TIME Magazine, March 25, 2008
THE POWER OF ONE
A Village Woman's Legacy__________________________________________________________________
By JIMMY CARTER Thursday, March 20, 2008
On a trip to Ghana in 2007, Carter visited a hospital where a girl was being treated for guinea worm disease.
Louise Gubb / The Carter Center
_______________________________________________________________
Sometimes it's the quietest voice that speaks the loudest. The quiet voice I heard in 1988 was that of a young woman from Ghana. The morning my wife Rosalynn and I visited the woman's village of Denchira, near the Ghanaian capital of Accra, she sat timidly on a bench amid her neighbors, who had assembled to greet us. She appeared to be in excruciating pain, and it looked as if she were cradling a baby in her right arm. As I approached, I was shocked to see that she was not holding a baby but her grossly swollen right breast. A guinea worm was emerging from the nipple, causing her a fiery agony as it migrated through her body. Here was the most graphic and disturbing example I had ever seen of the centuries-old guinea worm disease and all its devastating consequences. Although the scourge was preventable, it was ravaging the most neglected villages of Africa and Asia.
I was horrified to find out later that the worm was one of 11 that had thrived in the young woman's body that season. And in that primitive settlement, she was among 200 or so people, out of a population of 500, infected. Villagers of all ages were too weak to walk or permanently scarred and crippled. As a result, a community would go hungry because its farmers were too sick to work the fields.
Encountering those victims firsthand, particularly the teenagers and small children, propelled me and Rosalynn to step up The Carter Center's efforts to eradicate guinea worm disease. The image of the young woman's suffering not only personalized the illness but also forced me to view life for the first time through the eyes of the poor, the powerless and the voiceless and to come to terms with how the quality of their existence affects the world at large. I realized too that I could have done more when I was President to help people in developing countries.
Until that point, I had dealt with global matters in a more macro way. As President, I was primarily interested in peace in the Middle East, normalizing relations with China and avoiding war with the Soviet Union. I had often met with a nation's leader without comprehending the daily struggles of its average citizen. Fortunately, this time around, I had both the opportunity and the sensibility to do things differently. Working on behalf of The Carter Center, we persuaded other organizations--including the World Health Organization, unicef, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Peace Corps--to join in the fight against the illness. When we started fighting the disease, guinea worm was in 20 African and Asian countries. Today, I'm happy to say, we are tackling the last cases. Fewer than 10,000 people are still afflicted in five African countries, compared with 3.5 million in 1986.
Whenever I spend time in villages like Denchira, I draw from my childhood memories in rural Georgia. I know that when farmers are ill, their families and communities suffer as well. I'm also aware that proper health care is a basic human right, thanks to the superb treatment I received at a clinic in my hometown of Plains and the abiding example of my mother Lillian. A registered nurse, she taught me that lesson every time she ministered, free of charge when necessary, to any person, black or white, in the segregated South of my youth.
I never did see that young woman again or find out what happened to her. But the following year when we returned to her village, guinea worm had been nearly eliminated there, through the efforts of The Carter Center, other organizations and the villagers themselves. Having seen her that day in 1988, I came to examine life differently--in a micro way. I now believe that the vitality of one person's life has an impact on the health and harmony of the surrounding world.
How You Can Help
To learn more about guinea worm disease and other initiatives at
The Carter Center
go to
cartercenter.orgWith reporting by / As told to Michelle Lodge
Copyright © 2008 Time Inc. All rights reserved
Dr Ann Bannerman-Richter, Chief Executive Officer of The Longevity Project, has called on Ghanaians to begin the New Year with more physical exercises and also control their eating habits in order to remain healthy at all times. She said good nutrition in addition to undertaking exercises for total body fitness would not only keep the body healthy but increase productivity.
Dr Bannerman-Richter made the call at the end of year Accra International Marathon and Team Relay held in Accra on Friday. The event, which started from the Aviation Social Centre in Accra, through to some principal streets of the capital ended at the starting point.
