The Chiropractic and Wellness Centres (CWC) has provided free chiropractic care worth thousands of cedis to over two thousand people in the Western, Ashanti and Greater Accra Regions of Ghana at its 2010 Thanksgiving Chiropractic Mission. The Thanksgiving Chiropractic Mission is organized annually by CWC as part of its social responsibilities to the Ghanaian society. Though open to the general public, the Thanksgiving Chiropractic Mission is targeted at people who cannot afford chiropractic care. The beneficiaries of this year's programme were orphanages, pupils and teachers of basic schools, security services, church groups, corporate organisations and the general public. Volunteer doctors of chiropractic around the world joined their counterparts at Chiropractic and Wellness Centres to provide the free healthcare. Beneficiaries were given chiropractic adjustment after they had been taken through comprehensive and well-researched health and wellness coaching by health coaches. Chiropractic is a corrective care of the spinal column, discs, related nerves and bones without drugs or surgery. It involves the art and science of adjusting misaligned joints of the body, especially the spine. This reduces spinal nerve stress and promotes health by boosting the immune system of the body to heal itself and fight diseases. Speaking at the programme in Kumasi, the President of the Chiropractic for the World Foundation, Dr. Robert Champagne, lauded the CEO and founder of the Chiropractic and Wellness Centres, Dr. Marcus Manns for the initiative. "Dr. Marcus is an inspiration to many of us. What he's been able to do in Ghana and elsewhere is awesome," he noted. Dr. Champagne said with right feeding and health habits, Ghanaians should be able to live longer than countries such as Canada, where he practiced as Africa, and for that matter, Ghana was less exposed to industrial pollution and chemical foods. Dr. Marcus Manns expressed satisfaction that the mission trip, which was in its third year, was getting bigger. He said it was his desire to lead as many Ghanaians as possible towards wellness and the Thanksgiving Chiropractic Mission offered him the opportunity to reach out and touch as many lives as possible. "It is an opportunity to thank Ghanaians for offering me the platform to serve them and also to spread the wellness message," Dr. Marcus said. Some beneficiaries of the programme expressed their satisfaction with the service they had received. Supt. John Naami of the Takoradi Railway and Ports division of the Ghana Police Service, who led a team of police personnel to receive the free care, said he was ready to recommend chiropractic to anyone. "This is my first time of receiving chiropractic care and I'm quite pleased with what I have seen and experienced. And I think chiropractic is good for everybody," he noted. Sarah Edith Coffie, Director and midwife at the Stratford Healthcare Maternity in Kojokrom near Secondi, shared her experience about chiropractic at the programme in Takoradi. She revealed that she could not stand upright due to severe waist and back pain until she received chiropractic care. She also said her four-year old headache had stopped when she visited the centre a few months ago. "Since December last year I could not supervise any delivery due to my ill-health until three days ago. Chiropractic has really helped me, and I recommend it for everybody," she concluded. Credit: Manasseh Azure Awuni.