house officers and midwives. Education was given to the student midwives at the school for midwives. The house officers and tropical doctors (in training) also operated and learned daily. See the report of the working visit.
The collaboration with the Training Institute for International Health and Tropical Medicine (OIGT) was also continued in 2022; tropical doctors in training from the Netherlands are trained for their required six-month internship in the tropics in Berekum by local doctors and Ghanaian specialists. Four Dutch tropical doctors per year do their internship here and live in the guesthouse. A total of 25 co-assistants from Groningen, Nijmegen and sometimes Leiden also stay there each year. For them, a safe and good environment to gain experience with global health issues and tropical medicine.
Without the enormous help of Mr. Edward Mintah, nurse anesthetist, these weeks would not have been possible: he quickly picked up all coordination, appointments and organizational matters and we owe him a lot of thanks (again!). He also arranges all matters for the foundation throughout the year. He is worth gold.
Sponsorship money was obtained this year from foundations, churches, and donations at retirement. Our sincere thanks, expressed by many in Ghana, therefore go to all donors and people who are good to this work. Without wanting to disrespect anyone, we would like to thank Wilde Ganzen, the de Bruijn-Kleinen foundation, and the foundation friends of the Medical Mission Sisters for their generous contribution in 2022. You can read the annual financial report on our website.
The head of the delivery rooms in Berekum, Mrs. Joyce Tachie, spent 3 months in Zwolle in the delivery rooms of the ISALA as part of an exchange program under the auspices of our foundation. During her stay here, contact was made with the White Ribbon organization. They focus on maternal mortality worldwide. Joyce provided lessons on this from her Ghanaian perspective, for student midwives in Groningen and Amsterdam.
Wilde Ganzen also supported us in 2022. We are delighted with this, not only because our financial pole is significantly longer, but also because our expenses and income, both in the Netherlands and in Ghana, are subject to meticulous audits. We are a foundation with zero on the stick meter!
More than a million euros!
Our unparalleled treasurer Henk de Haan showed in a financial overview that by the end of 2022, calculated from the start in 2015, we were able to benefit our projects in Berekum with a total of more than a million euros in donations in money and medical equipment. A result for which we are very grateful to our donors. One must realize that the purchasing power of that amount in Ghana is a multiple of this. So that we have really achieved a lot with the resources made available to us, with which you cannot build one/twentieth in the Netherlands today.
As a final step in the construction of the new delivery rooms, the challenge was taken up to build a sanitary block and to settle a financial backlog to the contractor that arose during the construction of the first part of the delivery room complex. Finally, it is worth mentioning that we were also active in the Ghana Collective in 2022. We are a founding member. The Collective offers a platform to Dutch foundations and associations that are active in Ghana. The platform aims to bring organizations together to exchange experiences, share information and knowledge, and stimulate cooperation. In addition, the platform aims to increase the visibility of these organizations. The Collective is in principle open to all organizations that have an ANBI registration and carry out activities in Ghana. Participation is free of charge. For more information, see: here.
Annual Report Berekum Foundation 2021
Worldwide, 2021 was still dominated by the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic. The fourteenth working visit to the HoFaHO hospital in Berekum, Ghana, made by Harm de Haan and Jules Schagen van Leeuwen, was a great success. The trip was mainly focused on the completion of the renovation and especially the new construction of the delivery room complex. Phase 2B was completed, opened and inaugurated while we were in Berekum. During our stay, skills and drills could still be given in class to the house officers and midwives. Education was given to the third-year student midwives at the school for midwives. The house officers and tropical doctors (in training) also operated and learned daily. We stayed in the guesthouse initiated by the Berekum foundation, which we were very pleased with. The space, atmosphere, location and possibilities of this guesthouse are appreciated by many. A cervical cancer screening program was revived with fellow gynaecologist Emmanuel Okine, with education in the use of VIA techniques and colposcopy for nurse specialists.
The collaboration with the Training Institute for International Health and Tropical Medicine (OIGT) was also continued in 2021; tropical doctors in training from the Netherlands are trained for their required six-month internship in the tropics in Berekum by local doctors and Ghanaian specialists. This continued in 2021 despite the corona, after a short interruption; four Dutch tropical doctors per year do their internship here and live in the guesthouse. Co-assistants from Groningen, Nijmegen and sometimes Leiden also stay there.
