EWB-ISU's Clinic Project in Ullo, Ghana

Generous donors have offered a 1:1 match for the first $7,000 contributed to double your impact and help EWB build a medical clinic to serve the Ullo-Dhantie community. Thank you for your support!

Who is EWB-ISU?

Engineers Without Borders (EWB) mission is to provide engineering solutions to communities worldwide and sustainably meet basic human needs. EWB-ISU is a non-profit, student-led organization at Iowa State University consisting of about 60 students. Our chapter is currently partnered with a community in Ullo, Ghana, called Ullo-Dhantie. We have been working with them since 2014; our most recently completed project in Ullo was implementing a water distribution system that pumps water to the 1000-student (and growing) population at Ullo Senior High School. Since completing this project, EWB-ISU has been working with the community to identify other needs they have.

What is the clinic project?

It was brought to our attention that the current medical clinic in Ullo is insufficient. The maternity ward is very undersized and not capable of handling multiple births at the same time. The clinic is also in high demand during malaria season. Community members have expressed that the lack of access to adequate healthcare has resulted in the deaths of multiple community members. The clinic does not have a doctor or physician's assistant and cannot handle medical emergencies. Currently, the clinic consists of five rooms between two buildings, which is insufficient to provide adequate healthcare.

Since EWB-ISU has identified this need in the community, we have evaluated the feasibility of constructing a new and sufficient medical clinic. The executive team voted to move forward with this project in Spring 2020. This new clinic would provide the kind of medical support that Ullo-Dhantie needs and serve 28 other nearby communities for a total of about 20,000 people. The design and construction of the clinic have been broken down into phases that will be completed over multiple years. The new clinic will have a maternity ward, consultation rooms, and a pharmacy, to name a few features. This project is something that the Ghanaian government is in full support of; they have agreed in writing to provide the clinic with medical supplies and a physician's assistant if EWB-ISU designs and constructs the actual building. We also secured verbal and written agreements from the chief of the Ullo Traditional Area.

The project is now fully underway with a multi-phase layout and models built on information the travel team brought back from the Ullo community. The travel team also met with a contractor while in Ghana and was able to see some of the work they have done. The travel team was impressed with the quality of their work and secured this contractor for the clinic project. Currently, this contractor, with the help of the community, has cleared the land and dug the foundation for the main structure. To see a rendition of what the final structure will look like, please take a look at the image below or see the walk-through in the second video of the slideshow above. The third image is the construction site from the last travel team visit.

Supporting the progress of this project is an investment in Ullo's future; death and illness would be prevented with the resources of a new clinic, thereby improving the overall healthcare and quality of life in Ullo. Community members could rely on the new clinic for medicine, maternal healthcare, and proper medical consultation, among many other things. Improving the health of community members is a major step in promoting the development of a more sustainable and prosperous society. You can be part of Ullo's growth by enabling EWB-ISU to support their needs through engineering solutions!

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