The End Is Just The Beginning

I've struggled for many days with what to write in this last post. I have no clue how to capture how I felt and what I learned while in Ghana but...I'll give it a whirl.

Before leaving for Ghana, I had certain expectations for what would play out during my time there, some of it based on what we were told by people who had been before. I expected to encounter heartbreaking situations in the hospitals and have a greater appreciation for health care and life in Canada. I expected to be challenged emotionally and to experience the phrase "the highs are high and the lows are lows". I expected to be challenged by normal things in daily life like the food, uncomfortable living arrangements, and the intense heat. I expected to love the children I met. I expected to feel sadness about the sickness and health conditions I would see. I expected to get home from work with the question "God, why?!" running through my mind. I expected to be speechless at times. I expected to want in my life, some of what I experienced in Ghana and detest some aspects of my Canadian lifestyle. I expected to immerse myself in the culture and enjoy fellowship with the Ghanaians. I expected to experience some sort of insight regarding whether or not relief work/development work is something I'd like to do long term.

I didn't expect to experience all those things in the way that I experienced them. I am so much stronger because of what went on during my 7 weeks in Ghana. I learned so much about myself, both good and bad. My patience was challenged most moments of every day, my acceptance and tolerance of others was challenged. My view towards the nurses and hospitals was challenged - trying to maintain a positive attitude towards their work as I observed what they did and cringed, was very difficult. I enjoyed making friends with the Ghanaians and miss the nurses who played football (soccer) with us everyday after work. I loved the pace of life, the no-rush mentality, and the many opportunities I had to just sit, and be.

I gained a greater understanding of the different factors that impact the health care system such as culture, resources, and education level.

I witnessed first hand the statistics that we hear about and they hit me so much harder. I always knew they weren't just numbers, but when you spend those last moments with a beautiful babe just before she slips away....nothing can prepare you for the emotions that come along with it. I always knew the illiteracy rate would impact so many things in any given country, but while in the rural town of Gushegu, I witnessed this and it impacted me in a greater way. I worked with pregnant women who were asked their age and had no idea how old they were, the nurses were handing out prenatal education pamphlets that were covered in pictures, instead of words. Sometimes I would just sit there and think about how it would feel to be illiterate - the feeling of exclusion and being removed from the rest of the world.

To be honest, after being so welcomed by the Ghanaians, I was not expecting the hospital staff to treat their patients in negative ways. Watching nurses disrespect patients and walk away from them when they needed someone to help them, was not something I was expecting. I longed to just *be* with the patient, sit there, hold their hand, be present, but I needed to recognize the ethical side of things which meant that I couldn't always do just that.

In a way, I thought the hospital staff would be more receptive of us and what we had to bring to the table. I think it was ignorant of me to think that. These people were used to doing things their own way, and who am I to waltz into their hospital and expect them to want to hear what I had to say? It was easier to share my knowledge with the younger staff and they reciprocated their ideas to me, but with the senior staff it didn't happen. I also experienced the importance of creating relationship and positive rapport with the staff in order to create a channel for me to share my knowledge with them, and for them to share their knowledge with me.

I have a better understanding of how to make change in a health care system similar to the one I worked with in Ghana. I so badly wanted to be able to help with the needs of the patients in the moment, and I thought we might be able to do this more; I thought we might be able to create change in the ward and change the prognosis for the patients. In reality, the change is incredibly long term and it starts with all the behind-the-scenes work; I always knew this was the case, but being there made it more clear to me. We had an opportunity to make presentations to the nursing students, and the change that this might create would be more sustainable than anything else we did.

I walk away from this experience with a greater confidence and security in my nursing practice here in Canada. As a new grad, I can be encouraged in that there are so many specialized staff members in the hospital that I can ask for help - this is not the case in the Ghanaian hospitals I worked in. I am also more aware of the knowledge that I do have; when as a new grad I might feel like I don't know very much, I probably know more than I think I do. I also have a greater confidence in our health care system and the fact that you can confidently go to the hospital here, and know that you will most likely be treated well, and will be able to receive the necessary treatment - this is not usually the case in Ghana.

I've been called to re-evaluate my life and the way I choose to spend my time. This includes the time and effort I put into relationships, and meeting face-to-face. Many Ghanaians greet every family member every single morning, and we were included in this! Sometimes we would get phone calls from our Ghanaian friends because they wanted to make sure we were okay and said they "wanted to know where you are in the country" and would then ask us to phone them again later to check in. This wasn't in any sort of controlling way - it was just because they cared about us. The value they place on relationships, and family, seems to exceed the way that most of us value these things in Canada. Genuine contact, genuine 'how are you's', and the desire to be in relationship with everyone they meet and greet everyone they pass on the streets. Even amidst all the hurt and despair, there is so much joy. I can definitely learn a lesson from the Ghanaians! I have a desire to slow down my pace of life here after being on Ghanaian time for seven weeks. Not packing every minute of my day full of 'stuff', but taking time to 'just be'.  I hope I can remind myself of this frequently enough  because it is so easy to get back into such a busy lifestyle.

