John's Story In January of 2003, a young John Asare arrived at SUNY Plattsburgh in the United States to begin his college education. John had a single aim: to become a physician and return home to Ghana and serve the underserved. John’s early months in the United States were rocky. He faced many challenges and uncertainties about meeting his college’s tuition and other obligations. Though sometimes discouraged, he never gave up on his goal.
John met Nancy Racette at the SUNY Student government office. Nancy was touched by John’s story, and coordinated with Rev. John Yonkovig of St. Peter’s Church of Plattsburgh. The financial, moral and family support provided by Nancy, her family and Rev. John brought stability to John’s stay in Plattsburgh.
After graduating from SUNY, John traveled to the Caribbean to attend Ross University (Basic Sciences) and Caribbean Medical University (Clinical) Sciences for his Doctor of Medicine (MD) degree. John then completed a two year post-graduate Internal Medicine program in Chicago. After Chicago, John moved to London, UK and on March 30th, 2019, he finished his residency in Sports Cardiology and Inherited Cardiac Diseases at St. Georges Hospital in London.
John will return to Ghana, where he and his wife Janet are constructing a 40-bed community hospital located at Mantukwa, in the Bono Region of Ghana. This hospital is expected to serve people of Mantukwa and its surrounding villages. It is also expected to extend to serve people of Suma Ahenkro traditional area through its mobile clinic services. John and Janet are working together to build the Mantukwa Medical Center. (View Latest News to see our progress.)
Janet's Story Janet is the first from her family to pursue education beyond high school. As a young girl, Janet had to look beyond her immediate family for encourageent in her educational aspirations. With the support of friends and the dedicated clergy at Sacred Heart Parish she made her way through basic, high school and medical school.
Janet earned her medical degree from the University for Development Studies, with a curriculum focused on rural and community medicine. Janet is now completing a program in Ophthalmology at Moorfields Eye Hospital of the University College of London, after which she will work with her husband to complete and operate the medical center at Mantukwa, Ghana.