We again visited Dr Isaac Duodu in Sampa (where co-assistants were still staying at the time) in the Fountain Care Clinic. Without the enormous help of Mr. Edward Mintah, nurse anesthetist, these weeks would not have been possible: he quickly picked up all coordination, appointments and organizational matters and we owe him a lot of gratitude (again!). He also arranges all matters for the foundation throughout the year. He is worth gold. Sponsorship money was obtained this year from foundations, churches, and donations at retirements. Our heartfelt thanks, expressed by many in Ghana, therefore go to all donors and people who care about this work. Without wanting to disrespect people, we would especially like to thank Wilde Ganzen, the de Bruijn-Kleinen foundation, the Carolus Borromeus foundation and the friends of the Medical Mission Sisters foundation for their generous contribution in 2021. You can read the annual financial report on our website.
When the Holy Family Hospital came to us a few years ago for help with the renovation of their maternity clinic, we could not have imagined that there would already be a robust clinic where approximately 3,500 deliveries take place annually. In 2015, we promised the then head of the delivery rooms, Mrs. Florence Agadzi, that we would do our best to improve the delivery rooms. Together with the donors of the Berekum foundation and the many donors of Wilde Ganzen, the maternity clinic has now been completed and we have succeeded in significantly improving the care for mothers and babies. After all, the old complex was 70 years old and intended for approximately 500 deliveries per year. There is now a new building with 8 delivery rooms and an operating room for any emergency treatments. Expectant mothers can safely give birth in a friendly environment, where their dignity and privacy are taken into account. The teaching room for training the student midwives is also important. Every year, approximately 50 midwives complete their 3-year training here. A well-equipped incubator department has also been built. Pregnant women also receive the necessary checks and information there; from contraception to caring for the newborn. Plans were prepared with the current head of the delivery rooms, the midwife Mrs. Joyce Tachie, to set up an exchange program in the Netherlands.
Wilde Ganzen also supported us in 2021. We are delighted with this, not only because our financial pole is significantly longer, but also because our expenses and income, both in the Netherlands and in Ghana, are subject to meticulous audits. We are a foundation with zero on the bow meter!
On May 9, a television commercial was broadcast by the WG to highlight the project for Berekum hospital. At the end of 2021, due to circumstances, we received many medical aids and instruments. In particular, many surgical instruments from the Dutch army that were still in excellent condition, including operating tables, were donated or could be purchased from the Medic foundation in Apeldoorn. The Sint Antonius Hospital in Nieuwegein changed its supplier of suture material. This meant that good usable suture material, not out of date, became available. The purchase value of this (new) was almost 100,000 euros. A lot of teaching material was also obtained for the obstetrics training. We managed to get a full container to Ghana by ship, because we could share the space in the container with our colleagues from the St Jansdal hospital in Harderwijk who sent medical equipment for the St Mary's hospital in Drobo and because we had also collected material for the Peace and Love hospital in Kumasi.
Finally, it is worth mentioning that in 2021 we were also active in the Ghana Collective. We are a founding member. The Collective offers a platform to Dutch foundations and associations that are active in Ghana. The platform aims to bring organizations together to exchange experiences, share information and knowledge and stimulate cooperation. In addition, the platform aims to increase the visibility of these organizations. The Collective is in principle open to all organizations that have an ANBI registration and carry out activities in Ghana. Participation is free of charge. For more information, see: here.
Annual Report Berekum Foundation 2020
Worldwide, 2020 was marked by the covid-19 epidemic. But just before this became clear, the thirteenth working visit to the HoFaHO hospital in Berekum, Ghana was made by Piet Scholten, former gynaecologist in the Diakonessenhuis in Utrecht, and Jules Schagen van Leeuwen, former gynaecologist in the St Antonius Hospital in Nieuwegein/Utrecht; it was very special that Jules junior also went along for the trip; for the first time to the place and even the delivery room where he was born in 1983.The main focus of the trip was to resume the renovation of the delivery room complex. Phase 2A was almost completed when we stayed in Berekum. While watching on our smartphones how in China an entire hospital was built for corona patients in less than a week, we could not imagine the impact the epidemic would have in Ghana as well. Vulnerable health systems are mercilessly exposed by the epidemic. The differences in chances for health are strongly enlarged by the epidemic. Fortunately the hospital was relatively free from seriously ill Covid-19 patients. Until now the disease was mainly found in urban areas in Ghana.
