Video courtesy of StudioElevenProductions
www.StudioElevenOnline.com

“When a pregnant woman needed help, she would often turn to the parish priest (who often was traveling during the month to visit outlying missions) for help to get to a doctor or midwife. An ambulance would be a necessary part of improving maternal care in the region.”
–- Fr. Rees Doughty, St. Ann’s Church, Nyack
“The Ambulance in the Parking Lot”

On Sunday, June 23, parishioners of St. Ann’s in Nyack gathered in the church parking lot after the 11:30 mass for the blessing of an ambulance that would soon be en route to West Africa, bound for the Catholic Diocese of Sunyani in Ghana.

Its final destination will be the St. Matthew’s Medical Clinic, a project of the Giving to Ghana Foundation.

Giving to Ghana is a nonprofit organization established to help Diocese of Sunyani serve the poor of rural Ghana. It was founded years ago at St. Ann’s by parishioners, Pastor Fr. Robert Henry, and his associate, Fr. Joseph Domfeh Boateng, who is from the Sunyani Diocese. 

The ambulance provided by the Giving to Ghana Foundation, which will bring pregnant women to the maternity center at St. Matthew’s Clinic.

One of goals of the St. Matthew’s Clinic is to reduce maternal mortality in a region where maternal and prenatal healthcare are often lacking. The ambulance will serve to transport pregnant women to the hospital where they can receive the basic care that has been available to women in the developed world for decades – care that results in a healthy outcome for mother and child.

Present for the blessing were the current pastor of St. Ann’s, Fr. Rees Doughty, Deacon Charles DeGroat, and several priests from the Sunyani Diocese who have served at St. Ann’s: Fr. Joseph Domfeh Boateng (now associate pastor of St. Patrick’s in Bedford), Frs. Simon Gyan-Obeng and Justice Baffour (both currently at St. Ann’s), Msgr. Seth Agemang (now at Immaculate Conception in Stony Point for the summer) and also Fr. Fidelis Ezeani (St. Ann’s) from Nigeria.

From left to right: Mark Dillon (Justice in the Appellate Division in New York State), Meg Feerick (wife of Donald Ferrick), Dennis Kenny (Chairman of Giving to Ghana), Judith Kenny, Fr. Rees Doughty (Pastor of St. Ann’s), Judge Frank LaBuda (Supreme Court Judge in Sullivan County) and Father Joseph Domfeh Boateng (Giving to Ghana Executive Director).

The ambulance was donated through the efforts of Dick Kolhausen, a friend of St. Ann’s, and parishioners provided funds to transport the vehicle to Ghana. It will be shipped to Ghana via a container vessel.

The ambulance is in memory of Patrick J. O’Brien and Donald J. Ferrick.

The Rockland Right to Life Committee would like to salute the Giving to Ghana Foundation, their generous supporters, and the people of St. Ann’s for their efforts to improve the lives of the people of rural Ghana -– a truly prolife mission.

If you would like to help, donations may be sent to:

Giving to Ghana Foundation, Inc.
c/o Feerick, Lynch MacCartney, Esqs.
96 South Broadway
South Nyack, NY 10960