HERBAL MEDICINE STUDY TOUR

10 Days Special Herbal Medicine Group Study Tour Program to Ghana, West Africa

This special study program is intended to give students and professors who are studying or teaching biology, biochemistry, chemistry, taxonomy, ethnobiology of natural products from plants, pharmacology, herbalists, nutritionists and students and practitioners of complementary and alternative medicine a unique exposure to an array of tropical medicinal plants and the application of traditional medicine practices in the prevention and treatment of a variety of diseases.

*The program is also designed for those patients who have consulted or are consulting conventional doctors for the treatment of Parkinson’s and Alzheimer's diseases, epilepsy, stroke, hypertension, cardiovascular disorders, breast, cervical and prostrate cancers, infertility, erectile dysfunctions, etc but have had no success and would like to try out complementary and alternative healing methods.

Day 1

On arrival in Accra, Ghana (usually in the evenings), you will be met at the airport and transferred to Fiesta Royale Hotel for dinner and overnight.

Day 2

After breakfast, you will tour the facilities of the Natural Healing Centre operated by Dr. Gregory Lugu-Zuri, a practicing Naturopathic Doctor at Abossey Okai, Accra. This Healing center specializes in the treatment of Parkinson’s and Alzheimer's diseases, epilepsy, stroke, hypertension, cardiovascular disorders, breast, cervical and prostrate cancers, infertility, erectile dysfunctions, etc by the use of herbal medicine plus indigenous and modern scientific technologies. Prior appointment is essential.

Depart after lunch, to Akropong Mampong in the Eastern Region of Ghana. Check into Cozy Ridge Hotel in Mamfe or Little Acre Hotel in Aburi, to secure your personal effects.

Transfer to the Centre for Scientific Research into Plant Medicine, (a World Health Organization Collaborating Centre), for a guided tour of its facilities. You will then settle down for a pre-arranged seminar on herbal medicine, touching on Traditional Medicine Practice Law and Food and Drug Board Law, microbiology, medicinal plants of Ghana, preparation and packaging of herbal products, identification of plant family and genera.

Return to your hotel for dinner and overnight.

Day 3

After breakfast, you will be transferred from your hotel to the Centre for Scientific Research into Plant Medicine, to conclude the pre-arranged seminar on herbal medicine. Today’s program will cover chemistry of medicinal plants, basic principles in phytochemistry, extract, purification and isolation of plant constituents, cultivation, herbal formulations, processing and storage of plant materials, basic pharmacology, toxicological screening methods, etc. Certificates will be awarded. There will be dinner and overnight at Mampong.

Day 4

After an early morning breakfast, you will embark on a four-hour journey to Kumasi, the golden capital of the legendary Ashanti Kingdom. After check in at Miklin Hotel, to secure your personal effects, you will go on a tour of the city of Kumasi, visiting historic, cultural and interesting places, including Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital.

Return to the hotel for dinner and overnight.

Day 5

After breakfast, you will be transferred to the campus of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science & Technology for 4 hours pre-arranged lectures on traditional medicine. The theme of these lectures is “Modernization of Traditional Medicine Practice: The KNUST Experience”. This study will cover the history of Traditional Medicine in Ghana; background of the KNUST’s Herbal Medicine programme; and the problems and prospects of Traditional Medicine Practice in Ghana. Certificates will be awarded.

From here visit a few Ashanti craft villages to observe craftsmen at work and to purchase souvenir gift items from the wide assortment of handicrafts on sale. Ahwiaa - specialising in woodcarvings such as stools and fertility dolls; Ntonso - where the primary activity is the weaving of Adinkra mourning clothe and tie-and-dye and finally to Bonwire, home of the famous Kente clothe.

Return to your hotel for dinner and overnight.

Day 6

After breakfast, you will depart to Amen Scientific Hospital which is operated by Dr. Amin Bonsu, a practicing Naturopathic Doctor in Suame, Kumasi. This Hospital specializes in the treatment of various diseases like epilepsy, stroke, hypertension, cardiovascular disorders, erectile dysfunctions, breast, cervical and prostrate cancers, etc by the use of herbal medicine plus indigenous and modern scientific technologies. Prior appointment is essential.

Continue to Tepa, Ahafo-Ano North District in the Ashanti Region of Ghana. Check into Rex Hotel for refreshment and proceed to the 120 acres Medicinal Farm of Africa First located at Kwafo Krom, Tepa-Marbang border for a study tour of its various medicinal plants.

This project is networking with local traditional herbal healers and other tribal farmers throughout the length and breadth of Ghana and beyond with the objective of applying both local indigenous knowledge and scientific technology for the propagation, cultivation, processing, reformulation of traditional herbal products into capsules, tablets, herbal infusions/teas, tinctures, syrups, organic medicinal plants, food and natural product chemistry for exportation and marketing.

