Takoradi

So I haven’t had much to blog about lately since I’ve been exhausted from community work in Takoradi. This week we have consistently screened over 150 patients each day. We open are clinics at 8am and stay until the people stop coming. Everyday this week people have been lined up waiting for us when we arrive. It's still a bit odd for me to think about how much these people respect us. They arrive early and patiently wait for us.  We probably even saved one women’s life. She was complaining about abdominal pain, shortness of breath, her blood pressure was sky high, and her feet were severally swollen. Thankfully James recognized her symptoms. Dr. Anderson made a call ahead to the hospital and our driver with James rushed her to the hospital. She was having a heart attack with classic symptoms for women. (FYI men and women have VERY different heart-attack symptoms.) We have not heard from this lady, so we are assuming she is okay. Also yesterday I got measured for a dress. We are attending Dr. Anderson’s grandfather’s funeral on Friday and I needed a black dress. So with Claire I went to the market and bought the fabric. We then took it to the seamstress to get the dress made. The entire dress was only 23 cedis. As many of you know I’m not much for shopping so picking out a pattern for the dress and then the fabric was a bit overwhelming. I’m very glad Claire knew exactly where to take Emily and me, otherwise I would have been completely lost. I’ll keep you posted on how the dress turns out. 

Random Things

While in Ghana I’ve seen my fair share of random things that haven’t really fit into any of my blog posts. So here’s a list of them

1.     I saw my first albino baby. I was confused as to why this black mother was breast-feeding this white baby. Then we realized that he must be albino.

2.     Mother’s breast-feed everywhere in the complete open from Church to the market.

3.     One little boy at the immunization clinic had on Obama underwear. The Ghanaian’s LOVE Obama. They have Obama everything even a hotel and a college.

4.     Goats, sheep, and chickens roam everywhere.

5.     A Nigerian movie. It was basically a Lifetime movie with lower quality acting. We watched it with Jenifer – one of the older sister’s that lives with us.

6.     Men urinating anywhere and everywhere. With signs that read “Don’t urinate here.”

7.      Water comes in pouches not bottles.

8.     Ghanaian people are very early people. By 5:30 everyone is awake. This is beginning to rub off on me and the other girls. We had the opportunity to sleep-in today and we were all wide-awake by 6:15.

9.     Dogs here are scared of white people. The dog, Peace, that lives with us runs frantically away from everyone except Tyra.

10.   The power gets turned off on purpose during storms. It saves the power company money since less damage occurs. 

Canopy Walk

Yesterday was one of my favorite days so far in Ghana. We went for the canopy walk in the rainforest  at Kakum National Park. It was AWESOME. You walk on rope suspension bridges from tree to tree. The bridge is made of a ladder with a wooded board over the ladder with nets on both sides. There were 7 bridges in total suspended about 130 feet above the ground.   We were above some of the treetops. I LOVED it. Only 4 of these specific bridges have ever been constructed – one here in Ghana, Malaysia, China, and Peru. If you ever make it to Ghana I highly recommend visiting this park. We had fun just walking through the rainforest. I saw the largest bamboo tree I’ve ever seen. Unfortunately we didn’t see any animals, but if I ever return I want to stay in one of the tree houses over night. Most of the jungle animals like leopards are nocturnal so they lead tours at night from these tree houses deep in the forest. 

Update on Mercy

We were unsuccessful in getting the IV started. With severe malnourished children getting an IV started is very difficult. Our Pedisure shipment still hasn’t arrived, but we were able to give Mercy Gatorade and some soup with fish protein powder. Although some food is better than nothing Mercy still needs a lot of care. The dietician tried getting a feeding tube started, but Mercy kept pulling it out. I’m not sure I’d like someone trying to put a tube up my nose and down my throat either without being sedated. Please continue to pray for this little girl. She is truly alone in this world. Her father stopped by today and greeted Mercy with  “I’d thought you would be dead by now.” What a horrible thing to say to your daughter who is dying – a daughter you neglected. I have never been more thankful for our child protection services in the US. This horrible father, if he even deserves this title, would have been arrested for child abuse and Mercy would at least be put into foster care. (I know our foster care system is far from perfect, but it by far surpasses the system here in Ghana.) Here since the father refuses to give up his rights and refuses to care for Mercy she is stuck in the hospital where the nurses have begun giving up on her. Mercy’s only hope is a miracle. She needs someone to care for her, encourage her to eat, take her HIV medication, and love her. Please keep Mercy in your prayers. We are only at the children’s hospital for tomorrow then we return to running community clinics.  Dr. Anderson knows the hospital’s dietician so I’ll be following Mercy’s story closely. 

