The Floor Was Dirty

Friday morning I woke to rain.  This was not just any rain; this was a deluge! I have never seen rain quite like this in my life.  And I’m from Oregon!!  Five gallon buckets were set out to catch the rain water and they were filled within a couple of minutes.  It was pretty amazing.  I was tempted to skip work because the “floor was dirty” (I’ve heard people in Ghana refer to what I would call “the ground” as “the floor”).  Since it was my last day at the House of St. Francis I gathered my courage and trudged to work; a five minute walk to the road, a 30 minute tro-tro ride, then another 30 minute walk to the House of St. Francis (HSF).  I walked through shoe-sucking mud and small rivers (that I’m sure contained raw sewage but I didn’t allow myself to think about that too much).  The floor was, indeed, very dirty!!

Edwin Presenting a Gift

The men at the HSF had prepared a going away celebration for me and I was really glad that I hadn't acted on my first impulse and stayed home!! 

This is my second summer in Ghana.  I have spent much of my four month total stay here at the HSF.  It would not feel right if I did not dedicate some of this blog to a place I have come to love.  The HSF is a drug and alcohol treatment center located in Ashaiman, Ghana.  It was established by the Catholic Archdiocese of Accra with a lot of help from the Hopeful Way Foundation and opened its doors on August 1, 2012.  The first client to come through the doors now has a little over two years clean and sober.  He spent a year teaching at the HSF and is now busy working in his profession again and helping to carry the message in Tamale (located in Northern Ghana).  I was present for both his and the HSF’s first and second anniversaries.

The HSF uses an evidence-based treatment program, which is based on the 12 Steps, called Recovery Dynamics.  Recovery Dynamics was developed in 1972 by Joe McQ (of Joe and Charlie fame) in Nashville, Tennessee. Joe was also the founder of Serenity Park and the Kelley Foundation.  HSF also uses the therapeutic community concept which aims to create the right conditions for people to change undesirable behaviors and learn new ways of doing things.

When I came last year the HSF had about 12 residential clients.  This year they have around 23 residents.  It is impressive to have nearly doubled the clients served in just one year. The HSF has physical space for about 40 residents but they are at near top capacity right now of about 25 residents due to staffing shortages.  In the two years of operation the HSF has had about 90 men go through its residential treatment program.  They have lost track of about half of them, a few have died from complications of addiction, but 22 men are verifiably clean and sober; eleven of them are now helping out at the HSF and/or actively carrying the message of recovery throughout Ghana.  11 men have relapsed but sought further treatment as residential clients at the HSF.  It is remarkable that a seed had been planted in these men and they knew where to go when they needed help.

Last year I came with the hope of helping to start a women’s outpatient treatment center.  To date this has not been accomplished.  The stigma towards alcoholism and drug addiction is very high in Ghana.  It is an obstacle to recovery for men but even more so for women.  It is widely believed that women are not supposed to “overindulge” in alcohol and do not use illegal drugs unless they are women of loose morals and “ill repute” and/or prostitutes.  This attitude creates a conspiracy of silence around women who suffer from the disease of addiction.  Housewives, doctors, lawyers, merchants, school teachers, and women of all walks of life are afraid to come forward with their addictions because so much is at stake if they do.  Women are dying because of stigma, denial, sexism, marginalization, oppression, and fear.  

After much debate, and persistent pleas from the family, the HSF made a decision to open its doors to one woman as an outpatient.  She attended classes on an outpatient basis and was given the opportunity for transportation to and from AA/NA meetings and to have her family participate in family education meetings held monthly at the HSF..   I would like to say that this was a 100% success but the woman has faced many obstacles on her journey to recovery.  Yet, she remains steadfastly dedicated to her desire to quit drinking despite her challenges.  Her family is very supportive.

Courage

I have had the opportunity to work with this woman.  She has my admiration and respect.  Despite setbacks she keeps coming back in a culture where just to admit she has a problem could make her a social outcast.  I believe that her courage has made it possible for the HSF to continuing accepting other women into the outpatient program.  One small step for recovery in Ghana; one giant step for Ghanaian women!

I also want to say that, even though it has been difficult, Hopeful Way Foundation has not given up on the idea of starting a women’s treatment center.  Volunteers for this organization and members of the Archdiocese have been hard at work trying to find an acceptable facility for women. There is also one Ghanaian woman who has long-term sobriety who is currently learning Recovery Dynamics as a student at the HSF so that she will be ready to teach when the facility finally opens.  Oxford House International is also trying to start a transitional living facility for women in Ghana.

The women’s treatment center already has a name:  St. Monica’s.  I find this so fitting as St. Monica is the patron saint of, among other groups, alcoholics.  Her story is inspiring and well worth some research for those wishing to know more about this persistent saint (she may very well be the origin of the phase, “Patience of a saint”)!!  Hopefully, establishing a women’s facility will not require the women of Ghana to wait as long as St. Monica to find their place.

Moses

I just need to add something about the staff at the HSF.  These men are amazing.  They are all volunteers who work for the love of recovery, some of them room and board, and a small stipend (the largest equivalent of about $100) each month.  There is the house director (Father Eric), administrative director (Byron), house manager (Edwin), assistant house manager (George), accountant and educator (John), security person and house monitor (Moses), and two cooks (Mathew and Paul). The cooks are responsible for preparing three meals per day, seven days per week, for upwards of 30 people; that’s more than 600 individual meals every week!!  There are also several former residents who come to help out with a variety of things including assisting in the teaching of Recovery Dynamics to leading exercise classes.

