An estimated 6,000 nurses left in 2024 for roles in countries including the US, UK, Canada, and Australia. Three nurses explain what made them decide to leave or stay

When Bright Ansah, a nursing officer in Accra, goes searching for colleagues who have failed to show up for a shift at the overstretched hospital where he works, he knows where to look. “When you see ‘In God we trust’ on their WhatsApp status, that’s when you know they’re already in the US,” he says.

The motto of the US has been co-opted by Ghanaian medical professionals who are leaving the west African nation in droves. Many believe their faith has finally been rewarded when, after years of planning, they reach the promised land of the well-equipped, well-resourced hospitals of the US.

Tau Rodriguez-Fairplay, five, taken in February by mother’s former spouse, is believed to be in town hit by hurricane

A UK-based mother whose five-year old daughter was abducted and taken to Jamaica is appealing for help to locate the missing child. Tau Rodriguez-Fairplay is believed to have been hidden in the town of Black River, which was devastated by Hurricane Melissa in October.

Her mother, Samar Rodriguez, a London School of Economics lecturer in human rights and gender, said Tau had been missing since early February.