I had been longing to go back to Ghana for some time. Twenty years had to pass before this wish became a reality.

This time I went to Ghana as part of the Mission:/Possible 2014 team. Mission:/Possible ‘outreaches’ are organised by the Institute of World Evangelisation – ICPE Mission, a Catholic mission made up of Christians committed to world evangelisation and the missionary arm of the Glory of God International Covenant Community, which started out in Malta.

This was the fifth time I had visited that country. We were a group of 14: nine Maltese, two Gozitans, a New Zealander, an American and a Slovak.

Nearly every morning, we visited the Sisters of Charity. At Kumasi they have a house for babies, children and people with disability, some of whom were literally picked up from the street. Much of my time was spent with babies. Never in my life had I picked up babies that were so thin.

In Ghana, we also visited two prisons and a home for the mentally ill. Many times, these people are not accepted in society. We also had an opportunity to visit two villages far from Kumasi: one was Amada, where poverty was keenly felt. We first called on the chief, to uphold the culture of the locality, after which we played ball with a large group of children there.

Never in my life had I picked up babies that were so thin

Noon passed and the children remained with us. None of them went for lunch. Dominic, a Ghanaian, told our leader it was likely many of these children hadn’t even had breakfast. Our team leader decided she would search for some bread. She managed to buy 100 loaves and when she returned, she called the team together and, with tears in her eyes, told us what had happened.

Those were heart-breaking moments. So we placed the children into small groups and divided each loaf of bread between three children. You should have seen them eating the bread on its own!

The Mission:/Possible 2014 team in Ghana.

After they had eaten, we gave them some toys we had brought with us from Malta, as well as a lollipop each. Some of them put the lollipop in their mouths, wrapper and all, because they didn’t know they had to remove the paper.

A qualified nurse, a student nurse and a trainee pharmacist also formed part of our team. While in Amada, medical treatment was given to another reasonably sized group of children. The families there have no food to give to their children, let alone provide for their health care. Hard reality that compelled us to think and ask questions.

Each team member was gripped in some way by the sense of helplessness. Together we shared moments of sadness and joy. From the very start we shared the same goal: giving each person we meet the dignity they deserve.

Between August 1 and 22, another team will be visiting Ghana to provide humanitarian aid.

Those interested can e-mail Silvana Abela on silvana@icpe.org or visit the ICPE Mission website at www.icpe.org.