I am so thankful and feel so blessed to have had the opportunity to go to Ghana. I want to thank all of you for your support and prayers for our team while we worked there.

We had our very last meal in Ghana in a restaurant that had painted on their wall, "The End Is Just The Beginning". I thought that was so fitting. I don't know where I will go from here, but I can say that the end of my time in Ghana is just the beginning of so much in my life. Finishing school, finding a new job, most likely re-locating, and longing to make relief work/development work part of my future in one way or another.

I'm eager and anxious to find out what the future holds. While I plan to be situated in Canada for a while, I left a piece of my heart in Africa and hope to return there one day.

Photos and a quick update

Pictures:

1) the gifts we bought for the Project Grow Village that our school supports
2) the women at the village dancing and showing their gratitude (note their Project Grow t-shirts!)
3) a child at the village
4) how I've spent much of my time here at the resort
5) the streets in Tamale
6) the view from our porch here in Cape Coast

It almost feels wrong to put these picture side by side, but I can't get internet often enough so that's how it goes!


Life continues to be fabulous here in Cape Coast at the Coconut Grove Resort. Yesterday we went on a one hour fishing boat tour through the harbour and into the Atlantic Ocean. Such good times! The boats are surprisingly solid - they told us they wouldn't tip, but I wasn't convinced, but sure enough, the boat pulled through just fine. It was basically a big solid canoe with a motor on it. We brought our iPod and speakers and the Ghanaian men on the boat loved it!

Yesterday night we had a nice dinner here at the resort. We got all dressed up and enjoyed a nice meal. Today we spent the day at the beach and pool and my skin is suffering some pretty intense sun damage...blisters aren't fun. The African sun is HOT. Shawna and I just enjoyed an hour of horseback riding along the beach at sunset here! It was so nice, except that I was not-so-kindly reminded that I'm allergic to horses!

Tomorrow we are taking the bus to Accra where we will spend the next day and a half until we fly out on Monday night at 1145 Ghana time. We will have a 10 hour layover in London where we plan to quickly see some sights before we get back on the plane, head to Calgary, and arrive in Kelowna at about 9pm on Tuesday.

Thanks to everyone for all your thoughts and prayers and for following me along this journey. I hope to post something a little more reflective within the next little while - likely won't happen until I get to Canada though.

Take care all.

Good-bye Tamale, Hello Vacation

It's been a few days since I posted last...I'll do my best to remember what we all did. Saturday was a lazy day for us, hit up the market and just lazed around. Sunday we had a class from 1pm-4pm where we talked about our experiences and debriefed about what we had seen during our clinical experiences. We all spent 2 weeks working in Tamale hospital, but for the other 2 weeks we were in groups of four in different areas of the country so it was interesting to hear stories from the other groups.

Monday we had another class from 9am-12pm and talked about transitioning back into life and nursing in Canada. I am nervous about the culture shock that I'll experience when I head back home, and I have a feeling it'll be difficult to transition back into the Canadian lifestyle. I am definitely more grateful for everything I have back home and will never forget the things I've seen here. So much of me wants to return one day. I feel like I am leaving a piece of myself here, and I definitely have a desire to come back.

Monday night we had a thank-you/going away party at the Bigiza hotel (one of the few places that has a swimming pool in Tamale). We invited all the friends we had made over the last few weeks, and some of the hospital staff that we worked with. One of our friends from Gushegu (2+ hours from Tamale) was in Tamale for the weekend so he came to our party too. So nice to have all our friends and support network people all together.

Tuesday called for a long day on the bus. We woke up at about 530am and headed over to the bus station for a thirteen hour busride from Tamale to Cape Coast. Thankfully we were on an STC bus (these, unlike the metro's, do not oversell tickets so it's not super crammed, and they have air conditioning!). While 13 hours on the bus is a long time, it flew by for all of us. There is so much to see all around us and I really enjoy that. As we made our way from Tamale to the coast, everything became more green and lush - so nice! Tamale and northern areas are so, so, so dry and brown, and here on the coast everything is green. Love it. Interesting story...at one point on the bus ride there was a semi truck that jack-knifed on the dirt road that we were traveling on. The only way we could get past was if we took a village road around the accident. The people in the village were not too keen on this idea and decided to block their road off with tractors and wood. After a long discussion between the bus driver and the village people, and some money paid to the village folk, the tractors and wood piles were moved and we were back on our way! This is Africa!

