By Peter Martey AGBEKO
On Thursday morning, August 28, the quiet town of GomoaFomena woke up to something rare – a team of foreign doctors arriving not with bills or prescriptions that strain family incomes, but with free healthcare, medicine, and open hearts.
Nine volunteer doctors and nurses from Greece touched down in Accra on August 27 with 22 suitcases packed with donated medicines. For the next ten days, they will travel from villages in the Central and Eastern Regions to the crowded streets of Accra, providing free medical care, preventive examinations, and seminars on hygiene and first aid.
For many, this mission is nothing short of a lifeline.
At St. Nicholas Preparatory School in Bankuman Tema, staff have prepared lists of children and townsfolk desperate for help. One child, Daniel Agbenyegah, lives with a spreading black spot in his eye that threatens his vision.
Another, Victoria Ashitetey, wheezes from asthma attacks and suffers unexplained head pains. Ali Osman, still in nursery, is battling blood cancer while undergoing chemotherapy at Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital.
Adults, too, are waiting in hope. Naomi Oye Kwoffie struggles with diabetes, hypertension, and blurred vision. James Ayivor has a deteriorating kidney, constant waist pain, and headaches. Theresah Adjei, plagued by seasonal rheumatism, says she has spent years seeking relief that never lasts.
“This is an opportunity we could never afford otherwise,” said Mr. Okai-Mensah, Administrator of St. Nicholas, who himself battles itchy ears and throat infections. “Some of our students live with conditions that have never been properly checked. This could change their lives.”
The mission, organised by the Holy Orthodox Archdiocese of Accra under the blessing of the Patriarchate of Alexandria and All Africa, is being carried out with support from Ghana’s Ministry of Health, the Hellenic Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and local Orthodox parishes. Archbishop Daniel of Accra, who invited the medical team, called it a “significant philanthropic initiative of our Holy Archdiocese.” The efforts are also being supported by the Hon. Consul of Greece and Cyprus, Ms. Marianna Gavriel, working alongside the Orthodox churches and community partners.
The doctors will move from Gomoa Fomena to TemaNewtown, Lapaz, Larteh Akuapem, and several towns in the Eastern and Ashanti Regions, including Akim Breman and Akim South. At each stop, school classrooms and parish halls will turn into makeshift clinics as queues of children, parents, and the elderly wait patiently for their turn.
“We are here to serve, not only with medicine but with compassion,” said one of the visiting doctors on arrival. “Our goal is to make sure no one is turned away, regardless of who they are or where they come from.”
Beyond the immediate health screenings, St. Nicholas Preparatory School has its eyes on the future. In October, the school hopes to bring in substantial secondhand medical equipment from the NHS UK, to be distributed to rural clinics through its partnership with the Chaffinch Trust, of which HRH The Princess Royal is patron. The initiative hinges on securing a customs waiver, as the equipment is fully donated.
The humanitarian work of the Orthodox community also extends to water. Through the contacts of Metropolitan Archbishop Daniel, a borehole was provided for the school with support from Greece. Now, the search is on for sponsors to fund an osmosis plant, which will make the water safe for broader community use.
Behind much of this coordination is Ms. Maria Asmarianaki, who works tirelessly with the school to ensure the smooth execution of the mission and the welfare of both the volunteers and the community members they serve.
By the end of the mission on September 10, hundreds – perhaps thousands – will have received treatment.
But beyond the medicines and check-ups, the greatest gift may be something less tangible: the reassurance that in a world often divided by distance and circumstance, strangers can still show up to heal one another.
As little Princess Owusu, a Basic One pupil with chronic stomach aches, told her teacher when she heard the doctors were coming:
“Maybe now I can play again without pain.”
And that is the true heart of this mission – healing without borders.
