Binde, a township of around fifty families, has become a strategic spot in Ghana’s geography when it comes to healthcare. In the capital, Accra, many people know about the exploits of Manolo Bonet, the Menorca missionary who 35 years ago built a hospital that has now become a true hospital complex and a fundamental aid centre for the inhabitants of Ghana and neighbouring countries such as Burkina Faso and Togo.

2002 was the year when the category of hospital was granted to the centre built by Manolo Bonet, but the real turning point was the inauguration of the operating theatre in the year 2004. Shortly afterwards, the hospital grew from the initial 7 beds to the current 75.

This healthcare facility has managed to save thousands of human lives, has united warring tribes in the north and has promoted the construction, in the immediate vicinity, of a social centre, a bookshop and a sports pitch where sportspeople train in different disciplines. Its next goal is to create a children’s nutrition centre and to achieve good FM radio reception.

The Binde hospital complex is a project in which the people of two lands have participated: Ghana and Menorca, because the initiative would not have been possible without the involvement of different Menorca entities: the Menorca Cooperation Fund; the Island Council; the town halls of Maó and Alayor; «Amics de Binde», a Menorca NGO that has been working for Binde’s township community since 1997; around fifty volunteers and a considerable number of anonymous collaborators, also from Menorca. The project thus exemplifies the solidarity expressed by an entire society from a specific area. Manolo Bonet’s hospital is an unusual example of communal support for a humanitarian initiative in one country by the public institutions and civil society of another.

Powered by Hackadelic Sliding Notes 1.6.4