Reported by Harlow A. Hyde, the Snoopy Septuagenarian, DeLand

If out of the blue your spouse said, “Honey, I hope you don’t mind, but I volunteered you to organize and lead a medical mission to Ghana in West Africa,” most of us would react in a way that couldn’t be reported in a newspaper. But this is what Gayle Wadsworth said to her husband, Dr. Lyle Wadsworth, in the fall of 2017. 

As she knew he would, her husband Lyle gladly accepted the challenge. Now, nearly seven years later, the Ghana West Africa Medical Mission is a large, successful and growing project. So, in July 2024, we can look back and say of Gayle’s original comment, “The rest is history!”

This very unlikely story began in early 2017 in a Bible Study Fellowship International class led by Mrs. Wadsworth at Deltona Alliance Church. During the course of the Bible study, she became good friends with one of the attendees, Terri Collins. While visiting in Mrs. Collins’ home, Gayle noticed a large ebony object, about 5 feet tall, and asked what it was. She learned it was a statue from Ghana acquired while Terri had been a flight attendant for Delta Air Lines. She flew on routes that frequently took her to Ghana. After retirement from Delta, Terri continued to return to Ghana, always with a suitcase full of clothing and various items to donate that were needed in Ghana. Upon learning this, Gayle remarked that her husband was a doctor who might be willing to go to Ghana as a volunteer physician.

Fast-forward to June 2018 when the first team of seven set out for Ghana. The team included Terri and her husband Dan, and Mary and Dennis Littleton, a retired R.N. and a retired Baptist pastor, respectively, and the Wadsworths’ grandson Stephen Wadsworth. They were determined to set up medical clinics in rural areas, with the help of local churches and officials. Medical supplies were donated by AdventHealth, which has been a consistent supporter of the mission.

During this first trip, over the course of seven days they treated about 600 patients, with untreated illnesses causing a shortened life span. Many had infectious diseases, such as intestinal parasites, typhoid, cholera and malaria, caused by drinking dirty, infected water.

Now, six years later and after five more trips to Ghana (despite two years lost due to COVID-19), the focus of the mission has expanded. They have enlarged their view of needed health initiatives to include wells for clean water and toilets for sanitation, in addition to medical care. Therefore, to attack deadly maladies at their source, a major emphasis of the mission is drilling wells to sufficient depth, typically 200-300 feet, to reach the pure and healthy water of Ghana’s aquifer. To date 70 wells have been drilled for rural villages. 

The program has grown in collaboration with Wisconsin International University, Ghana and the Dada Foundation of Ghana so that it was possible in March of this year to help the mission purchase a well-drilling truck. Wells with clean water attack the problems before they start, saving lives through preventing illnesses in the first place. And participants in the mission are seeing a reduction of water-borne infections.

Fundraising efforts in the past have been through gatherings in homes, fish fries, and other special events like Tea for Toilets, which have provided the needed funds to bless the people of Ghana. Medical supplies and related items periodically fill a container on a cargo ship leaving from the Port of Miami, headed (eventually) to Ghana. 

Finally, in collaboration with the Wisconsin International University of Ghana, a scholarship program has been established. So far, eight women have received scholarships leading to four-year Bachelor of Science in Nursing degrees.

Every door the Ghana West Africa Medical Mission has knocked on since 2017 has been opened wide.

Members of the Ghana West Africa Medical Mission team would deny they are doing anything special, commenting, with complete sincerity, “From those who are given much, much is expected.” They have based their ministry on Matthew 25:40: “As you have done unto the least of these you have done unto Me.” 

The mission’s current goal is to have 100 wells operating by the end of 2024, providing clean water for about 80,000 people. 

The next fundraising event for the mission will be a “Low Country Boil Dinner” held in cooperation with the Knights of Columbus. The event is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 3, in the Bosco Center at St. Peter Catholic Church, 359 W. New York Ave in DeLand. Dr. Lyle Wadsworth, medical director of the mission, will give a presentation about what they have accomplished to date and their vision for the future. If you would like to attend the dinner, you are asked to RSVP to Gayle Wadsworth at 386-804-7472. The cost is $25 per person in advance or $30 per person at the door.