ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Outreach and Education

We have hosted several speakers on the Elon University campus and given talks at area schools and undergraduate research conferences to raise awareness of the need for improved access to healthcare, especially in Ghana’s rural areas, where approximately 55 percent of the population does not live within an hour of a health care facility, using any means of transportation (Mba and Kwankye, Population, Health and Development in Ghana, 2007).  We have given papers at professional conferences and had articles published in academic journals not only on heath care in Ghana, but development issues in Ghana more generally (Frontani and Taylor, 2009 in Progress in Development Studies; Schulz and McGreevy, 2009 in Visions Magazine; McCullough and Diemer in Visions Magazine; Frontani, Silvestri, and Brown, forthcoming in Africa Media Review). 

Fundraisingand Partnerships

Since our inception we have regularly sent small groups to Ghana through January term or semester study abroad programs. In November 2009 we surpassed the $50,000 mark for funds raised since our formation in April 2007. The majority of the funds were put into building the Kpoeta Community Clinic.  Additional funds supported a Heifer International Initiative (the Kpedze/Sokode Livestock and Beekeeping Project #21-1037-01) in the Volta Region, hosting speakers and an African Cultural Festival on the Elon campus, and purchasing more than 500 children’s books for an Elementary School in Abor, Ghana.