ASI Launches Bi

	The University of Ghana at Legon was established in 1948. It is located on an extended American style campus on Legon Hill about 8 miles northeast of Ghana’s capital city, Accra. UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL LEGON entrance The University of Ghana Hospital-Legon was established in 1959. The hospital has a surgery theatre, accident and emergency ward, lab and X-ray facilities, a small pharmacy, dental services, maternity wards for women, men and children’s and a community health office. The hospital serves the University of Ghana student population which now stands at about 23,000 students and 650 faculty. The hospital is also the only health service resource for the people in the town of Legon and the women, men and children in the surrounding towns and villages of Madina, Adenta Ashaley Botwe and Abetifi. Many of the people in these towns and villages areas have no running water. A large part of the students served by the hospital are foreign exchange students from other countries, especially the United States.

	The stand by generator is inoperative and the hospital is in need of a new generator, solar power and other modern equipment and supplies. No major repairs or structural updates have been done on the hospital since 1959.

	At the conclusion of his needs assessment tour of the hospital in March 2006, ASI’s Ghana Managing Director, Carlos Kimathi promised the hospital’s administrator, Mr. Eric H. Gaisey that ASI would assist the hospital in every way possible, to make the Hospital one of the best healthcare facilities, in Ghana for its population served, its administration and its staff of healthcare professionals.
	Pictured from left to right: Mr. Eric Humphrey,Hospital Administrator, Carlos Kimathi, ASI Ghana NGO Managing Director, Mr. Joseph Ennin, Hospital Senior Administrative Assistant
	Monetary donations versus Donations of Items While many people think donations of actual items needed are more cost effective; reality on the ground, demonstrates that money donated to purchase the items and materials needed "inside" or nearby Ghana, is much more cost effective and efficient, because it provides jobs for Ghanaians and also contributes to the economy by buying goods from Ghanaian business owners. Equipment and supplies donated to ASI in Ghana are still charged duties and fees by Ghanaian postal and customs officials. Being an NGO in Ghana, only means that the organisation is a legally registered entity, has been through the application process and has paid the registration fees to a variety of governmental agencies. Any exemption from duties, fees and taxes charged to Ghana NGOs is done on a case-by-case basis. For Example, each time a donation is received by ASI’s Ghana NGO, it has to go through the time-consuming process of locating which post office is handling the items sent and then submitting an "exemption application" to the Ministry of Manpower, Youth and Employment. As ASI’s Ghana NGO Managing Director found out, this process can involve multiple trips to various Ghana post offices, various Ministry offices and days of wasted time at the disorganized port in Tema and still the donated goods might not be released or found. On one recent attempt to navigate this process in January-February 2007, three exemption applications were lost by a Ghana Ministry, that we will not name, says Carlos Kimathi. "It took me and three other dedicated Ghanaian friends and advisors, six-months to successfully register ASI as an NGO in Ghana, " comments Kimathi. Helping those who need and deserve help in Ghana Is NOT EASY! Please Join us in this challenge to help, assist and support Ghana’s remaining healthcare practitioners and institutions; in this case the UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL at LEGON. A partial list of the needs include: Replacement stand by generator 250 KV New restrooms, canteen, library and resource centre Solar Power conversion Misc. equipment and supplies - suction machine, autoclaves, sterilizers, stethoscopes, anesthetics machines, wheel chairs (15), nebulizer, surgery sets, mercury blood pressure units, mosquito netting for ward windows/doors, laundry and sterilization units Interior and exterior maintenance staff salaries Please make a donation of $100, $200, $500, $1,000, or more . . . The 2007 UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL – LEGON EMERGENCY NEEDS FUND DRIVE Goal is $175,000 The USA Mailing address for Donations is: ASI Ghana Project Helping Hand University Hospital Fund Drive P.O. Box 12161 Oakland, CA. 94604 USA Make checks payable to: African Scientific Institute attn: University Hospital Fund Drive or donate OnLine on ASI's Web Site: www.asi-org.net
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