Eventually we (the six of us who chose to vacation here) made it down to the Cape Coast bus station and made our way off the bus. Here's another quick story for you...we were collecting our bags and finding two taxi's to bring us to our resort and as usual, there were quite a few people trying to help us get taxi's and load our bags in (then they often ask us for money in response to their favour). We thought one of the men helping was the friend or assistant of one of our cab drivers, so when he got into our cab with us we didn't think anything of it. Meanwhile, the cab driver thought he was our friend. When the man started asking us questions about where we were from and what we were doing in Ghana, the cab driver became suspicious of the man. He said "do you know this man?" and we innocently responded with "no...not at all". He pulled over instantly and kicked the guy out. He then explained to us that sometimes guys will find random tourists, go along with them in their cab, follow them to their destination, and possibly rob them of their things. Thankfully this driver was on the ball :)

So, now we are on the coast staying at a GORGEOUS resort. I cannot believe how wonderful it is. When you walk through the gates you forget you are in Africa. The six of us are in a family suite with two bedrooms, a kitchen, living room, running water that always works, power that does not go out, and air conditioning! It's wonderful. We are so blessed. The Atlantic Ocean is just steps outside our door and the waves are crazy big. We all spent a LOT of time in the sunshine yesterday and today and our skin colour definitely shows it. The African sun is hot...and very capable of burning...

Tomorrow we are going on a fishing boat for an hour and it'll take us from the harbor out into ocean. There are so many fishing boats that go past here. I'm not exactly sure of what we're doing...the other girls arranged it. Should be interesting. Then we might hit up the golf course here at the resort...even though I dislike golf.

The plan was that we would stay here until Saturday, then head to the Volta River until Sunday, and then stay Sunday night in Accra and then fly out on Monday night. But...we are so in love with this place and not in the mood for another 4 hour bus ride, that we might not go to the Volta River. Not quite sure yet...

I've spent so many hours poolside and oceanside and have spent some of that time reflecting on my experience here in Ghana. I've also been reminded time and time again of how amazing our God is and have thought about where I'll be in the future. Although I will be leaving this incredible country on Monday, I am quite certain that I will not be leaving Africa forever. I don't feel like I can walk away from what I've seen... I need to come back.

I plan to post a reflective entry and some pictures within the next couple days.

Cheers.

A Full Heart (photos below)

Since arriving in Tamale it's been pretty busy and somewhat sleepless! I was hoping to get a decent sleep on Thursday night after being up since 3:30am but that didn't happen. My roommate came down with something pretty rough and vomited the night away so we were both up the entire night. On Friday we were supposed to go to Bolga to see the village that our school is supporting but someone needed to stay behind with my roommate. Shawna ended up staying back, and did some pretty good nursing care! My roommate was so ill we ended up starting an IV on her, and getting antibiotics etc from the pharmacy (you can buy whatever you want without a prescription from the doctor, weird but so good for us!). We trust our own care better than the care of the hospital. So long story short, after being incredibly lethargic, really confused, glazed over eyes that were unable to focus, and barely speaking, some antibiotics and anti-nausea injections and IV fluid changed this girl into her almost normal self. Woohoo!! (ps. for those of you who were wondering, I am no longer sick. 3 days of antibiotics cleared up whatever I was sick with :))

Yesterday we headed up to Bolga and it took about 3ish hours to get there. We went to a village that our school supports through a project called Project GROW which was initiated by a Ghanaian named Vida. She grew up in this particular village, ended up in Nursing school, and eventually came to UBCO where she did her masters degree. For her masters project, she wanted to work with the women in her home village to determine what they needed to improve their health and the health of their children. One of the most important things they expressed was the importance of having their own money. The men were generating income, but rather than using the income for their family, they would often drink it away, leaving very little to support their family. Vida's project called "Project GROW" stands for Ghanaian Rural Opportunities for Women, and basically works to empower the women and provide them with the necessary resources for them to generate their own income. The men were very hesitant at first to allow anything like this to go on in their village, but now, the atmosphere in this village is so different from the other ones we went to, as a result of Project GROW - the men have a greater respect for the women, the rapport and relationship between the men and women is much improved, and the women were even sitting on benches when we arrived and these benches are usually saved for the most important people.

There was a ceremony that went on for a few hours and we were SO welcomed! The people see us as huge lifesavers and are so thankful for any of the work/fundraising that we've done for them. It was so awesome to be a part of such a great celebration of women and community. We gave them goats and donkeys with carts which will help them tremendously - the donkeys/carts will enable the women to take the things they make to other villages to sell them and generate more income.

There was lots of dancing and some speeches, and because some of our fundraising money also went to support a girls school in the village, the schoolgirls were there as well. One of the leaders of the project did a speech to these girls encouraging them to not give into the men so that they would not get pregnant and would be able to continue going to school. SO many girls get pregnant so early, drop out of school, and then run into money problems later on. My heart felt so full after being in the village all day! The thankful hearts of the village people were contagious - as a thank you for us, the women made all of us really nice purses. So nice, so, so nice. I believe that this is an example of true sustainability where they are not just being given money or resources, but are also being trained to better themselves and improve their life and their health. One interesting thing is that now that the women are making money, they have expressed a huge interest in becoming more literate, or at least being able to read numbers so that they can manage their money better and make sure they aren't being ripped off (ie. when they go to the bank). Hopefully there will be someone to help these women with that.

