NSI Activities

New Seed tries to stay active within the community, initiating and organizing a variety of activities which aim to support people living with HIV/AIDS and their families. We also strive to provide information to the people of Ho and our neighbouring towns, about HIV prevention, sexual health and the problems of discrimination and stigmatization.

On the first Tuesday of every month, US AID donates enough rice, bulgur wheat and vegetable oil for about sixty people to take home enough of each for one to two weeks, depending on the size of the household. These supplies are given to anyone registered with NSI and also some who are not - all these people are either infected with HIV/AIDS or tuberculosis or both. When all our "clients" gather to collect their rations we take the opportunity to weigh them and find out how they are feeling.

Unfortunately, as the situation stands now, we cannot distribute the food from our headquarters because of the stigma attached to the New Seed office. Many of the people we work with do not want to be seen entering or leaving the building, for fear of being "found out".

Every third Friday we hold an open discussion at the NSI office in Ho; attendance to this event is varied due to the issue of discrimination. The topics discussed during these meetings is always different - sometimes we impart nutritional advice; sometimes the importance of health insurance; we discuss general health issues as well for example.

Over the past couple of years we have organized a variety of projects in our endeavour to educate and provide information for our community. From basic educational programmes given in schools to teaching young mothers basic skills so they can find work. We also show people living with HIV/AIDS and those around them how best to care and support carriers of the virus and advise them on how create healthy living environments.

We apply for funds for these projects individually and have received financial support from a number of local and international AIDS organizations.

News Update

New Seed International is highly honored to announce the attainment of yet another major milestone in its avowed commitment to provide quality health services to the doorstep of the poor and the rural people, to fight against the spread of HIV/AIDS, and provide relief to suffering people infected or affected by the HIV/AIDS pandemic. We have succeeded in promoting healthy lifestyles in many communities in the Volta Region through education, seminars, capacity building workshops, HIV/AIDS prevention, VCT, and home-based care and support. Now, we add to our health delivery activities a one-stop home for palliative care where people living with AIDS, other terminally-ill people and elderly people will obtain respite from their torments.

New Seed International, Ghana, in collaboration with Solace International has now seen the construction of the Sokode Community Development completed. The following infrastructures have been developed for these objectives: Community Clinic/Palliative Care, Nursery, Skills Enhancement Center and Poultry Farm. The construction of the Orphanage and Village program are in progress.

1. The Clinic

Since February 2008, the clinic has provided free quality health care service for the people in and around Sokode. In only 2 months of service, 125 patients with all forms of diseases were treated. Of these, 35 were HIV/AIDS orphans and 9 were elderly adults with HIV/AIDS who were treated for opportunistic infections. In our efforts to reduce the stigma associated with the disease, the staff and management in consultation with our project partners have resolved to open the activities of the clinic to the general public. We will provide general medical services to the public, treatment of all diseases including Malaria and fever, and pre- and post-natal care.
NSI is committed to its aim of providing palliative care and hospice services to all terminally ill patients including those with HIV/AIDS or cancer and older adults who need home based care. As the first of its kind in Ghana, we hope our clinic can provide a place to bring loved ones who need care that cannot be provided in the home. We will be working with local churches and spiritual care advisors with regard to the emotional and spiritual needs of our patients.
Currently the clinic is managed by six staff members; a qualified medical assistant (retired), a pharmacist, two nurses, an administrator/accountant and a record keeper. Livinus continues to play a supervisory role in day-to-day activities of the Clinic. The Clinic is named the Dorothy Byrne Clinic (the mother of Patrick Byrne) in recognition of the financial support received from by Mr. Byrne during the construction of the Clinic, the nursery and the village project among others.

2. The Nursery

The nursery opened in January with 4 HIV/AIDS orphans. Now in its 5th month of operation, the Early Childhood Education and Development Center has enrolled about 36 students. As there is no nursery in the Sokode community, our facility is opened to the general public. The nursery’s aim is to provide early childhood education for orphans and children without adequate parental care. We will also ensure that each child is provided with one quality meal every day, which will help to improve the living standard of these unfortunate children.
The nursery has three teaching staff, one care giver and a cook. Since most of the children at the center were identified as needy, all services are rendered free. The facility is open Monday to Friday from 7.30am to 3.00pm.
The nursery is named the Becca Conte Educational Academy. This is to show appreciation for the tremendous efforts of Rebecca Conte and her family towards completion of the entire project.

3. Skills Enhancement Center

At the Skills Enhancement Center, both healthy, strong people living with AIDS and young people from the community can learn self-employable skills. Skills taught at the center are Batik, sewing and dressmaking, bread and pastries baking and Kente weaving. The training program is designed to last for 8 months, after which the trainees would be assisted to engage in a productive and self-employable business.
The center began in March 2008 with 5 people living with AIDS. As of the end of May, our numbers have grown to 28 women between the ages of 16 and 29 years of age, of which seven are infected and living with AIDS.
The Skills Enhancement Center will also serve as one of our income-generating programs to make NSI-Ghana and the beneficiaries self-reliant. Another income generating project is the poultry farm. The building is ready, but we cannot yet afford the chickens. The vegetable farm program has been canceled due to lack of marketing. Plans are underway to start work on the grass- cutter project.

4. The Orphanage

The orphanage building is underway, but is taking longer than was expected. The delay was due to inadequate funding coupled with a rapid increase in the price of building materials. Currently, the orphans are living in various communities, a practice which is very expensive as we must pay the caregivers. Another concern is that one cannot be confident in the level of care provided. With commitment and dedication to our vision, the orphanage will be completed and will provide a home for over 100 HIV/AIDS orphans where they can live and play together as one big family.
The orphanage will be named after Rachel Luban, in recognition to her efforts to contact Patrick Byrne, which led to the provision of funds for the project.

5. The Village Project

The Village project is a new initiative to raise funds for the domestic activities and expenditures of NSI-Ghana. The project will provide low cost accommodation for volunteers who wish to work within any department of New Seed. The buildings will be built with local materials (clay and roof with grass). The house will have 12 rooms, each housing two volunteers and two rooms to be considered executive lodges suitable for families. The village will house 32-34 people at a time and is expected to be completed by July 2008.

6.Home Visits

Home visits, one of our core interventions, helps us to know and understand the difficulties people living with HIV/AIDS face in their communities where stigmatization, discrimination, rejection, and other forms of abuse exist. Every day, our home based care team visits at least 4 patients to identify their needs. It is our hope that the home visit program will not fade away. This is a possibility because of inadequate funding and support encountered during the delivery of this service.

We need your support!

Clinic

• Volunteer nurses and doctors to serve between 3 to 6 months
• Hospital equipment: beds, wheel chairs, IV stands, drugs, etc.
• Laboratory equipment; general biomedical equipment
• Ambulance for patient conveyance

The Nursery

• Volunteer teachers for the nursery and teachers of Mathematics, English, Science, and Computer skills
• Toys and other teaching and learning materials from nursery to primary stage 4

Skills Enhancement Center

• Volunteers to teach dressmaking, financial and project management skills
• Equipment; Sewing machines, etc.
• Marketing avenues for the finished products

General Needs

• Funds to meet the growing demand on our home based support program
• Funds to pay hospital bills for people living with HIV/AIDS, the orphans and dependence of people living with HIV/AIDS
• Funds to pay transportation costs for our local medical staff, home based carers, nursery teaching staff, security and cleaners
• Funds to meet utility bills at the clinic