Ghana – Day 4

We arrived in Wa, in the Upper West Region of Ghana, late last night. This morning we awoke to another beautiful day. After breakfast, we went to meet the Deputy Bishop of the Upper Ghana Mission Diocese at the Methodist Cathedral of the Wa Mission – the Very Revd Francis Andoh – who explained Methodism in the north part of Ghana.

The north half of the country currently forms one diocese. The other 15 Methodist dioceses are all in the South of the country. Official recognition of Methodist Circuits in the North dates back to the 1950s. Methodist ministers in the South, from Cape Coast for example, would be sent to the North to preach, eventually being able to form a circuit. The Northern Ghana Diocese was formed 25 years ago. Within that Diocese, there is the Upper Ghana Mission Diocese, which is made up of six circuits.

However, the Upper Ghana Mission Diocese is on the verge of breaking away from the Northern Ghana Diocese, which will mean that the North half of the country will soon consist of two Methodist dioceses. This is due to happen on October 1 this year; the beginning of the new Connexional year for the Church in Ghana. When this happens, the Upper Ghana Mission Diocese will lose the word “mission” from its title and the Very Revd Francis Andoh will become the first Bishop of the newly created diocese.

The Very Revd Francis then led the way to the Methodist Primary and Junior School in Wa. The Revd Isaak Baah-Yanney, who is the Regional Manager for the Methodist Educational Unit for the Upper West Region of Ghana, showed us around the school. The headmasters of the two schools called the children to assemble for the presentation of gifts from the Ghanaian Methodist Fellowship on behalf of the Methodist Church in Britain. The Methodist schools are inclusive : Muslims, traditionalists and children of other faiths attend Methodist schools, some of them becoming Methodist through their education.

We left Wa for Lawra – a town just 80 km from the border with Burkina Faso. We were in Lawra to visit the Methodist Health Institution and the neighbouring Methodist pre school and junior school. As we approached, the tarmacked road gave way to a red dust road – the only way into the town.

The Very Revd Ernest Baiden, Superintendent Minister for the Lawra Mission Circuit, welcomed us to his manse next to the clinic. Mrs Margerie Nintori, the health centre educator, and Vincent de Paul Anyintuo, physician assistant at the clinic, explained that malaria was the biggest problem for the area – 12,315 cases in 2014. Mrs Nintori said that cases of malnutrition and HIV had fallen since she started working at the clinic in 2007. The number of HIV cases in Lawra seen by the clinic had dropped from 84 a year to 12. The clinic itself has had a massive impact on malnutrition in the area. When it was built in 1958, the primary concern was malnutrition. In the 1970s, malnutrition affected 47% of children in Lawra. Now, the problem still exists, but not on the same scale.

After visiting the clinic, we walked over to the Lawra Methodist school and gave gifts of pens, pencils and a football to the children. We met the head teacher, Madame Veronica, who told us that the education of girls was not seen as being as important as the education of boys in the poorer communities.

When we returned to the Superintendent’s manse for refreshments, David Friswell, World Church Team Leader, talked through the needs and priorities of the school and the clinic with the Very Revd Francis Andoh and the Very Revd Ernest Baiden.

From Lawra, we took the same route back to Wa to visit the Methodist School for the Blind. The school was founded by the Methodist Church in 1958 and now receives assistance from the Ghanaian government. None of the 250 students are required to pay school fees for boarding. The school caters for pupils up to high school level. It also rehabilitates young people who have gone blind. We met two sisters who both went blind from glaucoma after passing their nursing exams – their mother was not able to pay for their treatment so they were accepted by the Methodist School for the Blind. While we were there, the head teacher, Madame Grace Amoako, told us that a female doctor at a teaching hospital had recently screened the students and was due to operate on a selection of them tomorrow – the first time this has ever happened.

The Methodist School for the Blind is one of the two only schools for the blind in Ghana. One member of the school’s alumni is Dr Seidu Danaae, a lawyer working as the Government Minister for Chiefdom Affairs. His success is a dream for many of the school’s current pupils. All the students are taught how to weave by hand so that, if they are not academically inclined, they will have an employable skill when they leave.

After dinner, we headed back to the Methodist Cathedral of the Wa Mission for a special evening service.

Photo: Pupils in the library at the Methodist School for the Blind in Wa, Ghana.

Karen Burke – Media Officer