The theory is also that people who have been exposed to many pathogenic germs throughout their lives have acquired so many antibodies that the disease may be milder. But that is still all theory and we certainly could not know this in 2020. Everyone lived in fear of what was to come.
During our stay, skills and drills could still be taught to the house officers and midwives. Education was given to the third-year student midwives at the school for midwives. The house-officers and tropical doctors (in training) were also involved in daily operations and learning.
We stayed in the new guesthouse, which was very satisfactory. The space, atmosphere, location and possibilities of this guesthouse are appreciated by many. The collaboration with the Training Institute for International Health Care and Tropical Medicine (OIGT) was continued in 2020; tropical doctors in training from the Netherlands are trained by local doctors and Ghanaian specialists for their required internship of six months in the tropics in Berekum. This has continued in 2020 despite the corona, after a brief interruption; 4 Dutch tropical doctors per year do their internship here and live in the guesthouse. One of them, was in 2020 with her family in an accommodation that was made available by the hospital.
We again visited Dr. Isaac Duodu in Sampa (where interns were staying at the time) at the Fountain Care Clinic.
The renovation of the Maternity ward was in full swing during our visit. Temporarily the patients have been transferred to the new building, attached to the old maternity. This has led to a logistical process that seems to have been skilfully implemented. The renovation is going well and on schedule and the end result seems to be very nice, especially when this building will be connected to the new one and the available space will be a bit bigger again. Without the tremendous help of Mr Edward Mintah these weeks would not have been possible: all coordination, appointments and organizational matters he picked up quickly and we are therefore (again!) Much obliged to him. Edward came to the Netherlands with us in mid-February 2020, and stayed with all board members in turn. Besides social activities, he brought back a lot of essential medical equipment to Ghana. On the day after his return flight, the Netherlands went into lockdown. In Ghana they had already started working on this earlier and more energetically. The country has experience with epidemics. But it was at the back of the queue when it came to personal protection equipment for hospital staff.
In April 2020, at the instigation of Doctor of International Health Care and Tropical Medicine, Elselien van Leerdam, working in Berekum, € 14,181 was raised through a crowd-funding campaign in the Netherlands. This amount is earmarked to enable the hospital to better deal with the consequences of the Covid-19. Through "De Wilde Ganzen" this amount has been doubled to € 28.362.
The hospital used this amount entirely for protective equipment for the nurses, midwives and doctors at the hospital.
Sponsorships were obtained this year from foundations, churches, and donations from retirements. Our heartfelt thanks, expressed by many in Ghana, go to all donors and people who support this work. Without wanting to shortchange anyone, we would especially like to thank the de Bruijn-Kleinen Foundation and the Friends of the Medical Missionary Sisters Foundation for their generous contributions in 2020. You can read the annual financial report on our website.
When Holy Family Hospital knocked on our door a few years ago for help with the renovation of their maternity ward, we could not have imagined that by now there would be a robust clinic where about 3500 deliveries take place annually. Together with the donors of the Berekum Foundation and the many donors of Wilde Ganzen, the first two phases have now been completed (2A in 2020) and we have already managed to significantly improve the care for mother and babies. The old complex was 70 years old and designed for about 500 deliveries per year. There is now a new building with 8 delivery rooms and an operating room for any emergency treatment. Mothers-to-be can give birth safely in a friendly environment where their dignity and privacy are taken into account.
The training room for training student midwives is also important. Every year about 50 midwives complete their 3-year training here. A well-equipped incubator department has also been built. Pregnant women also receive the necessary checks and information; from contraception to caring for their newborn.
ConnectionNow we
arrive at the final phase before 2021. A connection still has to be made between the old building and the new wing. The last old delivery rooms will also be renovated. For phase 2B our donors have already pledged sufficient funds to start the construction. Also this year Wilde Ganzen will support us. We are delighted with this, not only because our financial range is now significantly longer, but also because all our expenses and income, both in the Netherlands and in Ghana, are subject to rigorous audits. We are a Foundation with zero on the bow meter!