Tomorrow we have a final seminar type of class where I'm assuming we'll be talking about our experiences and transitioning back into life in Canada. Then on Monday we're having a going-away party at the Bigiza hotel (the only place we've found that has a swimming pool!) and we've invited all the friends we've made/hospital contacts we had. Then on Tuesday we're busing all the way to Cape Coast which I think is around 12 hours - will be a long day!

And then...

We will spend 5 days on the coast (CLICK HERE) and then 2 days at the Volta River. So excited. I first had some guilty feelings about taking a vacation and spending money on it after seeing and experiencing all I've experienced here in Ghana. But on the flip side, we are in Ghana, this place is not only heartbreaking but also gorgeous, and I think that spending time relaxing after this is also necessary. So, that we will do.

Hope life is grand!

Back to Civilization

So we arrived in Tamale this morning at around 9am. We woke up at 330am, packed up the last of our things, and got to the station around 430am. The bus was supposed to leave at 5am but of course that didn’t happen, haha. We were finally on our way and there was about 85+ people crammed into a 60 passenger bus. Needless to say it was a squishy ride, and the sleep I was hoping to get, didn’t happen. Once we got back to the Catholic Guest House (the same place we were staying in Tamale before we went to Gushegu), we went to the restaurant there and ordered REAL food for breakfast. So wonderful. So, so, wonderful. You really don’t know what you have until you don’t have it anymore. So thankful and so blessed to be able to eat healthy again. The next plan was to SLEEP but unfortunately mine and Erin’s room wasn’t ready yet so we had to wait, and wait, and wait. Finally around 12:40pm we got our room, and then the power decided to go out so the fans stopped working, meaning sleep was impossible. So…I’m tired. Haha.

The last few days in Gushegu were alright. It totally helped me that we had made friends with the nurses who were working there so that we could at least be occupied for a little while each day playing football and card games with them. Last night brought up a bit of a scary situation! I was walking back from the shower (you have to go outside to access it) and came across a snake along the path. I sort of freaked out, called Erin to come see it, and then calmly walked around it. It was green and looked like a Canadian type Gardner snake. Later on we told our friends who said “you didn’t kill it?! If you see it again call us we’ll come kill it”. We thought it was long gone, but a little while later Erin nearly stepped on it and so we called the guys over. They informed us that these snakes kill/bite toads and frogs and take the venom out of them and then bite humans, aka, if we got bitten we would’ve been admitted to the lovely Gushegu hospital. I’ve had many patients who were admitted due to snake bites, so it’s definitely not unusual here in Ghana.

I/we have been talking a lot about what we encounter in our clinical experience and why we tend to get so frustrated about what goes on. Personally, I don’t think it is entirely about a lack of resources and knowledge. It wouldn’t be farfetched for me to say that the nurses do not do very much, and even the knowledge that they do have, they don’t usually put to good use. Watching TV from 8am-9am until the doctors decide to start their rounds isn’t exactly right. That’s when vital signs and morning assessments should be done, but at the very least, you must look at all your patients to make sure they are okay. The mindset is so different here. Urgent situations are not seen as urgent, people nearly dying isn’t seen as a huge issue, and I guess they don’t have the legal issues to worry about if/when something is done incorrectly, like we do in Canada. Obviously we can’t waltz into these hospitals and expect anything to change. We can only do our best to advocate for our patients in the best and most polite/respectful way we can, and try to teach the nurses some things as our education level is much higher than theirs. Really, it’s ultimately about the patients and it’s tough for us to see them in such sick situations even when things CAN be done about it yet no one is taking initiative.



Tomorrow we are going to Bolga to see a village that our school has been supporting. They have focused on supporting the women because the husbands tend to take all the money and not leave enough to support the women and children. So our school has helped them to get their own income that they can claim as their own, in order to help support the children. We are also going to give them goats. Apparently it will be a long, long, long day with singing, dancing, drumming, goat giving, speeches, etc. We’ll see how it goes! It’s about a 2 hour drive north, and we are coming back in the evening.

Saturday is Independence Day here so we’ll likely spend time at festivals/parties around town. On Monday we are having a going away party where we invite anyone who we have met/made friends while we’ve been here. Then Tuesday morning our VACATION starts and we’ll be making the long bus trip down to the coast where we will get to sit on the beach, and relax. So excited!

That’s all for now!

