Ayah centre: Multi-purpose complex to take care of all
The dream for a centre that will host a number of the aged for a whole day got a place in the heart of Mr Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah after the hard reality of a single mother catering for five children through farming in a remote part of the Nzemaland had dawned on him.
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The centre, to be known as Ayah Centre, named after his mother, has been designed to host 200 aged persons, especially those in the 70-years bracket, on any particular day is the MP and Minister of Petroleum’s token to his people as a symbolic gesture to the older folks for their sacrifice and selflessness in raising the current generation.
"Unfortunately when they grow up, the needed care and recognition of their contribution to the development of the nation is not really reciprocated, rather they are branded witches and blamed for all failures on our part as young people,”Mr Buah told the Daily Graphic.
Mr Buah, who personally got involved in the preparation for the launch of the centre, which is to be held today, Friday, July 3, 2015, said the centre would afford the elderly the opportunity to experience love and care, and most importantly be appreciated.
“Owing to the distance from their place of abode in the districts, there will be a bus that will travel to these areas in Ellembelle and Jomoro districts as well as the Nzema East Municipality to transport them to the centre on scheduled dates,” he said.
Database
The MP said for a start, the data of the aged in all the areas had been collected and was being updated. The data will aid easy identification of especially those above 70 years. They will each be given a card for them to easily have access to the centre.
The management and board of the centre, he said, would zone the areas in the districts and the beneficiaries would be given a special day and appointment with caregivers, where they would be provided with information on health and nutrition.
They would also be fed and entertained the whole day and then bussed back to their homes well refreshed till their next appointment.
The centre, located on a vast land at Ampain in the Ellembelle District of the Western Region, just a few minutes drive from Esiama, has a large sitting area with all sorts of entertainment facilities, physiotherapy and counselling unit, a ward with modern adjustable bed, resting area, changing room, doctors and psychologists’ consulting rooms, an open area, spacious car park, outer relaxing area, children’s playground and an ambulance bay.
The dream
Mr Armah-Kofi Buah said he had the dream to build the centre after the encounter with the old woman who reminded him of his mother, so he started with a mobile clinic which moved from one village to the other to deliver health care to the people.
“I must say that the report after the introduction of the mobile clinic was encouraging, and the beauty of it was that the elderly did not have to travel,” he said.
Looking happy for fulfilling his dream of bringing care to the elderly, he said it was important to ensure that issues of the aged and vulnerable in society were revisited “as we are all in transition to that end.”
“These are people who contributed so much to the development of the country; they farmed, traded, were collectively committed in shaping our lives and carried out activities that sustained the local economy and environment with ripple positive effects on the larger economy. They ensured we the ‘city dwellers’ had food on our table, therefore, they deserve better,” he said.
The story
The bigger dream, he said, started during his door-to-door campaign tour for a public office. On reaching a particular village after interacting with the people, he entered an empty compound.
Apparently, everybody had gone to the farm and nearby towns, “and just when we were about to step out, I heard a feeble scream in Nzema saying: ‘I am here,’ and a member of my team whispered that there was somebody inside.”
“When we entered, it was a woman in her 80s in a very bad shape. At about 3:30 p.m., she had not even eaten and she burst into tears. We had to mobilise and take care of the woman and later send her to the hospital,” he said.
Financial sustainability
The minister described the task ahead as enormous, “but we don’t have to allow it to overwhelm us. we have to start somewhere and the centre will open the discussion on the need to focus on the elderly and replicate the centre across the country.”
He said support from various organisations helped in putting up the structure. however, there was the need to look for constant funding for the upkeep of the facility and the medical needs of the identified aged people and the vulnerable.