George

John

Fr. Eric is also responsible for his parish, Blessed Clementina in Ashaiman, and his time at the HSF is limited.  I do have to add that he is very dedicated to the mission of the HSF and has been of invaluable assistance in advancing the cause.  Byron, an ex-pat from the United States, also volunteers for the Hopeful Way Foundation and Oxford House International.  His involvement at the HSF is also limited.  The running of the HSF falls mainly on the sturdy shoulders of Edwin, John, and George; from making sure the toilet paper supply is sufficient, balancing the books, teaching classes, client in-take and release paperwork, counseling clients, to maintenance of the facility, they do it all.  They are available 24/7 AND they do all of this as volunteers!!!!

Edwin, Fr. Eric, and Byron

Almost from the beginning Hopeful Way Foundation has been advocating for salaries for these men.  Last year I worked on a template for position descriptions, which is still being used, in the hopes that they would be used to create paid positions at the HSF.  Fr. Eric is relatively new to the HSF and, in a short time, has become one of the best advocates for salaried positions.

Father Eric

Speaking of advocates, we had a social work intern from the University of Ghana at the HSF for most of the time I was there this summer.  Her name is Darling.  She admitted that when she got this assignment for her internship she was “scared and disgusted”.  She shared her culture’s view on addiction.  I insisted that she take an active role in her time at HSF and she lead a few discussion session during class time.  Her last session was dedicated to what she had learned while at the HSF.  According to Darling, one of her most valuable lessons was learning that addicts are just like her; they just happen to “have the disease of addiction” (she actually started referring to addiction as a disease).  She now feels empathy for addicts and now, whenever she has opportunity, she will point people towards the HSF.  She has become an advocate for reducing the stigma of addiction in her country.  Change happens one step, one person, at a time.  

What have I learned in my time at HSF?  A valuable lesson is the reinforcement of something I was already aware of:  addiction is an equal opportunity disease.  Approximately ten percent of the population of earth (10 % of six billion plus is a great big number) are afflicted and many, many more lives are affected by the disease.  It does not care if you are male or female, the color of your skin, your religion, your attributes or characteristics, your ethnicity or culture, it cares only that you are human.  I’ve learned that the signs and symptoms of the disease are exactly the same whether one is Ghanaian or from the United States.  Different addict; same story!!  I’ve also learned that recovery, through the 12 Steps or any other program that works for the individual, is equally possible. 

What else have I learned?  The family I am staying with while in Ghana is the immediate family of one of the clients at the HSF.  After several relapses my client attained six weeks of sobriety then relapsed yet again.  I watched the faces of the family members as the realization that their loved one was drunk once again hit home.  I watched all hope drain from their faces.  I saw the conflicting emotions of anger, sorrow, worry, agony, guilt, shame, hopelessness, and helplessness consume them.  I witnessed the absolute grief and deep emotional turmoil and pain wash over them.  Every time the phone rings the fear of what they may hear about the person they love with the disease they don’t understand is so intense that I can feel it deeply.  My heart goes out to this family.  I have learned just how deeply the disease of addiction affects the loved ones of those suffering from the disease.  I’ve learned that, indeed, it is a family disease.

What have I been up to while in Ghana?  I’ll let Dan O’Laughlin (Founder of Hopeful Way Foundation, instrumental in establishing the HSF, and my boss here in Ghana) tell you.    He posted the following on the Recovery Africa Facebook page:

Dan

September 13 2014,

Recovery Africa (RA) and Hopeful Way Foundation again thank Shelia for spending four months with us in 2013-14 carrying the message of recovery at the House of St. Francis. Thanks to Shelia, the RA Facebook page has seen lots of pictures of recovery efforts in Ghana and life in Ghana in general. We have made it clear to her that we would love to have her back in Ghana again for a few months or longer. With her teaching at the HSF, her pictures, attendance at meetings, development of curriculum, creating a RA Fact Sheet, etc. Shelia has become an important part of RA. I think she needs to continue with her RA involvement by becoming the RA representative in the Western part of the U.S.        Dan

Before closing I want to talk about an experience I had yesterday.  I went with “Auntie” Comfort and her daughter’s family to her “village” in the Volta Region of Ghana.  She wanted me to see her home, she still thinks of it as home and has a room there at her waiting even though she has not actually lived there for close to 40 years, and to meet her mother (who is 100 + years old; the exact date of her birth is unknown).  I was amazed to find that her “village” was a family compound with more than 20 houses.  She is related, in some way, to everyone in the village.  We would pass a house and she would tell me it was her uncle’s, cousin’s, brother’s, sister’s, aunt’s, etc… home.  She showed me the grave of her grandfather.  The land was purchased and the compound established many generations ago and has remained in the family ever since. 

Part of the Large Family Compound

The entire family, whenever possible and no matter where they are, gather for important celebrations, funerals, weddings, and births.  That must be a very impressive sight.  I believe this is fairly typical for many Ghanaians.  My time at the village was very touching. How very different than  in my own culture where families tend to scatter.

While at the village I had the opportunity to take a picture of four generations of women in Comfort’s family:  great-granddaughter, granddaughter, daughter, and mother.  It was a special honor to be in the presence of these four Ewe women.

Four Generations of Ewe Women