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I can't seem to type on the picture post below so here's a quick description
1) Kintampo Waterfalls a couple weekends ago
2) Gushegu: The child health outreach clinic where we hung the scale from the trees and weighed the babes
3) Gushegu: me and a sweet patient I worked with on pediatrics
4) Gushegu District Hospital
5) Jaimee, Shawna, and Erin on our bikes in Gushegu
6) Us all ready to watch the mens gold medal hockey game which we didn't end up watching because we couldn't get the channel!! :(
7) Gushegu: two of our patients at the hospital. Twins who were very malnourished, they are 3 years old! The bigger one was still malnourished (huge belly showing protein insufficiency) and the smaller one was much more malnourished. So heartbreaking. So sad. So, so, sad. Their poor mother was basically raising the children alone and could not provide for them. Broke my heart.

Lifesavers

Since we’ve been in Gushegu we have noticed a few things that have saved our life. The first being our kettle that we bought in Tamale – one of the most important purchases of this trip. This allows us to have oatmeal and a boiled egg for breakfast and sometimes lunch since there’s hardly any food in this town (I did not know you could really boil eggs directly in the kettle…but you can). It also allows us to have our Nescafe instant coffee (I cannot WAIT to have real brewed coffee). Another thing that saved our life was our bike rental idea. We go into town a few times a day for a coke and water and sometimes manage to find more food like bread and Mr. Noodles type food (yet these are expired). A third thing that has saved me and helped me pass the time in this boring town is the Sudoku book I got in my Christmas stocking a couple years ago…Mom, that was a good idea. I have done SO many of these. The last thing that we are so thankful for is the wonderful hospital laundry lady! She volunteered to wash our clothes for us. Let me tell you, none of us are very good at handwashing our clothes so they were never actually clean post-washing, until Thursday after they went through the heavy duty laundry machines. Wonderful. And it only cost us $3 Canadian to get ALL of our clothes/towels/bedsheets washed. So great.

Sleeping is still a difficult task. The heat here extreme and we just have to grin and bear it. Sure it gets hot in Kelowna and occasionally in Vancouver, but…the heat can be escaped. A/C in cars and houses, going to work in a cool environment, being able to get cold water whenever you want it is also nice. None of those things exist here. We do have fans which are wonderful when the power is working.

On Thursday and Friday Shawna and I worked in the medical ward. Thursday began quite stressful. Our shift began and I walked into one of the rooms to find all the nurses/students around a patient’s bed chatting. I took one look at the patient and noticed that he was have a very very difficult time breathing. He was definitely in respiratory distress yet nothing was being done. Shawna and I came over and we asked the nurse if he had a bronchodilator ordered that we could give him to help open his airways and the nurse said “no he doesn’t have one ordered” and just stood there (there is no urgency in these hospitals…the patient was VERY unwell). Shawna and I kindly yet sternly told them to call the doctor to get something ordered. In the end, the doctor came and agreed with us and we right away sent the patient to the OR in case he would need to be resuscitated (that is the only area in the hospital that has the necessary equipment for resuscitation). Sure enough, he got intubated and ventilated. Sometimes it’s just a bit irritating to see something going so wrong yet nothing is being done about it! But...this is Africa, folks.

For the most part though, the hospital here is run much better than Tamale. It’s small and modern, and the communication between the staff is quite a bit better. None of the doctors are from Gushegu – there are 2 from Cuba and 1 from southern Ghana.

On Saturday we were asked to do a presentation for the Ghanaian Nursing students who are also doing a practicum here. We were asked to tell them what Nursing in Canada is like (the differences are endless) and our perceptions of Nursing in Ghana. This went over pretty well and the students were really receptive.

We have had some serious issues with getting food here. We have been told not to eat in town and there are very few non-perishable items there. We’ve been told that the kitchen that provides the meals for the nurses and Ghanaian nursing students will provide meals for us, but…this hasn’t been happening. It has been frustrating. I haven't had fruits or vegetables for a LONG time and none of us feel healthy at all. Not fun.

Today I was on the pediatric ward and I'm back there tomorrow as well and in the afternoon we’re doing another presentation for the students, Wednesday I’m in the OPD (outpatient department – aka emerg…sort of), Thursday we head back to Tamale, Friday we go up north to Bolga to see a grassroots project that our school is supporting there and then come back to Tamale the same day, spend a few days there, and then we’re off to Cape Coast for a VACATION!! We’ll also be hitting up the Volta River for a night or two which is south-east Ghana.

Hope you Vancouverites enjoyed the Olympics!! We tried to watch the gold medal game last night and got all dressed up in Canadian stuff/red and white but we couldn't get the channel on the TV at the hospital. Such a bummer. Gotta head out though! Dinner and football (soccer) time!

To those of you who have commented/emailed/facebooked me, thank you very much, but I can't respond for the next little while because I can't get on the internet very often. Sorry!

Take care all.

Gush-Gush (goosh goosh)!!