Finally, it is worth mentioning that the Ghana Collective was established in 2020. We are a founding member. The Collective offers a platform to Dutch foundations and associations that are active in Ghana. The platform wants to bring organisations together to exchange experiences, share information and knowledge and stimulate cooperation. In addition, the platform wants to increase the visibility of these organisations.
The Collective is in principle open to all organisations with an ANBI registration that carry out activities in Ghana. Participation is free of charge.
For more information see: https://info0384995.wixsite.com/ghanacollectief
Annual Report Berekum Foundation 2019
A lot has happened again in 2019.Two working visits were undertaken; in February 2019 and in October 2019; see detailed reports elsewhere on the website www.berekum.nl
During both visits we provided practical education (skills and drills, suturing course) at the midwifery school. Thus, each visit, about 80 students were retrained.
Another important event was the implementation of population screening for cervical cancer. Women in Berekum were called via e.g. churches to come forward. Specially trained nurses assessed the cervix and any abnormalities found were immediately removed by Dr. Okine, the gynecologist at Holy Family Hospital. Our role was to support the start and set up of this, supervise the cervical clinic and train the gynecologist in the treatment of the cervix. It is now intended that this important prevention will continue after our departure and plans have been made for this.
As always, we were involved in many operations, with the main objective being to train the operating skills of the local doctors. Some ten major operations were performed by us.
In this way the core task of our foundation was fulfilled; promoting medical knowledge in Africa.
The new maternity ward building (phase 1) was commissioned and the old maternity ward was renovated (phase 2A). For the completion of phase 2A, the foundation transferred 125,000 Euros to the Diocese in 2019. What now remains is the construction of phase 2B, in which the new building and the renovated old maternity ward will be adequately connected. Phase 2B will only be started after the Foundation has collected the required amount of money, in order to prevent the construction from being halted halfway through due to a lack of funding. Fundraising will therefore remain of the utmost importance to realise this. We are therefore very happy that we have received support for the project from the "Wilde Ganzen" Foundation!
The pleasant cooperation with the Training Institute for International Health Care and Tropical Medicine (OIGT) was continued; trainee tropical doctors from the Netherlands are trained by local doctors and Ghanaian specialists for their required internship of 6 months in the tropics in Berekum. As of the end of 2018, this will involve 4 tropical doctors per year; after completing her training, our foundation mediated to give one of these Doctors of International Health and Tropical Medicine, Elselien van Leerdam, a temporary contract at Holy Family Hospital in 2019. The commissioning of the new maternity and the logistics involved proved to be so complex that the temporary deployment of a Dutch tropical doctor proved very useful for the sake of continuity of care and management. We are very happy with the extension of her stay!
During our visit to Berekum in February 2019, the Guesthouse for the tropical doctors i.o. and for the coassistants from Groningen was festively opened and put into use. During our visit in October 2019, we ourselves were able to stay in this beautiful Guesthouse for the first time.
Also in 2019, no less than 25 Berekum coassistants, in periods varying between 8 and 20 weeks, visited the hospital for training; the enthusiasm and enthusiasm remain high. Again and again, Holy Family Hospital proves to be a great internship for the Dutch students. The exchange of knowledge and social interactions with the Ghanaian students is heartwarming.
One of the working visits in 2019 was combined with a visit to the Peace and Love Hospital in Kumasi, where Dr. Beatrice Wiafe treats patients with breast cancer from all over Ghana! We also operated on another emergency gynaecological patient here. We also visited Dr. Isaac Duodu in Sampa (where residents stay in the Fountain Care Clinic) and the St. Elisabeth Hospital in Hwidiem, almost 2 hours south of Berekum. Also in this hospital there are good opportunities for internships for residents: we received a warm welcome and made good plans with them.
At the end of the 2 deworking visits we visited Cape Coast where we participated in the annual "awareness-walk" for breast cancer which was organized by the "Peace and Love Hospital" from Kumasi. An impressive event where an estimated 50.000 people participated and where a lot of radio, TV and internet publicity was generated.
Sponsorships were obtained from foundations, churches, donations at retirements, and by various actions. Our heartfelt thanks, expressed by many in Ghana, go to all donors and people who support this work.