1. Alcoholism in Ghana: Background
2. Plan for a Treatment Centre
1. Alcoholism in Ghana: Background
Five years ago some friends of Kirt and Hilda donated some books from Alcoholics Anonymous to them and asked that they share the program in Ghana. Kirt read through the "Big Book" and Twelve Steps, Twelve Traditions and thought that the 12 step program would work with alcoholics in Ghana. Accordingly he shared the program with the chief of Kukurantumi who asked Kirt to speak to the townspeople at the annual harvest festival. Kirt spoke from his limited knowledge of the program but from his experience of how AA had helped the friend who had given him the books.
After the festival many people came up and asked Kirt to save their husband and save their son from their out-of-control drinking. That was in 1999. In the intervening years Kirt has given out almost a hundred books from AA and has started nine AA meetings locally. None of these meetings have continued beyond Kirt's involvement. When he leaves the country the meetings stop. AA hasn't taken root yet in Ghana. What is needed is a residential program where detoxification is done under medical supervision and the 12 step program is introduced by a Ghanaian who has used it successfully for many years. There are individuals in Ghana who have been treated in Europe or the USA and are in recovery now, but currently there are no residential treatment centers or places where the 12 step program can be learned intensely. What is needed is an indigenously run treatment center.
2. Plan for a Treatment Centre
Plan for the establishment of The Treatment Centre for Alcoholism in Kukurantumi, Ghana
Need: Currently there is no treatment available in Ghana which addresses the physical, emotional and spiritual aspects of the disease of alcoholism. Treatment of the severe symptoms of alcoholism such as liver failure is available at some local hospitals in various regions of the country. There are no treatment centres of any kind in the country which address the disease of alcoholism in an wholistic manner. There are only three AA meetings listed with the International Office of AA and these meetings are located in the largest cities and are geared toward recovering alcoholics from America or Europe; all these meetings are conducted in English.
Background: I discovered the current unavailability of treatment for the disease of alcoholism in 1999. My family and friends had encouraged me to send some literature from AA to share with Ghanaians when we shipped a container full of used books for local libraries that year. The response to those books and to the 12 Step method was encouraging. I began meeting with a small group of men weekly in my wife’s hometown. The meeting was conducted in the local language, Twi. We drove to the capital and tried to make contact with the established AA meeting there. As it happened the expatriate who usually led the meeting had gone back to the USA on a three month leave and the weekly attendees had suspended the meeting.
During the summer of 2001 I invited a Ghanaian living in Kumasi to come to our regional capital 12 miles from our home to talk to interested people about AA. The visiting speaker was in recovery for 25 years. He was a Roman Catholic priest and had been sent to Britain when all manner of counsel in Ghana had failed. He was the first person to suggest to me the need for a residential facility in Ghana where alcoholics could receive intensive training in the 12 step method. In my experience and in his the once a week meetings were insufficient to give the alcoholic in Ghana a sound understanding of the disease and the 12 step method of responding to the disease. We perceived that a residential program of 4 to 6 weeks which was conducted in the local language and related to the local culture would offer more of a chance for success.
Plan: Construction is now complete on a one storey building made of local cement blocks with a dormitory for up to 8 men, an attached dining hall, conference room and counseling room.
Our next step is to employ a Ghanaian professional with a background in counseling and with personal experience in using the 12 step method to help facilitate meetings and teach the 12 step method adapted to Ghanaian culture.
Provide vocational training in gardening, wood working, and traditional weaving which would teach a skill and help support the costs of running the treatment centre.
Reach out to other local communties by sending small groups of current residents to establish and attend AA meetings in those communities.
Donations are tax deductible.
Contact Kirt: kirtbromley@yahoo.com
3. Progress Report on Building of Treatment Center
4. Progress report on translation of AA literature
