Building Hope
Mercy Ships Health Care Development team has begun the renovation and construction of a paediatric orthopaedic centre in Seme Kpodji, Benin. Upon completion, the centre will be used to provide rehabilitative and surgical care to disabled children.
The centre will be operated by OSAREH, a local NGO (non-governmental organisation) dedicated to the care of disabled children. The president of OSAREH, Dr. Seraphin Gbenou, is a qualified paediatric surgeon and has practiced medicine in Benin for almost 20 years. Currently, he is a surgeon at a local paediatric hospital in Cotonou.
County by county, the government of Benin has been screening the population, particularly those with low incomes, for children with physical disabilities.
Once found, these children are brought to the attention of a group of physicians, including Dr. Seraphin, to receive NGO-funded surgical and medical care. “Currently, there is not a centralised medical facility dedicated to the care of these children, which has made it difficult to keep up with the volume of patients.”
“There is a large group of handicapped children under the government’s care. This year, we have already operated on more than 20 of them, but we don’t have facilities to accommodate all the children,” said Dr. Seraphin.
The municipality of Porto Novo in Benin offered Dr. Seraphin a building to use as a medical facility at no charge. However, the building was incomplete and needed major renovations.
Dr. Seraphin dreamed of turning the building into a paediatric orthopaedic centre. However, he lacked the funding needed for the renovations.
For several years, the building lay dormant. However, this year, while looking for development projects for the 2009 Field Service in Benin, the Mercy Ships Advance team contacted Dr. Seraphin.
For the past decade, Dr. Seraphin has partnered with Mercy Ships during field services in Benin. He shared his vision for the centre with the Advance Team, who later assessed the site.
“When we initially looked at the project, we decided not to do it because the building was too far decayed. We went back about a month later with a specially trained architect, who knew it could be renovated, so we decided to take on the project,” said Construction Supervisor, Karl Schmutter.
“We are renovating the old building, as well as putting up new buildings in the compound. When completed, it will be like a miniature hospital. There will be rooms for hospital beds, a surgical room, offices, and a consultation room,” concluded Schmutter.
The building also includes space for patients to perform rehabilitation exercises and to be fitted for prosthetics.
Mercy Ships has hired workers from the community to complete the construction of the clinic. “There was a group of women who came to the construction site every day who needed jobs. The main building is very swampy, and we’ve had to make the foundations very high."
"Because the foundations are very high, we’ve had to fill them up with dirt and then compact it. We’ve hired these women to help with that. When a truckload of dirt comes, the women carry it to the building and fill in the foundations. They needed jobs, and we’ve been able to provide them with a job,” concluded Awagah.
Dr. Seraphin is grateful for the partnership, and both he and Mercy Ships are eager to see the centre completed.
“I thank all the volunteers and donors from Mercy Ships that are bringing this dream into reality,” said Dr. Seraphin. “The day they give me the key, I will go on my knees and thank God. I have been working with Mercy Ships for years. It’s a partnership that will last a long time. It’s a very great joy to work with Mercy Ships. I thank them all and hope God blesses them.”