Irish Priest Decorated By Rawlings, Lauded By Lepers

For lepers in Ghana, especially in Accra, the capital, 54-year-old Irish born catholic priest, the Reverend Father Andrew Campbell, is their hero, friend and saviour.

"Father Campbell is a very good man. He treats us with dignity," said Seth Agyekum, a 76-year-old inmate of the Weija Cured Leprosy Patients Rehabilitation Centre just outside the heart of Ghana's capital

"Look at the buildings which are being painted. It is the work of Father Campbell. They have free food and do not pay water and electricity bills. They have clothes," added David Mensah, warden of the centre.

Indeed, father Campbell's work has been appreciated even by former President Jerry Rawlings who decorated him with one of Ghana's highest honours, Grand medal Honorary Division this month (January).

Not only lepers appreciate Father Campbell, but health workers and members of society do as well.

Father Campbell preaches the integration of lepers into society and their treatment with dignity.

He is horrified that lepers are treated like third class citizens, and describes the act "a terrible thing".

"These people have rights and have to be taken care of," he told PANA.

"These people have to be treated with dignity. The notion that once a leper always a leper is not true," he said.

Father Campbell, an executive member of the Leprosy Aid Committee formed 10 years ago, said the old Biblical notion that lepers should be kept well of town and bells put around them to announce their arrival so that the rest of society avoids them must not hold true today.

Born in Dublin, Ireland, on 27 March, 1946, he attended Kindergaten at Sisters of Charity School and de la Salle Primary School, both in Dublin.

"My parents could not afford to send me to secondary school, so at the age of 13 years, I worked as a van delivery boy," he said.

Father Campbell said he subsequently saved enough money and entered secondary school.

He studied philosophy and theology and through hard work and dedication, obtained his bachelor of Divinity degree from St. Patrick's College in the United Kingdom in October 1970.

In December 1970, he was ordained into the Catholic Priesthood.

Father Campbell arrived in Ghana in October 1971 as a Missionary Priest in the Society of the Divine Word and has worked in several parishes - Osu, Holy Spirit Cathedral, Sacred Heart, all in Accra.

His activities are not only limited to the area of rehabilitating lepers.

In 1978, he opened the sacred Heart Paris Middle School in Accra and two years later, founded and opened the Sacred Heart Vocational Institute for poor and needy students in Accra Central.

Father Campbell said that over 1,500 needy students have passed through the school.

He added that through the help of benefactors and friends, he has sponsored 140 needy and poor students each year through primary, junior secondary school, senior secondary school and the university.

His work is also serving the ageing, as he is a founding member of Help Age Ghana, an NGO that cares for old people.

Father Campbell has worked tirelessly, through the Leper's Aid Committee to bring happiness to lepers.

Every year, he holds an awards night where individuals and organisations that have helped the committee are honoured.

"So far, we have raised 60 million cedis for lepers in Ghana," he said in one of such meets.

"As Christians, our wealth must be the poor. When you see them at the centre they are happy. They have to be treated with dignity."

Father Campbell always underscores the need to integrate lepers into society.

That may be a long time away, but his target would be achieved quicker once the disease is eradicated in Ghana.