Osabene, Aug 9, GNA – Monsignor Bobby Benson, a Catholic priest and Founder/Director of the Mathew 25 House, an HIV care centre has appealed for public support to construct a palliative care centre.
The 40-bed palliative care centre would provide care and support to the terminally ill and vulnerable.
when completed, it would be the first of its kind in the sub-Saharan to provide a serene environment and Godly care to people with a terminal illness.
The facility, which is also known as a Hospice is an initiative of Monsignor Benson, whose Mathew 25 house centre has provided care, shelter, medication, food, and educational support to thousands of People Living with HIV and AIDS (PLWHA) as well as Orphans and vulnerable children whose parents have died from AIDS over the years.
The Hospice or Palliative care centre is a home where sick and dying persons are being cared for in the comfort of caregivers and their relatives creating an environment for solidarity in the end of life so that people irrespective of their backgrounds would die in dignity and peace without the usual emotional pain, which both patients and their families go through during those moments.
Making the appeal at a thanksgiving service to commemorate his 40th Priestly Ordination anniversary at the Palliative care centre site at Osabene, Monsignor Benson noted that the GHS1.5 million cedis facility was progressing but needed the support of all well-meaning Ghanaians to complete it.
Monsignor Benson was grateful to all those who had supported the project and mentioned Mrs Matilda Amissah-Arthur former second lady, Bishop Afrifa-Agyekum and all past Bishops of the Koforidua Diocese, Father Andrew Campbell for their immense support from the beginning of the project and through the years.
Mrs Matilda Amissah-Arthur, the former Second Lady of Ghana broke the grounds for the construction of the facility in 2014 and promised to support the project.
It was described as a laudable initiative to afford people the opportunity to treat their dying relatives in dignity than celebrating their funerals.
Most Reverend Joseph Afrifa-Agyekum, Catholic Bishop of Koforidua Diocese who earlier officiated the thanksgiving mass, commended Monsignor Benson for the sacrifices he had made in the lives of many in need, saying, “the story of Mathew 25 and that of the good Samaritan were reference points for every human being.”
He, therefore, called on all to support the vision of having the palliative care centre, adding, “The end of life must not always be an experience of pain, fear, and anguish but rather be seen as a transition.”
Among the dignitaries at the thanksgiving service included Ambassador Mr Parker-Allotey, Sir Ben Assorow, Editor of the Catholic Standard, Reverend Father Andrew Campbell, and many well-wishers from the Catholic Church, both home abroad.
GNA