The Participatory Action for Rural Development Alternative (PARDA), a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) has constructed a Child Welfare Clinic (CWC) for the people of Adongnia, a suburb of Chiana in the Kassena-Nankana West District of the Upper East Region.

The clinic, intended to improve quality post-natal services in the community, was fitted with furniture and basic medical equipment with separate urinal facilities.
It is funded by Children Believe (CB), a child-focus NGO, at an estimated cost of GHȻ11800.00.

Prior to the construction of the clinic, residents of Adongnia and its environs received post-Natal services under trees.

In a speech read on his behalf at a ceremony to hand over the facility, Dr Michael Wombeogo, the Director of PARDA said the facility was the outcome of the Builsa-Kassena Area Child Development Partnership programme between CB and PARDA.

He said even though PARDA and her partners had over the years provided several development projects in the area, the CWC was the first of its kind in the Kassena-Nankana West District.

Dr Wombeogo noted that the health of children and breastfeeding mothers was one of the topmost priorities of their interventions at the community level, saying “This handing over ceremony signifies the commitment of PARDA to complement government’s efforts at providing quality child welfare services.”

He said PARDA was proud of her sponsors, especially CB, for their faith and firm belief in fulfilling the vision of PARDA, and the provision of quality child welfare services for under-five children.

He said the CWC project was part of their strategy to promote Early Childhood Development (ECD) between zero to three years, adding, “As you know, it is when the children are healthy that they can go through education.”

PARDA

The director said apart from the newly constructed CWC, PARDA with support from CB constructed some boreholes in the Chiana community under a different project, with one near the Clinic to facilitate health service delivery.

Mrs Esenam Kavi De Souza, the Country Manager of CB, said even though her outfit concentrated on children, the CWC would serve both women and men alike, “We will therefore like to encourage you to take advantage of this facility to make the best out of the health services that would be provided.”

She said the facility belonged to the community members and charged them to protect it and make the best use of it to derive its intended purpose and appealed to the District Health Directorate to ensure the requisite staff were posted to the facility to provide post-Natal services.

Mr Hypolite Yeleduor, the District Director of the Ghana Health Service (GHS), thanked PARDA and CB for the gesture, noting that inadequate infrastructure was the biggest health service challenge in the Kassena-Nankana West District.

“Currently, only 21 out of the 48 functional CHPS zones have compounded. Some of the remaining CHPS zones without compounds rely heavily on community support with temporary structures for service delivery,” he said.

Child Welfare Clinic (CWC)

He said the CWC was a great relief to the CHPS zone, Chiana Sub district and the entire Kassena-Nankana West District as a whole, and would serve many purposes including targeted growth monitoring and vaccination exercises, adolescent reproductive health services, Out-Patient Department services among others.

The Assembly Member for the Kofania-Saboro-Adongnia Electoral Areas, Mr Jonathan Adichira Atimpe, on behalf of the Chief and people of Adongnia expressed gratitude to PARDA and CB for the development projects in the area over the years and appealed for more support to the area.