In January, Light for Children hosted a group of students from the College of William and Mary, in Williamsburg, Virginia (USA). These students assisted in conducting medical screenings in community and school settings for HIV, blood sugar, blood pressure and Hepatitis B. Rates of Hepatitis B are worryingly high in Ghana for a preventable disease, and awareness levels are low.

William and Mary students and volunteer Carina Monstad conduct screenings at Banko Medical Centre

With the help of a local nurse, this group also educated senior high school students about HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis B.

Students demonstrate that you need multiple strategies to cross the river and achieve your goals. The first bridge (abstinence) doesn't always go as planned, so condom use and fidelity are also important.

A local nurse educates students at Banko Senior High School about Hepatitis B

Health screenings at the Muslim Mission High School

Caroline Nguyen and Shengxiao Yu of GlobeMed’s head office in Chicago also paid us a visit in January.

Caroline and Shengxiao with Mike

They observed our operations, conducted interviews, and discussed how to move forward in our partnership with Spelman and Morehouse Colleges.

Lisa Parsons and Shengxiao with the headmaster of the senior high school in Banko

Mike Owusu attended a meeting of the Ghana Coalition of NGOs in Health and the Human Rights Advocacy Centre on the topic of strengthening advocacy and monitoring sexual and reproductive health rights in late January.

This topic ties in with our work on child sexual abuse prevention, and the group encouraged Light for Children to include more general education on sexual and reproductive issues in our workshops.