Matthew 25 House Ghana

Category: People Living with HIV/AIDS

People Living with HIV/AIDS

  • We must do away with traditions that infringe on rights of women

    We must do away with traditions that infringe on rights of women

    ‘We must do away with traditions that infringe on rights of women’

    Mrs Matilda Amissah-Arthur, Wife of the former Vice President, has stated that there must be concerted efforts to do away with some traditions that infringe on the rights of women, especially during bereavement.

    She said traditional rites where women were restricted in so many ways during the death of their husbands aggravated the pain of losing a dear one and also infringed on their rights.

    Mrs Amissah-Arthur was delivering a lecture on the theme: “Journeying with Grieving People – A Reflection on Traditional Beliefs and Practices,” in Koforidua.

    It formed part of a Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) programme to cater for the vulnerable, organised by Mathew 25 House, an HIV and AIDS care centre.

    She mentioned that ways of dressing, time of eating and bathing, restrictions on speaking among other rites “originally had good intensions and meant good, but in today’s world such practices have long outlived their usefulness and must be stopped.”

    Mrs Amissah-Arthur, who has written a book, titled: “Strength in the Storm,” said she had researched into the traditional rites during bereavement and had come to the conclusion it had outlived its usefulness and that “in many instances men were let off the hook”.

    She cited the perception of wearing black clothes during the loss of a loved one to signify mourning saying it was a wrong perception because mourning a loved one was a personal affair and people must be allowed to grieve their own way.

    Mrs Amissah-Arthur indicated that women continued to suffer dehumanising treatment during the death of their husbands under the guise of tradition and charged the church to lead the crusade of changing some of those traditions to help create a conducive environment for women, especially in times of bereavement.

    She charged women to be advocates of the change as it was their fellow women who subjected them to the dehumanising treatment during the loss of their husbands.

    Most Reverend Joseph Afrifah-Agyekum, the Bishop of Koforidua Catholic Diocese, commended Mrs Amissah-Arthur for sharing her experience of loss through advocacy to change some of the archaic traditional rites for the benefit of women and society.

    Monsignor Alex Bobby Benson, the Director of Matthew 25 House, said there was the need to change some of those practices and urged the congregation to spread the message.

    Source: https://newsghana.com.gh/we-must-do-away-with-traditions-that-infringe-on-rights-of-women/

  • Matthew 25 House fetes PLHIV

    Matthew 25 House fetes PLHIV

    Matthew 25 House fetes PLHIV  – The Matthew 25 House has feted its clients prior to the Christmas holidays. The party which was held on December 20, was part of the House’s last socialization meeting for the year 2019.

    The well-attended meeting saw almost every client in attendance. Each month the House holds socialization meetings for People Living with HIV (PLHIV) who are its clients.

    This month’s meeting was unique in that awards were given to deserving clients who had been consistent in their attendance and adherence to treatment regimes. The awards included silver basins, cooking utensils, and some foodstuffs.

    The director of the House, Monsignor Alex Bobby Benson encouraged all PLHIV to take their medications religiously as it was the surest way to live healthily without being prone to opportunistic infections which could deteriorate their health condition.

    During the meeting which was graced by four Roman Catholic Sisters from the Mother Marie Postulancy at Atekyem, the clients sang and danced in praise to God for taking care of their lives throughout the year.

    Foodstuffs of rice, oil, canned fish, biscuits, and drinks were also distributed to all clients to take home.

    HEALTH TALK

    As part of the meeting, Kyotani Eri, a JICA volunteer with the House gave a health talk on “Keeping healthy during the Christmas festivities”.

    She urged clients to be careful not to overindulge in eating and drinking during the yuletide since it could have adverse effects on their health. She mentioned that two things were key to improving one’s health, i.e. Diet and exercise.

    On exercise, she introduced the House to how to do squats and how to check one’s body age.

    Attendants to the meeting took time to practice the body-age exercise and the squats.

    She promised to speak to the House on “diet” during the January meeting.

    On their part, some of the PLHIV who spoke to the Media team of the House expressed joy at being part of the family of Matthew 25. A woman in her early fifties (name withheld) recounted how she almost lost her life if not for the intervention of Monsignor Alex Bobby Benson, who forcefully took her out of a prayer camp where she had been lying for several months with the promise of a cure by the leader of the camp.

    A second person, a male also expressed his excitement of being part of the House since its inception at Akwatia and how he has benefited from the services of the House.

    He joyfully said, “there are times when we are given prescriptions to buy and we just cannot afford, the House in collaboration with a Pharmacy provides us with the medicines for free”. I don’t know what I would have done but for Matthew 25 House.

    They thanks the director for the awards and urged him to continue to help them as some of them have been abandoned by their family members and friends because of their condition.

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