Through the assistance of interpreters, you will receive lectures from indigenous healers on traditional medicine, with focus on history, identification, values, potentials, methods and uses of an array of medicinal plants for the provision of primary healthcare and for disease prevention, treatment and nutritional purposes.

Return to Rexco Hotel for dinner and overnight.

Day 7

After breakfast, you will depart to Tepa Medicinal Farm to continue the study of medicinal plants and their role in providing healthcare in the communities with the assistance of indigenous healers.

Today marks the last day of your tour to Tepa and so you may take the opportunity to interact with the local people to learn about their culture, challenges and aspirations and even volunteer assistance in whichever way to help the growth of the community.

You will also tour the Tepa District Hospital which is the only hospital in this region of Ghana, serving a population of about 890,000 people, mainly peasant farmers and a few Government workers. The hospital was established on 31st May, 1974 by the Ghana Cocoa Board to treat its staff and local farmers. Presently, the hospital has a 56 bed capacity for the accident and emergency, general wards and the maternity ward. It has a theatre, laboratory, administration and mortuary block. There are three consulting rooms and also a dispensary room. It continues to provide basic medical services for the ever-growing population of this area and its surroundings.

You will return to Rexco Hotel for dinner and overnight.

Day 8

After early morning breakfast, you will be transferred to the Central Region of Ghana to commence a memorable historical tour, which will unfold to you a history whose impact has been and is still felt beyond the shores of Ghana. Cape Coast, the administrative seat of this region, was the capital of Ghana under British colonial rule.

On arrival, proceed to the Cape Coast Slave Castle for a guided study tour of the different parts of this gigantic ancient fort. The study tour will include a visit to the airless and lightless vaulted cellars into which as many as 1,000 slaves were packed during the one to two-month waiting period prior to shipment abroad. An underground passage leads from the cellars to the beach, where slave ships put in for the loading of their human cargo. The main courtyard contains three tombs. One contains the remains of a slave who succeeded in obtaining higher education overseas and returned to Ghana with numerous academic honors.

Originally christened by the Portuguese as Cabo Corso, it was at this Castle, now UNESCO World Heritage Monument, during the period of the opening of the celebrated African trade route to India in the fifteenth century, that the Portuguese, first established themselves on the Gold Coast and pursued commercial relations with the Fanti population. Possession of Cape Coast Castle was fought over by different European adventurers and traders, because of its strategic importance. The British were the last occupiers of this place, which served as the first capital of the former British Gold Coast colony.

The West African Historical Museum located in the Castle, has permanent collections of engravings, which represent Ghana’s coastal forts down through the centuries. Another exhibition retraces the history of the slave trade, and displays everyday objects and furniture used by the European traders along the coast. Other items of interest include swords, firearms, chests, cabinets and a number of objects such as chieftains’ stools, Fanti funeral drums and clay pipes made by natives during the same period.

From here, you will check into Elmina Beach Resort to secure your luggage and for lunch. Afterwards, you will go on a guided study tour of Elmina Slave Castle (also UNESCO’s World Heritage Monument).

Transformed into a museum, Elmina Castle is one of the best preserved of all of the coastal fortifications constructed by the Europeans from the fifteen to the nineteenth century. It remains the irreplaceable sourvenir of the first Portuguese navigators, and the living embodiment of the period of trade and commercial exchange between Europe and Africa in the centuries that followed.

This Castle served not only as a warehouse for stocking the riches of West Africa prior to their exportation to Europe, but also as a prison, and holding pen for the human cargoes which awaited shipment to the plantations of the New world.

You will have overnight at your hotel.

Day 9

After early morning breakfast, depart for Accra for check in at Fiesta Royale Hotel. After refreshment, go on tour of Accra city including the Kwame Nkrumah Mausoleum and Park, National Museum and W.E.B. Du Bois Centre for Pan Africanism. Drive past the Independence Arch and Black Star Square - Accra’s ceremonial grounds. View in the distance Christiansborg Castle, office of the President of Ghana. Your last stop on tour will be the Arts and Crafts market where you may try out your bargaining skills on the local vendors.

There will be farewell dinner at a local restaurant and return to the hotel for overnight.

Day 10

After breakfast, you will be on your own to do last minute shopping and packing. Transfer to the airport for departure. B.L.

End of program.

*CAVEAT: The decision to include Dr. Gregory Lugu-Zuri of Natural Healing Centre and Dr. Amin Bonsu of Amen Scientific Hospital in this program is specifically based upon their presentations and exhibitions on the successes of their alternative medical practices at our 2nd Global Summit on HIV/AIDS, Traditional Medicine and Indigenous Knowledge held in Ghana on March 10-14, 2008. See relevant report at http://www.africa-first.com

Accordingly, Africa First, LLC does not make any guaranties that patients seeking treatment from them under this program will be satisfied by these doctors nor does Africa First, LLC take responsibility for any claims for any injuries, damages or death arising as a result.