THE PENDULUM

by Neel Arora, November 3, 2009

In Ghana, the remote village of Kpoeta is separated from the nearest healthcare facility by miles of a rugged and treacherous path that is inaccessible for half the year during monsoon season.
"They used to carry the sick down that seven-mile stretch during the rainy season on a stretcher or something, and they are basically dead when they get there," said Heidi Frontani, chair of Elon's department of history and geography and 2010 Periclean Scholars mentor.

This was until last January, when the village community, with the help of Elon's 2010 Periclean Scholars, officially opened a 10-room healthcare clinic.

The 2010 class of Periclean Scholars has raised more than $50,000 since it was inducted in the spring of 2007. A large part of the funds go toward this project in Kpoeta, located in the Volta region of Ghana, in an effort to provide health care to the community.

About $20,000 has been raised specifically for this development, which benefits more than 10,000 people across a cluster of five villages that previously had almost no access to health services.

"I know if someone gets sick in Kpoeta, they have access to medical care," said Sara Pasquinelli, a senior Periclean Scholar on the fundraising committee. "No matter where you go, there are positives, and there are positives to speak of in Ghana."

But the project is still far from complete.

Construction of a housing facility for the medical staff remains to be built. Another $25,000 will go into this extension, which will provide some incentive for healthcare professionals to stay in the village, or even the country.

"It is not going to mean anything if people have to go there and treat themselves," said 2010 Periclean Scholar Mica McCullough.

Half of all medical professionals trained in Ghana leave for the United States, United Kingdom or elsewhere in the West, costing the country more than $4 million a year.

It is the reason Kpoeta does not have a doctor, Frontani said.

In fact, less than 40 percent of the people living in Africa's rural areas have access to healthcare.
"Kpoeta is remote, even by Ghanaian standards," Frontani said. "It is not where someone would want to live or work."

The idea to build a clinic in Kpoeta came from a visiting Ghanaian Fulbright Scholar from the village, Francis Amadahe. Frontani said she remembers when Amadahe and his wife stood in front of the students during their induction and told them what the village needed.

"His wife explained how her aunt had died being carried down that road," Frontani said. "They told stories of people dying, and it was a plea of life and death."

The class began raising money even before the program officially began.

Within three weeks of their induction, the class was able to give Amadahe $3,500 to take back and begin the project. The initial goal for the class during their four years was to raise $10,000 and have one nurse placed there, but that has since been exceeded.

Many of the students participating in the program believe their project will not end after graduation.

Frank Stiefel, a sophomore on the public relations committee, said he will continue the project once the class graduates.
"We are looking at creating a sustainable entity to continue our work in Ghana," he said.

Because of the experience he brings and an opening that came during his freshman year, Stiefel is the lone sophomore in the program. He visited Ghana the summer before he came to Elon.
"That sparked my passion and ignited my interest for the Ghanaian people," he said. "The connections with the people and friendships became a part of my soul."

McCullough is working on a plan to have everyone with a job after graduation donate $10 a month to the projects. She said she also plans on organizing a reunion once a year.

"This class has done a miraculous job in raising the level of academic rigor and profile of the program," said Thomas Arcaro, the Project Pericles director.

The program combines academic work with practical experience, since students take five to six courses throughout their time at Elon in addition to developing a personal plan for the project.
"It is an academic place for students to be globally engaged at a very high level," Arcaro said.
This program has taught the students passion and given them lessons for the future, Pasquinelli said.

"Nothing is impossible, and there is always an opportunity to be found," Pasquinelli said.
McCullough said at first she was unsure of what the program could achieve.

"I was cynical coming in," she said. "But we did it and now we are going to do a little more."