Xmas good deeds: Nkrumah circle mentally challenged bathed, fed, medicated

You will find them on almost every street corner wearing rags. They talk to themselves and laugh at the monologue.

Hungry, naked and chased away by many with little sympathy, they could walk scores of kilometres daily in search of an elusive peace of mind.

Barbers fear them. Even if they offer a fortune to have their dreadlocks reduced to clean shaves, most barbers will abandon their shops at the request, if not verbally abuse them.

In Accra, although the state provided asylum for them in the psychiatric hospital, the city’s mentally ill are left to eat from drains, scavenge refuse dumps and even find sleeping space at landfill sites.

For those whose families appeal to the divine, to heal the ailing mind of their kinsmen, the chain is often the last resort for desperate families who cannot control a loved one in the grip of insanity.

When it comes to worse, even their families abandon them to lurk in the dark alleys in the country’s cities fighting the darkness while running from their shadows in the day.

Across the world, mental illness is a complex issue with every society struggling to care for its mentally sick.

But in Ghana and other countries in Africa, where psychiatric care is an afterthought, the welfare of these people are left to chance.

It is this plight of Ghana’s mentally ill, and adherence to Christ’s edict that Christians should care for the vulnerable, that the Christ-side Outreach International held its second ‘One more soul for Jesus’ outreach on Saturday at the Kwame Nkrumah Circle.

During the annual affair, the ministry bathes, clothes and feeds the mentally challenged on the street.

On Saturday, the team arrived as early as 8 am at the Interchange, went round and cajoled the mentally challenged to the outreach’s temporary camp.

While some would wonder how one even talks to a mentally ill person and get the person to succumb to the team’s persuasion without any struggle, they did it with ease.

According to the outreach team, everything is possible with God being at the centre.

The outreach team believe it is important for the faithful of Christ to draw the mentally ill closer to them especially during the yuletide.

“Sooner or later, we will all leave here. That is why we neem to do this. We should always leave our mark on this earth, Mariah, a staunch member of the team said.

Explaining the necessity of the gesture in advancing God’s work, Head of the Outreach Ministry of Christ-side International, Apostle Joseph Addo told TheGhanaReport.com that the mentally ill need more help.

“There are a lot of people out there who would need help. But these people need it more. ”

“When you look around, they are being treated like second class citizens. We maltreat them, they have also been rejected by society. Should that be the case? he quizzed.

“They are humans like us. Why then should we neglect them when God has specifically instructed believers to go out there and make disciples of all nation, ” he said.

Apostle Addo further said that some of the mentally sick may be on the street through no fault of theirs.

“Their insanity may be due to disappointments, frustration and depression so it is important to draw them closer, ” he reiterated.