Akwaaba! Meaning Welcome in Tri, a language spoken in Accra, Ghana is sincerely felt even when we enter the Salvation Army Clinic's maternal ward. The clinic is located in East Agone, Swedru district. It is large, the landscape green lush and decorated by smaller buildings (or wards) that address different health needs in the community. It is impressive. The women we meet in the entrance room of the maternal ward are all new mothers, proudly dressed in white or white and black Africana lace, holding their newborns closely. They are attending post-natal check ups. We explain our purpose for the visit and what the MamaYe campaign is about. The women listen. After all they are all mothers and they care for their babies - they can relate and so they open up. I meet Pricillia Kwansa, 21 years old and surrounded by her feisty best friend and quiet mother. This is her first child. I ask if she's named her son yet, she says no but he will most likely be called kwabena, meaning tuesday, the day of his birth. Pricillia looks weak but healthy. She says she is going back to school, her mother for the first time looks up and nods in confirmation of her daughter's statement. We want to ask if she'll take up family planning to help better influence her future plans. Her mom is in the room, Kwansa looks shy so we don't finish the question. What remains striking about Salvation Army Clinic is the level of comfort and ease the women seem to be. A sense of trust is apparent in the clinic. As one nurse puts it, " we have light, we have water, we have a laboratory, and for the cases we cannot handle we have our own ambulance that will take patients to the hospital", in essence the Salvation Army clinic offers safe services and a clean environment that facilitates an air of openness and trust that is quite refreshing. As we leave the clinic one cannot help but leave impressed with the level of service delivery that many women are accessing through the clinic, however we also walk away thinking about a number of women who may not be as fortunate. On our way out, we pass the Antenatal care ward, sprawled on the porch are proud mothers dressed in white, a symbol of having survived childbirth, rocking their babies in their arms - they too with an air of comfort and ease. MamaYe Sierra Leone continues to ask that more of our clinics offer safe services for our mothers and babies. Learn how YOU can play your part in contributing to making our clinics safer in Sierra Leone.
Akwaaba! Meaning Welcome in Tri, a language spoken in Accra, Ghana is sincerely felt even when we enter the Salvation Army Clinic's maternal ward. The clinic is located in East Agone, Swedru district. It is large, the landscape green lush and decorated by smaller buildings (or wards) that address different health needs in the community. It is impressive. The women we meet in the entrance room of the maternal ward are all new mothers, proudly dressed in white or white and black Africana lace, holding their newborns closely. They are attending post-natal check ups. We explain our purpose for the visit and what the MamaYe campaign is about. The women listen. After all they are all mothers and they care for their babies - they can relate and so they open up. I meet Pricillia Kwansa, 21 years old and surrounded by her feisty best friend and quiet mother. This is her first child. I ask if she's named her son yet, she says no but he will most likely be called kwabena, meaning tuesday, the day of his birth. Pricillia looks weak but healthy. She says she is going back to school, her mother for the first time looks up and nods in confirmation of her daughter's statement. We want to ask if she'll take up family planning to help better influence her future plans. Her mom is in the room, Kwansa looks shy so we don't finish the question. What remains striking about Salvation Army Clinic is the level of comfort and ease the women seem to be. A sense of trust is apparent in the clinic. As one nurse puts it, " we have light, we have water, we have a laboratory, and for the cases we cannot handle we have our own ambulance that will take patients to the hospital", in essence the Salvation Army clinic offers safe services and a clean environment that facilitates an air of openness and trust that is quite refreshing. As we leave the clinic one cannot help but leave impressed with the level of service delivery that many women are accessing through the clinic, however we also walk away thinking about a number of women who may not be as fortunate. On our way out, we pass the Antenatal care ward, sprawled on the porch are proud mothers dressed in white, a symbol of having survived childbirth, rocking their babies in their arms - they too with an air of comfort and ease. MamaYe Sierra Leone continues to ask that more of our clinics offer safe services for our mothers and babies. Learn how YOU can play your part in contributing to making our clinics safer in Sierra Leone.