On Sunday at around 1:00pm we caught the metro bus to Gushegu (aka the land of very little food, and nothing to do, but I'm still loving it!). We almost missed the bus…it was supposed to leave at 12:30pm but being on Ghanaian time, we weren’t too concerned about showing up a bit late, and this was the one time that the other party was on time. Thankfully, the Matron/Director of Nursing at Gushegu District Hospital, was meeting us at the bus station and was planning to bus with us, and he was on time and held the bus for us! Well, it cost him 2 cedis (about $1.3 Canadian).

When asked about the quality of the bus I can quote a classmate who said “it’s just like a schoolbus but not as comfortable” which is so true! It’s amazing how many people they crammed into that bus in ridiculously hot temperatures, but, we survived as we always do!

When we arrived, we went on a hunt for something for dinner and found there is only one place (street vendor) in this town that sells fried rice. And, we ate it. And, now I’m regretting it. My stomach has been hating me for the past few days, and I have a complete loss of appetite. I’m not sure what caused it, but we are not eating anymore vendor food while we are here. The street vendors in Tamale were pretty safe, but the sanitation level here is lower which puts us at greater risk and the people at the hospital have suggested we do not eat anything from outside the hospital grounds (except a few things like fruit (rare to find) and bread). And, that limits us big time. They only make traditional meals here at the hospital (a choice of 3 meals) which we’ve tried and are not huge fans of. Thankfully, our prof who is in Tamale right now, sent us a food package today so we have more food! But still, we are eating mainly bread with nutella, strawberry jam, oatmeal, water, and coffee. Throw in a few granola bars, rice for every dinner, and some eggs. In Tamale we were very spoiled and had many different restaurants that we could choose from everyday, but not here! It’s all good though! On the plus side, we spend VERY little money here (the hospital food is free, and so are our accommodations!).

We are staying in the hospital residence and have a basic square room with four hospital beds and a communal bathroom. Very simple, but it’s all good. Almost all of the nurses, and a ton of nursing students, are also living in the residence so we’ve made a ton of friends. 99% of the nurses are guys and play football (soccer) everyday so we’ve been joining them (except today cause I was too sick. I totally realize now why I loved soccer so much!!

This town is small, well it’s about 28,000 people which isn’t THAT small, but it’s definitely rural. People walk a long ways to get anywhere, only few roads are paved and the rest of the town is dirt. There are rarely white people here and we are constantly hearing kids yelling "SaMINga, HOW are you, I am fine, THANK you" and they say it over and over and over again (Saminga means white lady).

Monday we bought bikes! The only cars I’ve seen here are the few that are owned by the hospital and I’ve also seen a few delivery trucks. Everyone here bikes and walks. So, we went on a hunt for some bikes and rather than paying 90cedis for a bike, I talked the guy into letting us rent them for 35cedis each in the agreement that we will return them when we leave. Shawna and I biked to the internet place tonight (it's a World Vision office that lets us use their internet - the only internet in town!), and if it weren't for our headlamps (yes we look SO cool), we would've crashed a million times over. The roads are awful, there are no streetlights (very little power in general), and people are biking/walking everywhere.

On Monday we had a tour of the hospital and such, and it’s really nice! It’s a new modern hospital. It’s small and really nice..furnished by Ikea, and some of it is air conditioned (SUCH a blessing!). Each ward is it’s own little single story building (similar to the Tamale hospital).

On Tuesday we went to the maternal clinic here where tons of women come to see the midwife. There are no appointments, so after walking a long way, they get to wait until it’s their turn; it becomes an entire day affair – patience is vital in this country. I took a TON of blood pressures (yay for only manual blood pressure cuffs…definitely getting used to not using anything automatic here, and observed some midwife appointments.

Today we went to the child welfare clinic and weighed babes from the tree! It was also super busy there, these Moms have a lot of babies. One of the nurses told me yesterday that the women don’t usually want so many children but their husbands (who don’t usually love them), want a lot of children so they will be taken care of when they are older. After the child clinic, I went to the outpatient department (emerg) and sat in on consultations. The doctor was from Cuba and didn’t know the language very well, so she needed to use the nursing student/nurses aide to translate for her.

Well that’s all for now! Thursday and Friday I’m going to the medical ward. There isn’t really anything to do in this town so this weekend will probably consist of reading, football games, and just relaxing. Should be wonderful!!

Oh, on another note, sleep here is very difficult task for me. The 3 other girls I’m with have NO problems sleeping, but I get to watch the sunrise every, single, morning. It’s gorgeous, don’t get me wrong (as are the sunsets), but I’d love to sleep a bit more and not wake up every half hour!

Not sure how often I’ll be able to update here - I'm surprised we found internet in the first place! Hope all is well!

