BMC’s Dr. Heidi Haun and her family were recently at a missions conference and met up with some BMC alumni.

Dr. Earl Hewitt (known locally as Waafu Gɔlum Gɔlum), who served as a physician and medical superintendent at BMC for over 20 years, was there with his wife Mona. He is currently serving as the Senior Medical Consultant for the SBC IMB.

Also attending the meetings were Dr. David Fort and his wife Laurel. Dr. Fort worked as a surgeon at BMC from the 1980s and well into the 90s. They are now living in the US where he works as the SBC IMB’s Lead Member Care Consultant.

What a blessing to see these friends of BMC in such good health and joy!

The Medical Dental Council Ghana has increased retention (renewal) fees for licensed physicians from 200GHS to 400GHS (currently around 100USD). This affects all volunteer physicians who have previously been licensed and wish to return to serve at BMC.

You can see the new fees posted on their website in the Fees and Charges Amendment document (PDF).

Dr. Haun’s husband William has produced a short documentary about the courtyard pounding events the women of Nalerigu do together. It’s a great look at the traditions of Mamprugu and the spirit of unity in the community.

Congratulations to BMC’s own Dr. Emmanuel Akatibo on his marriage to Margaret Apini on Saturday, February 6th!

The beautiful ceremony was held at St. Kizito Catholic Church in Zaare-Bolgatanga. A large delegation of BMC staff attended the wedding as well as some of Margaret’s colleagues from Nalerigu Senior High.

After the ceremony, a reception was held at the National Health Service Conference Center in Bolga. There guests congratulated the newlyweds in person as they enjoyed refreshments and music.

We pray that God blesses this matrimony and we look forward to welcoming the newly weds back to BMC soon!

Congratulations to our own Dr. Heidi Haun on her newborn daughter Karen Jane (“KJ”). BMC’s wonderful midwives delivered the child on June 18th at 1:13pm. The beautiful little girl weighed 2.5kg and was 48cm long.

We are happy to report that both the mother and child are doing well and that Trey is very excited to be a big brother!

2015 started off wonderfully with the annual Damba Festival’s lunar schedule having it conveniently celebrated on January 1-3. The word “Damba,” or “Damma” in Mampruli, means “that we will come together” and is an event celebrated for centuries in Mamprugu. Chiefs from all across the region come together for one giant “family reunion.”

Here are some video clips from each of day of activities.

Day One

On day one, the highlight was the various ethnic groups (Mamprusi, Bimoba, Frafra, etc…) presenting their unique dances.

Day Two

The central piece of festival came on the second day when the senior King’s drummer, accompanied by a phalanx of royal drummers, sings a list of the names of chiefs and their kingly fathers which begins with the founder and ends with the reigning king.¹

Day Three

The final day is actually just a continuation of day two’s festivities. Revelers dance the night away until the Nayiri emerges with his entourage at sunrise. Each of the chiefs are then coaxed out to dance one by one until the Nayiri finally returns into his palace after about two hours.

It has been a tradition of late for BMC’s expat staff and volunteers to go Christmas caroling in the wards on Christmas Eve. In addition to singing songs, the carolers pass out oranges to patients and their families.

This year Drs. Cahill, Coppola, and Haun and their families were joined by Faile Foundation‘s Francis Akom and his family as well as a couple of Ghanaian medical students. The songs and oranges (and stickers for the kids) brought some cheer to those unfortunately spending Christmas Eve in the wards.

Below are some photos and videos from the occasion:

BMC’s American workers celebrated their country’s Thanksgiving holiday together last night. Each person contributed some aspect of the traditional and the sum of all their efforts was a delicious feast of turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes with gravy, pumpkin pie, green bean casserole and even cranberry sauce!

Several Ghanaian friends and other expats were invited and during the devotions they were given a brief history lesson about the holiday and its significance.

We are so thankful for all the volunteers who have come to help us this year. They are such a blessing to the patients and the hospital staff.

Most importantly we thank God for his goodness and enduring love (Psalm 106:1). Our prayer is that BMC continues to make His deeds known among the peoples of northern Ghana (Psalm 105:1).