Industry in Ghana

Some of the CAT equipment we've seen in Ghana.

Men shoveling sand into a truck at Elmina.

Logging in Ghana! We saw quite a few log trucks on the road heading west near Cape Coast (This one's for you Dad!).

Adjustments to Ghanaian Health Care

I have spent two weeks on the Yeboah Ward now - which is the maternity/labor and delivery unit. It has taken a bit to get used to the unit and the staff, as everything is so different, but am beginning to feel much more comfortable. I have been able to watch several caesarean sections and then assist the midwife with the infant care and treatment after. This has been an amazing experience, as I feel like I am finally able to do something hands-on. I have also been getting to know the midwives and doctors! They are such great sources of knowledge and experience. And furthermore the cases we see are so different than from what one would see in Canada, some with diagnoses that I’ve only ever read about in text books.

While things have gone fairly well, my last shift on Thursday was particularly difficult. A patient was rushed in for an emergency c-section, which did not go as planned. To make a long story short, the infant and the mother were not in very good condition, each being taken to the NICU and ICU. That experience left me feeling overwhelmed and powerless. The frustrating thing was that although they had all the expertise and knowledge there (with anesthetists, surgeons, midwives and nurses), they did not have the resources needed. It was impossible to find the right size of equipment to intubate the infant - and in fact they never found it. Intubation had to be done with an ET tube far too large for a neonate and the oxygen hose had a leak in it making me wonder if it was even effective.

I wonder how many lives suffer and are lost due to this lack of resources. I think back to Canadian health centers, where every size of resuscitation equipment is neatly color-coded and ready, within reach. The disparities are enormous. I am beginning to realize that while Ghanaian health care does not lack any knowledge or skill, it is extremely limited by the scarcity of resources. Nurses and midwives often tell me, “We are doing our best”… “We do it right here.” At first I had a difficult time believing this as I watched a procedure which should be sterile become contaminated because the midwife could not change her sterile gloves. Now I am gaining a different perspective…and am seeing how much I have to learn from this country.

Next week I was supposed to switch to the Trauma Emergency Ward, but am choosing to stay at Yeboah for at least two more days with hopes of seeing a few normal deliveries (I’ve only seen one thus far). Of course all of the deliveries occur right before or after I am on shift!

A weekend in the country…

Last weekend we left Accra for the first time. Our seminar for last Friday was to go to Elmina to tour the Elmina castle. This castle was built in 1482 by the Portuguese and was used as a trade center for ivory and gold and later for slaves. The Dutch took it over in 1637 and continued this horrendous practice. The tour was an eye-opening experience. Sobering, as we walked through the rooms where hundreds of men and women were held in horrific conditions and then finally through the “Door of no Return” where the captives were marched single file in chains out to waiting ships. This gives a new meaning to the freedom that we can have, both physically and spiritually.

“But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reaps leads to holiness, and the result eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 6:22-23

The busy harbor in Elmina.

After seminar at the castle we all crammed into a tro-tro, finally breaking a record in the game of ‘How Many People Can we Fit in a Tro-Tro?’!! We fit 25 in 19 passenger tro, plus a few large packs and a couple buckets of fish! Ha - if only you could have smelled that tro! That afternoon we had dinner at Hans Cottage Botel, where we sat out on a boardwalk with crocodiles swimming in the water next to us. Really there were only two crocodiles, but it was still exciting! I heard it was possible to sit on the back of a crocodile…but I didn’t get around to it (to Owen’s disappointment I’m sure)! We stayed the rest of the weekend at Bucua Beach, sleeping in little thatch huts with the waves crashing on the shore a few hundred feet away!

Watch out for those crocs Laurie!!

The huts at the Alaska. And yes there is an Alaska in Ghana!

Our view of Bucua Beach!

Most of Saturday was spent on the beach, sun-tanning and reading. But by far, my highlight of the day was renting a sea-doo with Erin. We almost backed out as the price was outrageous, but in the end couldn’t resist. I have definitely been going through some kind of motor-withdrawal!! We spent about 25 minutes out on the ocean…soooo much fun. Thankfully (sorry again Owen) I don’t have any shark stories to tell! I also didn’t tell Erin I had never even been on a sea-doo, let alone on the ocean until after we were done! She thinks I’m crazier than before. Ha!

