SHEKINAH CLINIC CATERS FOR THE UNDERPRIVILEDGED (PAGE 29, NOV 26)

THE UNDERPRIVILEGED, including destitutes, lepers and mentally challenged persons in the Tamale Metropolis will forever be grateful to management of the Shekinah Clinic located at Gurugu, a suburb of the metropolis.
Established in March 1991 by Dr. David Abdulai who is also the Resident Medical Doctor, the clinic has over the years served as a home to many poor residents including those who have been abandoned by their families for various reasons.
It is gratifying to note that the clinic also serves as a home and place of healing to some patients and those allegedly abandoned by their relatives from neighbouring countries like Togo and Benin.Currently there are 35 destitutes at the clinic.
In cases where some of the patients are abandoned by their relatives, and in the event of their death, the management collaborates with the police to bury the corpses at their own expense.
On the average, the clinic performs 21 hernia operations in a week and for the same period, it records 120 outpatient attendance.
The management of the clinic has also initiated a food programme where 150 people including the mentally challenged roaming the streets of Tamale are fed free of charge.
Additionally, 25 poor widows and about 80 elderly women living on their own are served with a ration of maize every two weeks.
During festivities like Christmas , between 2,500 and 3,000 poor people are fed.
Abandoned HIV/AIDS patients are also housed within the premises of the clinic.
These services being carried out by the clinic have come at a time when authorities of the Ghana Health Service have intensified their education on the need for residents to avoid stigmatisation of lepers, HIV/AIDS patients and others .
It is, heartwarming to note that the Tamale Metropolitan Assembly (TAMA) and the Ghana Water Company Limited have taken up the payment of the electricity and water bills respectively as their contribution to the provision of health care delivery to the patients.
Dr Abdulai summed up the vision and mission of the clinic during an interaction with the Daily Graphic: “I am running two clinics aimed primarily at giving comfort and hope to the poor and the destitute.
“We depend on divine providence for survival”, he stated.