The Kekeli Women are the heart and soul of RHC. They are our hands and feet as well. It is their commitment to their communities, and each other, that make RHC special.

In August 2022, the newest Kekeli 4 cohort was trained in the first section of the Home Based Life Saving Skills (HBLSS) course.

HBLSS is a community-based program to reduce maternal and neonatal mortality through community preparedness and access to basic life-saving skills.

The second and third sections of the course were taught to Kekeli 4 in January 2023.

All previous cohorts of Kekeli women have already been trained in HBLSS, and they share stories about how impactful this training is.

The Kekeli 4 cohort continues to teach and support their communities (and are a lot of fun too!)

In 2022, 68 Kekeli Women taught in 76 unique communities in the Akatsi North and South Districts.

Our retention rate for the Kekeli program is 93% – a truly incredible number given the duration of the program.

Kekeli women taught 26,353 people about various health topics including COVID-19 prevention, nutrition, malaria and other disease prevention, high blood pressure, and dozens of other topics.

HBLSS was also a frequent teaching topic, as the Kekeli Women continue to promote and assist with safe obstetric care for pregnant women in their communities.

Kekeli women also dressed 1,347 wounds and checked 5,244 blood pressures – making 365 referrals to local clinics for significant illness.

These numbers are nearly double those from 2021, showing the increased confidence from the new Kekeli 4 group and the steady commitment of the 3 existing Kekeli cohorts.

The Kekeli Program is led by the Ghana management team of Alnice, Georgina, David, Comfort, and Benedicta. They exemplify team work and competence and we are so lucky to work with them.

In January 2023, Olivia and Melissa Tucker (a board member) traveled to Ghana for our first RHC visit since COVID-19!

They met the Kekeli 4 women, reconnected with all the Kekeli women at their bi-monthly meeting, visited several communities, and supported the Ghana staff. To read a reflection from Olivia about the trip, click here.

And in 2022 we began preparations for a US staff transition as Heather Poynter-Lausch will be stepping down as Executive Director on June 1, 2023 (after 3.5 years!) to allow for new and fresh ideas for this next season of RHC.

She will continue to support RHC by being on the board and continuing to travel to Ghana while being an active member of The Collective. We are so grateful for Heather’s work and commitment to the Kekeli Women.

RHC has already begun the process of recruitment for the upcoming Executive Director vacancy (stay tuned!).

We continue to be thankful for the leadership of our Board of Directors. Thank you to Sean, Melissa, Freeman, Amanda, Sarah, Eric and our newest board member Nana Kobby Aboagye!

In our fiscal year 2021/2022 we raised $69,033.37 from grants and donations.

We ended 2022 with 69 supporters in The Collective who give a total of $3,032 each month.

The Collective provides consistency to our funding, which allows us to focus on our vision and programming, without spending added time fundraising.

To join them, click HERE!

At RHC we have always prioritized financial stability in order to align with our values of long-term commitment and resource responsibility.

For a closer look at our FY 2021/22 finances, click here.