Clubhouse Ghana, a subsidiary of Clubhouse International: www.clubhouse-intl.org in collaboration with Rotary Clubs Accra Industrial Area, Accra-Cantoments and Sekondi-Takoradi, have all embarked on a family day, outreach and fundraising visit to Accra Psychiatric Hospital.
The outreach was to enable them to forge a sustainable relationship with the patients to ensure and support their smooth transition into the community including access to appropriate services.
The recovered patients will transition into the Clubhouse-Franchised Rehabilitation Center once it is completed this year so that they will have a recreational community that will welcome them daily to assist them with several services.
The Clubhouse model will enable every recovered patient that becomes a “member to get their basic SHS Education if they need it through the Ministry of Education, and they will also be offered transitional employment to train as artisans and become independent and self-sufficient within less than a year
The members engaged with the inmates to provide them with some psychological counselling and also with the staff to get first-hand information on the challenges facing the hospital. The teams also donated large quantities of assorted non-perishable food items, drinks and cleaning products in support of the upkeep of the patients.
The visit which took place last Saturday, 2nd April 2022 by Clubhouse Ghana Management ONLY and several Rotarians was hosted well by the on-site medics at the Accra Psychiatric Hospital.
Supporting mentally ill persons
The Country Director of Clubhouse Ghana, Mr Richard Selase Agboga, who is privy to the Clubhouse Finland model where he trained in the country for his PhD; spoke emphatically on behalf of the Chairman of the Board and Founder of the organisation, ML Brookshire in Houston by commending the entire hospital management for their sacrifices and support of individuals living with Mental Health disorders.
He assured them of Clubhouse Ghana and Rotary Club’s unwavering support, most especially in facilitating the rehabilitation of ALL the recovered patients this year.
He also admonished Ghanaians and society in general not to neglect issues of mental health while encouraging those who were faced with such challenges to seek professional assistance as soon as possible.
Karol Kunko, representing Rotary Club with fellow Rotarian, Sandra Appertey aka “Casandra” of Max TV and MoneyHub fame, also spoke about the pillars of Rotary and how Clubhouse Ghana has been able to align with the international organization in the area of 1. environmental preservation, 2. provision of basic education, 3. economic / community development and 4. elimination of diseases which are all pillars that Rotary embodies out of its 7 tenets.
In closing, Mr Agboga also used the opportunity to appeal to well-meaning Ghanaians, both home and abroad as well as the international community, to support the activities of the organisation in whichever way they could enable it to take care of mentally ill people in society.
Donations are accepted at this number via Mobile Money in cedis: +233 597 387 368
and via the portal www.gofundme.com/ML4LyfeFoundation in dollars, so that donors can write off portions of their donations since the US branch of Clubhouse Ghana is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt non-profit organization: www.ml4lyfe.org
Commendation
A doctor, Dr Ramata Seidu, who received the items on behalf of the hospital, expressed his gratitude to the Rotarians as well as Clubhouse Ghana for their kind gesture. He went ahead to urge other institutions to emulate “this worthy example” to ensure that the facility is able to continually serve its mandate.