Brief history

1979 - 2009

2009	We continued the close cooperation with Dr. Herz and the Clinique St. Matthieu in Nkongsamba / Kamerun. Thanks to a large number of donors and supporters it was possible to provide financial assistance for improving the eye sight of many patients. The construction and renovation works of the Ambulance of the St. Anthony's Hospital in Dzodze / Ghana have been completed. The GenoGyn-Rheinland continues the payment of 150.00EUR monthly subsidy for Dr. Williams as incentive for his continued stay and services to the hospital. The construction of the Optical Workshop in Nhotokota / Malawi was delayed due to heavy rainfall. By now the Workshop might have been completed. Currently our partners are working hard to resolve the problem of electricity supply. A large part of the new buildings for the Disabled Trade School / Home in Eikwe /Ghana has been completed. Thanks for the financial support of the BMZ, the German Hit Foundation and many other supporters many physically disabled children and youth can receive vocational training for their future income and life. The Eye specialist working at the Eye Clinic in Ouagadougou / Burkina Faso is being financed by the government of Burkina Faso, thus sustainability has been ensured. We supported the institution in renovating / replacing parts of the infrastructure which were destroyed by floods. The institution is working independently and would need assistance as and when it becomes necessary. The constructional works at the new Eye Care Centre in Fada N'Gourma / Burkina Faso are almost completed. Currently the necessary equipment are being purchased. Our partner "Licht für die Welt” with our financial assistance will be taking care of the medical staffing. After the heavy floods, donations of foodstuff and medical supplies in the Dioceses of Fada helped in fighting hunger and poverty. A request has been made for the development of an Eye Care Centre in Mopti / Mali as per the example in Diébougou. The application for the financial subsidy is currently with the BMZ. The Clinic including its Eye Care Department in Maradi / Niger has been completed and is now waiting the completion of the training of local personnel to be financed by aa/D. The Clinic in Atakpamé / Togo is fully working. Due to the many patients and demands for health care it has become necessary to provide accommodation for on call medical staff during the night. The application for financial subsidy is with the BMZ.
2005	africa action / Deutschland e.V. has now contact to project partners in 10 African countries. The Mother Ecclesiae School & Community Clinic in Sokode / Ghana enters into a partnership with Ghana Kindernothilfe e.V. in Dortmund and with a secondary school in Kerpen. For the advisory center for parents of disabled children Sokode / Ghana a new project agreement is determined for another period of two years. In Burkina Faso the ophthalmic clinic in Ouagadougou is still supported and further development in Diébougou is pushed on. For prophylaxis a school examination program is started. Within this program the eyes of all second-graders in the region are examined and vitamin-A-capsules are handed out. A 3-year co-operation contract is concluded. Several optician and oculist missions take place in Burkina Faso and Cameroon. The extensive collections of eyeglasses are cut out for the benefit of the domestic production. The new focus on training of personnel and supply of real assets on-site as far as possible forms a milestone. The trust "Weiter Sehen" donates benefits for apprenticeship. africa action / Deutschland e.V. and "Eine Welt Laden” move to Südweststrasse in the middle of Bergheim. Christine Knoop is appointed vice-president and makes a decisive contribution to the reformation of the homepage with a new newsletter.
2004	In Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso) the Père Goarnisson ophthalmic clinic is inaugurated and furnished with a pharmaceutical storage. A mobile ophthalmic clinic is established and employed in Burkina Faso. In Sokode (Ghana) a school- and village-clinic, in Viepe-Aflao (Ghana) a garage for the training of teenagers is built and furnished. The Optical Technician Training Institute (OTTI) in Oyoko (Ghana) is handed over to the Ghanaian Ministry of Health. Klaus Jahn is appointed president, Ferdinand Reinke is named vice-president.
2003	Ghana Action is renamed as africa action / Deutschland e.V. (aa/D) and the statutes are changed. In Akwatia (Ghana) and Nkongsamba (Cameroon) the construction of ophthalmic clinics and optical workshops is supported. In Sokode (Ghana) a school- and village-clinic is built, in Diébougou (Burkina Faso) the eye center is inaugurated and a mobile ophthalmic clinic is put into service. In Oyoko (Ghana) the first training course for optical technicians is finished successfully. The campaign has been persisting for 20 years. Martin J. Wilde is appointed president, Walter J. Zielniok is named honorary president.