Love, Lauren

p.s. if you want the pictures to be bigger, you can click on them (There you go Mom, I've spread the word :))

Kintampo Falls! :)

Today we went to Kintampo Waterfalls (which was great cause apparently it was FORTY SIX degrees today!). It was a 2 hour drive from here but was so worth it! We splurged a little and rented an SUV/driver for the day to take us there, wait for us, and then bring us back. It worked out well and was a much better experience than some of the other ancient minivans that we've crammed 10+ people into :)

I can't upload photos tonight because the computers at this internet cafe don't allow for memory sticks/flash drives but here is a shot from google of what the falls look like on a calm day - click here. And this is what the falls looked like today - click here.

As soon as we got there we were bombarded by kids asking us to get pictures with them in the water. I think there was a school group and church group there and they had photographers and I'm pretty sure they took 20+ pictures of me with random kids. It's a little crazy when you can't get away from it. They would call us 'white-lady' or would just grab our arm, pose, and point at the camera that was taking the shot - it's probably similar to how the paparazzi make celebrities feel! Eventually I just started saying no. We are just people!

We were able to climb up all the rocks, and end up completely under the waterfalls. So fun! So slippery, so much algae, and so many falling kids everywhere. I'm pretty sure in Canada you'd have to have to sign a waiver to go there...it wasn't very safe but was SO fun.

Tomorrow my mini group of four (Erin, Shawna, Jaimee, and I) are heading to Gushegu which is a small town northeast from Tamale (where I am now). Gushegu can't be found on most maps but I think that on this one it is labelled as Gushiago - click here.

Gushegu has a new hospital which was built about two years ago. We will be working there as well as in the health centers and clinics. Based on a short experience that I had working at one of the rural clinics on the outskirts of Tamale, I think I will like the health center/clinics more than the hospital. To me, the Tamale hospital was quite overwhelming and was very, very, difficult to make any sort of change. I'm hoping it might be easier in the health clinics where the management/tradition/hospital history might not be as overpowering...? I'm not sure though, only time will tell :)

We will be in Gushegu until next week Wednesday at which point we'll head back to Tamale for four days, and then we're heading to Cape Coast for a five day vacation on the beach :) It'll be lovely!

Oh just quickly, some readers were wondering about how prepared we were for this trip and thought that maybe the discouragement from being in the hospital could have been helped with more trip preparation. To be honest, I don't think so. We all know the stats on mortality rates, illiteracy rates, maternal death, people who have access to clean drinking water, etc. But honestly, you can read them over, and look at as many pictures as you want, but you will never be prepared to see a newborn babe die infront of you, you will never be prepared to see the status of the hospital, and the incredible sickness that goes on here. Part of the problem too is that because health care is not free and people here know that patients do not get treated well in the hospital, the patients will wait way too long to come in for help. And by the time they do come in, the issues are so extensive and so severe that they cannot afford the necessary medical procedures and medications (that is, if the hospital even has access to them). Just thought maybe I'd mention that...

Time to head home! Apparently our instructor made us some bread, and I should probably start packing everything up so we can get out of here on time tomorrow (even though the bus will likely leave an hour or two late from the depot...this is Africa!).

Have a happy weekend, everyone!

A few more pictures

Or...maybe just one more. You never know what you're gonna get when it comes to African internet. So I took this quickly today out of the cab we were in. This is the scariest intersection that I've encountered in Tamale; the traffic light rarely works, there's 2-3 lanes each way, and everyone just goes for it and creates their own lanes, with hopes of not getting hit. Check out the kid on the back of her moms back...these mopeds are everywhere.

Gotta go!

Photos!!!

Okay so I'm in a hurry cause the cafe is closing and it wont let me type under each photo. So...

1) At the stadium where we watched the Accra vs Tamale football (soccer) game

2) Erin and I working in the free outpatient clinic in a rural village where we basically created health records for the patients who came in and took their blood pressures...such hard work, haha

3) Us posing with the security guards at the football game

4) Rockin out the cab drive. Shawna and i were in the front seat, four in the backseat, and another passenger in the trunk, not sure if you can see him!

TIA - This Is Africa

(Written on Wednesday, posted on Thursday - thanks to the internet cutting out - TIA)

Yesterday I was on the pediatric unit and it was a difficult place to be. While the culture shock of awful hospital conditions and a lack of resources is becoming less shocking and is instead becoming the 'norm', my heart is still broken so many times a day. On pediatrics there are a ton of kids crammed into the smallest of spaces. There are many cribs, but very few beds. If the child can fit in the crib, that is where he or she will go even at an older age, because once the beds run out, the kids end up on thin mattresses on the floor. And let me tell you, this hospital is so far from clean. The floor is not somewhere I'd want my child to be placed. Although, the cribs/beds aren't much better and certainly don't meet safety standards. There are very few bedsheets here and the beds don't get properly cleaned between patients.

