This December, Jess, Steph, and Olivia will be heading back to Ghana for 2 weeks to work with the first group of Kekeli women in a follow-up to their initial training in January 2011. After training 20 women in basic health principles as part of the RHC collaboration with the Bethel Clinic Compassion Foundation in…
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Quotes from the field
The Kekeli Village Health Promoters met last month to discuss the program’s progress, build camaraderie, and learn some new material. This month they learned about cancer. This is quite poignant in light of the recent emphasis on the rise of non-communicable disease (NCD) burden in the developing world. During the meeting the women also discussed…
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Portland RHC Dinner a Success
We held our first official fundraiser two days ago and had an amazing time. The event was held at Dwayne and Holly Kroening’s home which provided a beautiful setting for a wonderful evening. The event featured a silent auction, metal yard art created by Jen Ellsworth, and several other art pieces and items for sale. Also…
Read MoreUpcoming Portland Fundraiser
On Friday, July 29th we will be having our first ever fundraiser in Portland, Oregon. The event is being hosted by Dwayne and Holly Kroening and will include dinner, drinks, and a silent auction. We are really excited for this opportunity to share about our history, current Kekeli project with the Village Health Promoters, and…
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Official Name Change
Over the past several months we have been contemplating changing our name. In our latest newsletter we wrote this: —————————- Since returning from Ghana we have been throwing around the idea of changing the name of the Rural Development Project. At the heart of our thinking is the notion that our goal is not to…
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Follow Up Gathering – UPDATE
RDP received a report on the first review meeting from David Sefe a few days ago and would like to share it with you. In the report he outlines the progress being made by the Kekeli Women in the Akatsi District. The work is quite impressive! Women have contributed to the health of their villages through a…
Read MoreFollow Up Gathering
The women had their first follow-up training yesterday! Olivia received a call at about 5am (luckily she was awake!). On the other end was David with all the women. They wanted to say hi and let us know they were doing well and working hard. All the women made it except one who missed due…
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Graduation Day
Graduation was over one week ago so it is about time we post some pictures! David (at right) opened the ceremony with a welcome speech. As you can see, almost all the seats were filled. Chiefs, opinion leaders, assemblymen, the district health director, and other Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) from Akatsi were all represented. The class…
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“So, was it a success?”
We’ve been back just over 24 hours and have been asked the following question many times already: “So, was it a success?” I’m finding that I think about the work less in these terms lately. Perhaps it is because the work is more complicated than I thought it would be, perhaps it is because success…
Read MoreThe program is finished – and so are we
Graduation was today, and we have twenty new Kekeli women! More on that in a bit. The last week has been quite busy. Monday we took a trip to Ho, the regional capital. It is larger than Akatsi, with several paved roads and sidewalks, multiple internet cafes, and it generally feels more like a city…
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