Volta Lake facility will address need for infant and long-term care
Press Release
This Mother’s Day took on special meaning at First Presbyterian Church (FPC) of Fairfield, Connecticut when it hosted several members of a Ghanaian Presbyterian church from the Bronx.
FPC had recently launched the Ghana Maternity Ward Partnership, a fundraising campaign to construct and equip a 20-bed maternity ward in rural eastern Ghana. The Bronx Nyanyuie Hame Evangelical Presbyterian Church members are from and have relatives in this region.
The maternity ward partnership includes the Presbytery of Southern New England, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), and the Evangelical Presbyterian Church in Ghana (EPC). The goal of raising $200,000 will enable the EPC to add a much-needed maternity ward to its Dzemeni Medical Clinic on the banks of Volta Lake.
Patti Law, FPC member and partnership chair, described the timeliness and importance of the worship service. “In America, women expect to give birth in modern hospitals with the latest medical equipment and expert medical staff. In rural Ghana, most women give birth at home or in cramped, unsterile medical clinics.
The Dzemeni Medical Clinic currently has two small rooms for delivery and recovery, and mothers and infants share a cot with up to three other mothers and infants. This Mother’s Day, our two churches celebrate our solidarity with mothers in Ghana who desperately need this new clinic for life and long-term health. We partner to address the serious problem of maternal health and infant mortality in Ghana.”
In April, a dozen members of First Presbyterian Church went to the Bronx for worship, with lively singing, dancing and drumming. On Mother’s Day, members of the Bronx church came to Fairfield and taught the Connecticut congregation the beloved hymn “It Is Well with My Soul” in their Ewe language.
In August, FPC is sending 13 adults and teens to Ghana, to continue building the friendship between the two churches and to help with the construction of the maternity ward. It will be the church’s fourth annual mission trip to Ghana.
To learn more about this exciting project, visit www.firstpresby.net/Ministries/Missions/Ghana-Partnership/About-Ghana
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