Mercy

            We visited the only children’s hospital in Ghana today. My heart broke as we walked into the malnourished floor. I couldn’t even hold back the tears. The children were broken. Some of them were even alone. One little girl named Mercy has been in the hospital for over 2 months. Mercy is 14, HIV positive, alone, and severely malnourished. She looked to be about 4 or 5. Her mom is deceased and her father rarely comes to check on her. Mercy is too weak to even walk, so she sits with her diaper on in a crib made for a baby. I asked the one dietician for the entire hospital why Mercy wasn’t gaining weight. Mercy has only gained 2/10^ths of kilo in 2 months. The dietician told me that the HIV medication upsets the stomach and many children begin refusing food. The hospital doesn’t have the resources for better medication or more food options. Apparently in the US most HIV positive children are given Pediasure with their HIV medications and this combination is easier on the children’s tummy. Here Pediasure is basically nonexistent. We have a shipment of Pediasure coming from the US, but it hasn’t arrived yet. After seeing Mercy and asking many questions I went and explained everything to Dr. Anderson. He agreed that she needs an IV. We brought IV supplies with us since here in Ghana only the wealthy get IVs. We had to leave the hospital before we could find one of 8 doctors for the entire children’s hospital to ask about getting the IV started. So tomorrow Mercy will hopefully be receiving IV fluids and food.  This little girt is terribly sick. With out HIV medications and food Mercy will likely die. Unfortunately, Mercy isn’t the only child in this situation. Most HIV positive children face similar fates. Tomorrow we are helping run the HIV clinic at the children’s hospital. We will counsel the parents on how to feed the children with the antiretroviral medication. 

Washing Clothes

       So after two weeks I caved in and decided it was time to wash clothes. Here that means washing them by hand and hanging them on the clothesline. After working the clinic and eating lunch I mentioned that I was going to wash clothes. The boys immediately asked if they could join me. Of course I said yes and headed to grab my clothes and laundry soap. I asked Claire (one of the sisters that lives at the house) where we could get the washbasin, she went and got it for us and we headed outside to wash our clothes. Explaining how to hand wash clothes to two clueless college boys when I barely know how to was an epic failure. After about 5 minutes another sister, Jennifer, came out and said, “Just wash your underwear. I’ll do the rest tomorrow. You look like your suffering.”  This was only after the family watched from the kitchen hysterically laughing. I’m glad I could be someone’s entertainment!

Favorite Things

It has come to my attention that I haven’t really shared my favorite things about Ghana. So here's a few. 

1.     The mangos. They are triple the size of American mangos and much sweeter.

2.     The friends I’ve made here. With only 5 students we have bonded quickly.

3.     The family we are living with. They have graciously invited us into their home for 4 of the 6 weeks we are here. The mom is dr. Anderson’s sister. They feed us twice a day and even hand wash our clothes. (Please read the next post.)

4.     Getting to improve the quality of the people’s health care. I really enjoy screening the people here. 

5.     The children that light up when you give them a mint.

6.     My cell phone. If you ever travel to Ghana, Vodafone works everywhere. Even in the most remote villages. Their internet card also works everywhere. Hints the reason I am able to update this blog so often.

7.     The cheap prices here. One American dollar equals about 1.7 Ghana Cedis.

8.     The awesome views from our home. We are staying in the mountains about 30 miles outside the capital. It is much safer and very clean compared to the capital.

9.     Milo. It’s a type of hot chocolate the Ghanaians drink every morning. Its not as sweet as American hot chocolate and its caffeine free. It’s my coffee substitute while I’m here.