2002	In Fodome-Helu und Nyagbo (Ghana) village-clinics and in Hohoe (Ghana) a school-clinic is built. In Calavi (Benin) a health center is supported. In co-operation with the "Care & Concern Action Group" an information center for parents of disabled children is established in Sokode (Ghana). In Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso) the Père Goarnisson ophthalmic clinic (the eldest ophthalmic clinic in Sahelzone) is renovated and completely new furnished with a laboratory and an optical workshop. In Kpando (Ghana) a mobile team for combating blindness is arranged. The trust "WEITER SEHEN" ("seeing more") is founded for training domestic specialists; Dr. Jürgen Rüttgers MdL (minister of the German parliament) is appointed curatorship president.
2001	In a center for disabled persons in Diébougou (Burkina Faso) an ophthalmic clinic and an optical workshop are built and furnished with the assistance of the Ministry for Economic Co-operation and Development (BMZ). Two optician trainees start their apprenticeship in Oyoko (Ghana). The campaign "Augenlicht” ("eyesight") to prevent blindness is continued.
2000	In co-operation with the Swiss Red Cross and the Westphalia children's village Oyoko GA/D organises a state-approved apprenticeship for optical technicians in Ghana and establishes a trainee workshop. The master optician Gabriele Plasa takes up her work as a training manager. The first group of 20 students is trained. The campaign "Augenlicht” ("eyesight”) is continued. In Likpe-Bakua (Ghana) the third youth-workshop is established with the assistance of the Ministry for Economic Co-operation and Development (BMZ).
1999	Specialists from different areas place themselves voluntarily at GA/D's disposal as consultants. The service point for optical and ophthalmic demands (SOOB) takes up its function. Oculists and opticians are invited for short-term missions. Special education teachers and social education workers are placed in semester-internships in Ghana.
1998	True to the motto "Schenk einem Blinden das Augenlicht” ("give eyesight to a blind man") GA/D engages in the global campaign for combating eye cataract. In Bolgatanga (Ghana) a new optical workshop and in a school for the deaf in Jamasi (Ghana) a school-clinic is established.
1997	Walter J. Zielniok receives the 1. Class Federal Cross of Merit awarded by the Federal President and handed over by the District Administrator for the Erft-county. With the assistance of BMZ youth-workshops in Fodome-Helu and Gbi-Atabu (Ghana) are supported to combat migration into cities.
1997	Change of names and statutes / expansion of the board: GHANA ACTION / Deutschland e.V. (GA/D) / purpose of the association: help for blind and other disabled persons in Africa.
1994	For the first time the German Central Institute for Social Issues in Berlin (DZI) recommends GA as eligible and awards the Seal-of-Approval to deserving charities to GA.
1993	GA establishes the first ophthalmic clinic in the government-controlled hospital in Keta (Ghana). Ophthalmic clinics in Battor, Dodi-Papase and Effiduase-Oyoko (all in Ghana) follow. Further ophthalmic clinics in Ethiopia and Tanzania are supported.
1986	Ghana Action e.V. (GA) is registered at the Local Court in Bergheim (VR 413) and is approved as charitable and beneficent by the fiscal authorities. President: Walter J. Zielniok, vice-president: Willi Biergans †, treasurer: Gerhard Zimmer † In the following a number of community-, school- and youth-partnerships in Münster, Dortmund, Lippstadt, Frechen, Bergheim, Schwerte and Essen are established. Individuals merge into activity- or partner-groups for project-partnerships and sponsor charitable projects. In the following years not only projects in the focus country Ghana are supported but also smaller projects in Ethiopia, Angola, Tanzania, Sambia, Uganda and Niger.
1983	Walter J. Zielniok visits Ghana and in co-operation with Father Cramers and after a trans-Sahara-trip he transfers two charity-cars to the optical workshop and to a convent of African nuns. The first activities of the association commence.
1980	In Bergheim, Elsdorf, Wuppertal and other cities a circle of friends start to collect optical material and used eyeglasses to support NEW LOOK Optical Works.
1979	In Keta-Dzelukope (Ghana) the Dutch Africa-missionary P. Joseph Cramers SMA founds the first charitable optical workshop on Ghana (NEW LOOK Optical Works) which solely employs African people.

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