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Connect Garu with Medical Equipment and Electricity

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Hi, everyone! By a series of events outside of anyone but God’s control, a group of local Iron Rangers have had the opportunity to help a far-flung, obscure little clinic and small church in Africa. Imagine giving birth in a dark room with no lights, no air conditioning, and no medical equipment. If you're reading this, count yourself blessed by what is considered basic here is a supreme luxury there!

A mutual friend of ours has been visiting the U.S. from Garu, Ghana. His stories of everyday life experiences demonstrate what enormous wealth difference exists between our poorest person here compared to the average villager there. In rural Garu, the average yearly income of a villager is approximately $430 to $600 per year. That wealth difference is offset by their faith, gratefulness, and joy. When our First World problems like internet connectivity and Amazon shipping delays are weighed against simply managing to eat food a couple times a week, the stark realization of what we take for granted humbles one to the soul’s core.

First, we are raising funds to electrify both the clinic and chapel by hooking them onto the country’s power grid. The cost will be approximately $18,000, of which $11,500 has already been raised or pledged, leaving $6,500 remaining.

Second, we have obtained and currently hold much-needed medical supplies and equipment that need to be shipped from Virginia, Minnesota to Garu, Ghana. The shipping cost is approximately $9,000 to ship a large freight container from Duluth, Minnesota, to the port of Tema, Ghana, which includes the ground shipping from the origin to the final destination. We have raised $2,000 thus far and have $7,000 remaining. To complete these two projects, a total of $13,500 remains, which is exactly half of our goal!

While Garu has a population of approximately 80,000, the rural village we are helping is about four miles north of the city, see the satellite image on Google Maps here. As you can see, it is an arid region with no paved roads. However, if you zoom out on the map, you can see that the village is located next to a large hydroelectric dam. We’d like to get the clinic and church linked to that power source. Both the clinic and the church have interior wiring as they are connected to diesel generators, which are both expensive and unreliable. Our mutual friend has a reliable electrician that has provided a quote for the labor and materials. The money for the electricity portion of this project will be wired directly to him.

As noted above, Essentia Health has donated a large amount of medical supplies and equipment from the St. Mary’s hospital facility in Duluth, which has been replaced by Essentia’s huge, new, state-of-the-art hospital. All of those materials have been collected and are awaiting shipment. The only bottleneck is the cost, which is what we need your help with to complete! Any donation will help, even $5!

Thank you!

Sincerely,


John Bachman, retired St. Louis County Deputy Sheriff
Dr. Lisa Seeber, M.D., Essentia Clinic
Erik J. Honkanen, JD/MBA, Honkanen Law Firm, S.C.
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Donations 

  • Johanna Salo
    • $50
    • 3 mos
  • Anonymous
    • $350
    • 6 mos
  • Anonymous
    • $50
    • 7 mos
  • Anonymous
    • $50
    • 7 mos
  • Margaret Frost
    • $10
    • 7 mos
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Organizer

Erik Honkanen
Organizer
Virginia, MN

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