Sea-dooing with Erin! Yes we did actually go on the ocean!

Waiting for our meal...

Daniel preparing fresh lobster!

That night we had a $2 lobster dinner at Daniel’s Pancake House. This may sound sketchy but it was an absolutely amazing dinner. The boat was late getting in, so Daniel showed us our lobster before he prepared it and I was then able to watch as he boiled them in a pot on this tiny fire box - no electricity. As we waited we visited with two young boys; what a delight, how precious they are! After dinner, we finished our evening on the rooftop of a hotel, listening to a jazz band and met our first fellow Albertans.

Nana in front of his restaurant. Nana means 'chief.'

Nana Jr. preparing crepes (or pancakes) for customers. This boy was so much fun, quite the character! He wants to be a cook just like his father!

Waiting for the rain to stop...but will it stop?

Sunday morning we woke up to pouring rain…but that didn’t stop us!! We ran down the streets of Bucua looking for breakfast! We supposed to go to Nana’s Place but he wasn’t there at 7 am so had to go elsewhere…maybe next time. We went to Kakum National Park where we did the Canopy Walk. This is a walk on seven rope bridges reaching heights approximately 50 meters above ground. God’s creation is amazing!

“For great is your love, higher than the heaves; your faithfulness reaches to the skies. Be exalted, O God, above the heavens, and let your glory be over all the earth.” Psalm 108:4-5

Team Ghana at the Forest Canopy Walk!!

Life in Accra

Well… I have spent three weeks in Ghana now…and they have gone quickly as we are so busy and seem to require extra sleep due to the hot weather. Once again we have been having computer and internet difficulties. This time, the plug-in cord for my computer had a little mishap with a crispy outlet! So I have spent this past week trying to track down Lorenzo (the internet service guy) to see what we can do with it. He is impossible to find most of the time and when I stop at the lab I usually get, “o here was just here, he will be back later though.” So we will see. I may leave my computer to rest in peace in Africa!

We are still adjusting to life in Ghana. Communication with Ghanaians has probably been the most difficult challenge, though it has been improving. I would say that the midwives on my unit speak in Twi about 70% of the time…leaving me to continually ask, “what’s happening now?”… “what did she say?” And then there are the conversations they have in Twi when all I can pick out is …“o’bruni” (meaning white person)… “Erica”… or “Canada.” I’m learning to go with it…not to take offense and to ask a lot of questions!

A few of us went to a football game one Sunday afternoon. I'm pretty sure this was the African Premier league, which from what I've heard is not very popular in Ghana (apparently they are more interested in the European Premier league). Even so, the energy of the crowd and continuous beating of drums throughout the game was amazing!

Life with my roommate Erin has been going really well. It is so wonderful to have someone to chat with about the day’s events as we go to sleep for the night. She is also very good at sharing - lol! I think I brought just about everything but if I forgot something Erin will have it!! Also had some good conversations and found encouragement with Laurie. I am so thankful for good friends on this trip! God has provided great companionship and fellowship and it has been a lot of fun getting to know the other seven on our trip, as well as our instructor Bev. They are wonderful individuals (even though only one other farmgirl than Laurie and I!).

A Muslim shanty-town in Accra.

The power has gone out on us several times at the hostel. Thankfully, though not for very long.

Many people in Accra do not even have any access to electricity.

Water…This past week was also particularly busy as I had to do my first bit of homework!! Laurie and I were in charge of doing a presentation on safe water for our Friday seminar. So we spent every little bit of time before or after clinical working on the information.

DID YOU KNOW:
 884 million people in the world do not have access to safe water. This is roughly one in eight of the world's population. (WHO/UNICEF)
 1.4 million children die every year from diarrhea caused by unclean water and poor sanitation - 4,000 child deaths a day or one child every 20 seconds. This equates to 160 infant school classrooms lost every single day to an entirely preventable public health crisis. (WHO/WaterAid)
 Households in rural Africa spend an average of 26% of their time fetching water, and it is generally women who are burdened with the task. (UK DFID)
 The average person in African uses 10L of water per day for drinking, cooking, washing clothes and bathing. The average person in Europe uses 200L for the same purposes each day and the average person in North America (that’s you and I) uses 400L per day!!
 It is recommended that a person pee’s in the shower to save flushing the toilet one less time!!
 Seriously though, I’ve learned how incredibly important water is for the body and for overall health and even more than physical water, how desperately we need the water of life given freely and abundantly through Jesus.

