When we sat down to revisit the direction of Rural Health Collaborative a few years ago, we recommitted to our vision of ‘investing in women’ as foundational to our work. The avenue we have taken for this is through health, by providing opportunities for women to be community health promoters. When the nursing students from…
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Weeks 2 and 3, in photos
Our final weeks were filled with so much laughter, reconnection, new hurdles, old hurdles, new and old friends both Ghanian and from stateside. We thought it best shown rather than written about this time.
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Healthy Ghana Mamas and Babies
We started this incredible journey of working in Ghana a little over six years ago. San Diego is the place we all met, it is where we held our first meetings, planned our first trips, held our first fundraisers, and perhaps more importantly, found our first supporters. A lot of friends and family who heard…
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Why run 40 miles?
“40 miles? Around a mountain? That’s crazy!” has been the immediate response from anyone I have shared my plans with. I agree; it feels crazy. At this point in my training I am grateful that I really did not have an understanding for what I was getting myself into. I have never trained for anything,…
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Connected through Motherhood
Almost a year ago, in the early hours of the morning I became a mother. We welcomed our baby girl in the peace and calm of our bedroom surrounded by skilled professionals. One of the ideas that resonated with me while preparing for birth was to imagine all the women around the world that were…
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“These moments move me”
An update from Olivia: I’ve been to Ghana so many times over the last decade that I lost count. So I decided to count. This visit marks my sixth time landing in Accra at Kotoka International Airport and stepping onto the tarmac to be greeted by the thick warm air of the tropics. The scent…
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When do you become a woman? #internationalwomensday
Our culture often ignores a significant event in a young girl’s life: when that girl becomes a woman. Some cultures have a ceremony, rather than simple happenstance, to usher in the change. But for me, no one and no culture ever recognized when I became a woman. During my 20’s, with all their substantial bumps…
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Reflections from a Newbie
I have been in Ghana for just 7 days, but already I know a significant shift has occurred in my life. While I have been with the RHC for about 3 years, this is my first trip to Ghana to meet the Kekeli women and hear first hand about the impact these women are making…
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June 2014 Trip Review: HBLSS Part 1
Presenting the Home-Based Life Saving Kekeli Women! They’re back at it! The Kekeli Women completed Part 1 of a new program aimed to reduce maternal mortality in their communities. The women met in June over a two week period in Eastern Ghana to further improve their skills. Previously trained in basic sanitation and hygiene, malaria…
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Teaching skills in the rain
It is the rainy season in Ghana right now. From May through July the rains come down, sometimes in downpours for a few minutes at a time and some days it is non-stop. Today was a non-stop kind of day. It was also day four of teaching. The 37 Kekeli women are learning a new…
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