PROGRAM OVERVIEW

Rural Care is a grassroots community-based organization committed to utilizing the medical community along with faith-based organizations, district health facilities, and other groups to provide medical screenings, education, resources, and enhanced healthcare access to the poor and under-served populations. Rural Care was founded in 1988 by Dr. Addae Mununkum, a Ghanaian medical practitioner and cardiothoracic surgeon who spent 15 years of study and work in Germany. From the outset, the organization focused on providing healthcare to the rural population. It was evident that improving the health status of the rural population also demanded focusing on important socio-economic factors that determine health status.

Rural Care is committed to the creation and development of vibrant and progressive rural communities where everyone is assured of easy access to quality healthcare, good education for their children, and an opportunity for socio-economic advancement.

Rural Care’s vision is to become a leading force in eliminating health disparities that exist in communities by working with local churches, community centers, and others, to promote healthy lifestyles through education, early detection/screening, and providing medical facilities and referrals for proper healthcare.

Rural Care has been involved in the planning, design and implementation of diverse projects including the following:

• Development of the Community-Based Health Care (CBHC) System.
• Provision of clean water to rural and peri-urban communities.
• Micro credit and micro enterprise development schemes.
• Reproductive health, including HIV/AIDS prevention and control initiatives.
• Skills development programs for youth in deprived rural and peri-urban communities.

Currently, Rural Care is in the process of establishing a naturopathic college in Kumasi.

VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES AT RURAL CARE

Medicine:

• Provide general healthcare, naturopathic medicine, nutrition, or other medical evaluation, treatment and service
• Work with academic administration to assist in setting up the naturopathic college
• Learning opportunities are available for those interested in ethno-botany and traditional plant medicine

Public Health:

• Provide public health awareness
• Provide health education and training at the college

Business:

• Provide general business skills and micro enterprise development training
• Provide computer and IT training and support

ACCOMMODATIONS AT RURAL CARE

Housing

Volunteers are housed in the staff quarters of the clinic where they are volunteering. Each clinic can host up to five volunteers.

Volunteers sleep in double- or triple-occupancy rooms in apartments with a bathroom and shower. Should there be a lack of water pressure in the pipes, volunteers should be prepared to bucket bathe in the shower. Each bed has a mosquito net that reaches the floor.

Meals

Meals are prepared on the premises where volunteers live and work. Volunteers who have special dietary needs or food allergies should note their needs on their volunteer application so Village Volunteers can notify the Rural Care staff in advance.

Drinking Water

Purified drinking water (either boiled or sachet water) is provided for volunteers.

Electricity

There is electricity; however, there are frequent power cuts. Volunteers are recommended to bring candles, matches, and flashlights.

Internet Access

There are no internet cafes in the village where the clinics are located. Depending on the clinic one is volunteering with, one may need to travel 30-50 miles to access internet in a city.

Laundry

Volunteers have the option of laundering their own clothing or paying a fee to have it done for them. All volunteers are asked to launder their own undergarments.

LETTER FROM DR. ADDAE MUNUNKUM-KWAKYE

Akwaaba!

I am Dr. Addae Mununkum-Kwakye, the Director of Rural Care Network. I was born in the village of Bonwire, in the Ashanti Region of central Ghana. After completing my secondary schooling, I studied Human Biology at the University of Science and Technology here in Kumasi, Ghana, where our offices are located. After the undergraduate education I attended medical school in Germany and practiced medicine there until 1999, when I returned to Ghana to contribute to and improve the health care delivery system in my home country.

In 1999, I together with a group of concerned Ghanaian friends established Rural Care Network as an independent, nonprofit organization. The organization was conceived to respond to the compelling challenges of healthcare delivery in Ghana, especially in rural communities which have been completely left out in the provision of healthcare. This situation is unacceptable and calls for the active involvement of all.

Our work involves the organization and mobilization of local human and material resources for the achievement of specific goals in the development process of rural communities. Thus in 2000, we began working on creating a healthcare insurance system for Ghanaians. At first we worked on this concept at the local level within rural communities. Within the past five years, we have been instrumental in creating a national health insurance program which now provides healthcare access to the majority of Ghanaians at an affordable cost of $8 USD contribution per year.

A key feature of our approach is the conscious involvement of the communities themselves in designing, implementing and monitoring projects. Rural Care Network is thus responsive to community initiatives and needs in the sense of Help for Self Help.

Our approach to health is holistic in the sense that while addressing the health needs of people in the deprived communities, we do not lose sight of the socio-economic determinants of health.

In the execution of its duties, Rural Care Network promotes partnership at all levels in order to maximize the mobilization and utilization of available resources.

Our commitment to the development of people and places in the neglected parts of our country enjoins us to maintain and promote the health of the poor, bring education to their children, and support their livelihoods.

We do this in the strong belief that given the right foundations, the poor will be able to lift themselves out of poverty and free themselves from the shackles of ignorance, want and need.

We welcome you therefore to share this commitment and belief with us and work with us to make true the ideals envisioned in this philosophy.

You are welcome!

Dr. Addae Mununkum-Kwakye
Director of Rural Care Network