About 100 participants drawn from corporate bodies and institutions as well as non-governmental organizations, took part in the three-hour walk which was organised by The Longevity Project. Dr Bannerman-Richter said the human body was like a machine that adapts to situations especially in the form of exercise, and has the capacity to perform, adding that the fewer demand you placed on it, the weaker it becomes.
She said many overweight people bemoan the fact that the less they eat the more they gain weight and they attribute their problems to a 'slow' metabolism. The Chief Executive Officer expressed the hope that the people would cultivate the habit of exercising and to improve upon their mental, physical, spiritual and social wellness. The event was sponsored by Fit for Life with support from the Aviation Social Centre. [rc]
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Professor Nana Araba Apt, President of HelpAge Ghana, has been appointed HelpAge International's fourth Global Ambassador, joining three others - Dr Alex Kalache from Brazil, Lady Sally Greengross from the UK and Dr Mary Ann Tsao from Singapore.
The HelpAge International Ambassador Scheme seeks to invite people of stature in the field of global ageing to represent HelpAge International from time to time at major international events and to provide advice to HelpAge International on the development of policy and programme ideas in the field of their expertise.
HelpAge Ghana Executive Director, Mr Ebenezer Adjetey-Sorsey, said their main objectives were to create public awareness on ageing issues and the problems facing older persons.
The organisation was also to initiate and assist organizations working with and for older persons in Ghana to develop appropriate community-based services for older persons, and to assist in the initiation and development, through research and advocacy, of pragmatic national policies and services for older persons, it said.
[rc]
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Mrs Ama Benyiwa Doe said this at a luncheon held for more than 300 senior citizens drawn from all the districts, municipality and metropolis in the central region at the residency in Cape Coast as part of the 49th republic day celebration.
The senior citizens who were served with food and drinks, were also treated to music by the “Fire Angels” musical group and the Cape Coast Youth Choir.
Eight of the senior citizens whose ages range between 80 and 90 years were each presented with a piece of cloth, soaps and toiletries, whiles the others were presented with soaps, toiletries and T-shirts.
The Regional Minister expressed concern that most of the youth in their bid to seek greener pastures abandon the aged in the villages and go to the urban centres, and stressed the need to change the situation.
She underscored the important role the senior citizens have played in the development of the country, stressing that a nation that does not honour its heroes is not worth dying for. She said the government has directed a review of the pension act passed last year, bearing in mind the financial difficulties in the country.
Mrs Benyiwa Doe added that government was also placing a high premium on making sure that the living standards of senior citizens especially were significantly improved.
She called on senior citizens to share their experiences with the youth to ensure the continuous development of the nation.
Mr Thomas Appiah Kwamena, President of the Central Regional branch of the Pensioners Association, called on the senior citizens to serve as role models for the youth, adding that the youth looked up to them for inspiration and guidance.
He said after 49 years of enjoying a Republican status, there was the need for the country to do away with all the old practices and evolve pragmatic plans that would accelerate national development. [rc]
Source: GNA
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He was, however, confident that the Vice- President, Mr John Dramani Mahama, “will adequately represent me”.
Vice President John Dramani Mahama of Ghana.
“Nonetheless, I wish to take this opportunity to convey to all our senior citizens the deepest gratitude of the nation for the various contributions they have made towards the development of our nation. To them. I say Ayeeko,” he stressed.
“May God continue to bless them in their period of retirement. I hope to be able to share the occasion with them, God willing next year,” he added.
The day will be used to honour and pay respect to some senior citizens. As part of the activities, the senior citizens will be hosted to a luncheon at the State House.[rc]
© 2009 Graphicghana.com.
On a trip to Ghana in 2007, Carter visited a hospital where a girl was being treated for guinea worm disease.
This was stated in an address read on his behalf at a get-together for 100 aged people in Kwahu Nkwatia, organized by the Akwatiaman Kuo, a benevolent society made up of Nkwatia citizens’ residents in Accra. He said the youth should be instilled with a sense of self help at an early age, if the country is to progressively reduce its dependence on others in future.
