Osei Kwado Boateng

Founder, OKB Hope Foundation
Somerset, New Jersey

For Osei Kwado Boateng, the loss of his grandmother and aunt to preventable and treatable diseases left a profound mark on his life’s purpose.

During his sophomore year at Cornell University, his grandmother suffered a stroke due to high blood pressure after delays in seeing a doctor. Two years later, his aunt died from diabetic shock for a similar reason.

Boateng, 29, says it all comes down to access to proper health care. “All my grandmother and aunt needed was access to a health care provider and even early screening,” Boateng told theGrio. “If they had either, their diseases would’ve been easily treated.”

The average life expectancy in Ghana is 66 years old, based on 2019 estimates from the World Health Organization. Many Ghanaians, Boateng said, lose their lives to treatable or preventable conditions like malaria, hypertension and diabetes.

Through his nonprofit, OKB Hope Foundation, Boateng has changed that course by delivering health care and education to the most remote and rural Ghanaian communities. Each week, Boateng and his medical team set out in a van converted into a health clinic, offering free routine checkups, basic lab work and prescribed medications.

His team also recruits and trains local volunteers to serve as health advocates. These advocates conduct daily checks on vitals like blood pressure and glucose levels, supplementing his team’s efforts and providing timely information.

Since its launch, Boateng says his team has served more than 6,000 Ghanaians across more than 60 rural communities. “We’re empowering people to be proactive about their health.”