“The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let him who hears say, “Come!” Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life.” Revelation 22:17

God Provides…

One thing I forgot to mention last post...before leaving we picked up two huge garbage bags of cloth diapers that had been donated by Rock-a-Dry Diapers in Edmonton. We crammed all of these diapers into every little space we could in our bags, but still had to take a huge duffle bag full with us. This bag was additional to our already over 50lb checked luggage. When we went to check in this piece of luggage the lady working for Northwest went out of her way to ensure we could check the extra bag without any additional cost. She also let us go without having to pay for the extra weight as a few of our bags were way more than the 50lb limit. What an amazing blessing!

Akwaaba, Welcome!

Akwaaba...Welcome to my journey in Ghana! I’m sorry it has taken so long to get this going but we’ve had outlet/adaptor problems, a sporadic wireless connection, and an extremely busy week!

We arrived safely last Sunday evening to incredible humidity and heat. I think it’s been around +35 all week, not including the humidity. The first few days were a little rough from the jet leg, heat, and strange foods! But we are quickly settling into the pace of life in Ghana, where there is definitely no rush...and no one is ever late! I think I will have no problem getting used to that!

This is the view from our hostel balcony! And below is the courtyard in ISH.

We are staying at the International Student Hostel on the University of Ghana campus. Our instructor gives it a rating of 0.75 of a star, though apparently an upgrade from the previous hostels students stayed in. I don’t find it too bad at all...though I’ve heard the water and power can go over for days at a time...so we will see!

Our placement is at the 37 Military Hospital in Accra, (the capital of Ghana). The hospital is large and each unit is in its own building, with a walkway connecting each. It is so different as it is a military hospital and many of the nurses and staff have military uniforms on and are always saluting each other. At this point we are planning to spend about 3 weeks on a unit and then spend the following three weeks on a second unit. I’m starting on the maternity unit, which includes L&D and caesarian sections, antenatal, postnatal, etc. There is also a NICU located in the same building. When I was ‘dropped off’ at the unit, Sally, our contact, told me “look, you will get to see how we manufacture babies!” It should be quite a learning experience.

Check out the bats!! It's completely strange to get used to bats flying around in the middle of the day! This is right outside 37 Military Hospital and the entire area of the city is consumed with bats.

Our schedule is to work 0800 to 1400 Monday to Thursday. Fridays are designated as seminar days and for cultural experiences (aka field trips). At this point I have only spent a few hours of orientation on my unit. Our first full shift was on Thursday and I had to go to an in-service instead. So I am looking forward to getting started on Monday.

Other than the actual clinical, we have easily filled our time. Laurie, Erin and I went to a Bible study one night with a group of Americans and a few other Canadians. We also went to Alliance Francaise, where there are performances on Wednesday nights. After dinner we watched a group who played drums, sang and danced traditional Ghanaian songs. So much fun...we danced away and attempted our own African dancing! We spent an afternoon at the beach...sun tanning and boogie boarding! Absolutely beautiful! As well as gone to various markets and the Nkrumah Monument.

At La'Beach!

Something else to note is the transportation!! Apparently the number one cause of trauma in Ghana is car accidents...and I can see why!! Also, I have a newfound respect for emissions controls, as the pollution and smog is thick...there’s a lot of black smoke from vehicles (and it’s not from big diesel pickups Lee!). Most of the time we try to take tro-tro’s which are like 15 passenger cabover vans. It’s been crazy trying to learn the hand-signals and what words to say to catch one from the Ghanaians.

This morning we went to an NGO for orphans and vulnerable children. This NGO was set up by a University of Ghana Faculty of Nursing member. It is targeted specifically to those with HIV and most of the children that were there this morning were HIV positive. One Saturday a month, they gather and provide teaching to the women and children who come. This morning was focused on the prevention of HIV transmission and about hand washing. After this the children were weighed and supplies (from USAID) were distributed. It was a humbling experience to help hand out portions of bulgar wheat and vegetable oil to families, which was to last them for one month. How privileged we are in Canada!

Erin and Sarah playing 'Simon Says' with the kids!

I appreciate your and prayers!! If you have any questions or comments please write! I would love to hear from you all!!