Since pain medication isn't used very often, the kids are quite uncomfortable. There are quite a few burned kids and it's so difficult to see them suffering. There are little fires everywhere here; in the villages the kitchens are outside where they used fires as stoves, and there are also fires alongside the roads where people cook things and sell it...incredibly unsafe for the kids who are running around, hence all the burns. It's strange to see that pain isn't well controlled here, because in Canada we are taught that it is the 5th vital sign (the first four being blood pressure, temperature, heart rate, and respiratory rate). That is how important we see pain control to be. When patients are in pain, the healing process and mental status of the patient is impaired.

The kids are slapped when they cry too much, and some of my classmates have even seen them get tied down to the crib/bed. So incredibly not right!! I cannot even imagine doing that to a child!! Oh and when the kids are upset, the nurses sometimes mimic and mock them.

Today I was in the emergency department. Nothing too interesting came in but for the sake of the Ghanaian people that is definitely a good thing! I did learn some things though and would predict what the doctors would order. Since our practical skills are not being challenged here due to a lack of resources (very few skills can be properly performed here) I try exercise my mind a little :)

I can honestly say that I would NEVER want to be a patient in this hospital. If something happens to me while I'm here, my classmates can care for me (we have lot's of medical supplies :)) or if it's really severe, I'll fly to Europe. One of the doctors told me the same thing - he said "It's pretty bad when I am terrified of getting admitted into the hospital that I work in".

Tomorrow I'm going to a clinic where people can get surgeries done for free. It's run by Dr. Abdulai who gets a ton of donations from other countries to provide the free hospital. It's way out by some villages and in order for people to be allowed to have the surgery, the village that the individual belongs to needs to build a 'recovery hut' on the hospital property and needs to agree to care for the individual in this hut after surgery since there isn't very much nursing care provided post-operatively. Many people from each village use the hut so it's definitely worthwhile for them to build it. From what I hear this doctor is amazing and has done wonderful things for so many people. I'm spending Friday in the ICU at the Tamale hospital. I'm curious to see what goes on in ICU when I feel that substandard care is going on on regular wards...

On other notes...we're definitely getting used to the Ghanaian lifestyle. The power going off randomly and the water going off for 24+ hours isn't quite as annoying as it was before...I'm getting used to bucket showers. Handwashing laundry is not fun (especially big things like towels and bedsheets) but it's just how life is here. Today we had to direct our cab driver to our guest house which was sort of like the blind leading the blind but it worked - no GPS's here! Almost getting in car accidents MANY times each day is becoming less frightening (but please, if you're the praying type, pray for road safety for us!). Dealing with intense heat is getting a bit easier, sort of...having a pool to retreat to every day has been a huge blessing. Waiting an hour or two for food is just how life goes. Getting out of proposals is getting easier too. We've found nutella here and women sell bread on the side of the road so we've consumed a lot of both these things in the past while :) As nurses we use the abbreviation TIA to stand for Transient Ischemic Attack (aka mini stroke) but here we use it with the meaning "This is Africa" - and it's something we say many times a day!

Our instructor told us about a little place here (in a hut) where a man labours all day and makes custom jewellery so I spent a good many cedis there in the last couple days! So stoked to see how everything turns out :) We've also spent many hours at the cultural center here in Tamale and have made some Ghanaian friends there. I got a dress made too but from what I hear from the other girls who picked theirs up already, they don't turn out very good. I'll know by Friday how mine turns out!

On Sunday my mini-group of 4 is going to Gushegu where we will spend 2 weeks working in clinics and hospitals. It's a 3 hour drive from here (northeast) and we'll be staying in the hospital residence with FREE accommodations!! So nice! :)

I miss so much about home but love so much about being here.

Till next time!

Good Weekend :)

So happy! On Friday I saw ALL live births, yet they still ambu-bagged every child even though they were breathing. Their practices are strange...but the kids were all alive and gorgeous. Hallelujah. Oh one weird thing was that they gave one woman general anaesthetic for a C-section. I asked the doctor why they did that, and he said it was because there were students giving the anaesthetic and they were better at giving general anaesthetic instead of an epidural. Strange. And definitely not the best option. Would never fly in Canada.

After work on Friday we headed down to Mole (pronounced mole-lei) National Park which was about 3 hours away. We hired a driver and all crammed into a van and headed on down. The road was awful, awful, awful. But...IT RAINED!!! It was so nice to be in the rain (and it helped with the dusty roads :)). It poured all night long, and we woke up at 6am on Saturday morning to go on the walking safari for 2.5 hours. After seeing antelope, warthogs, and monkeys, and getting attacked by fire ants (SOO not fun, and the bites hurt), we finally saw elephants!! These were crazy big, and so majestic.

We had planned to spend two nights at Mole but we decided against it. After the safari, spent about 4 hours relaxing at the pool that they have there. It was great but I burned sooo bad. It definitely hurts. We then crammed back into the van and by the time we got back home we all looked native because of all the dust that we encountered along the way! It was soooo dusty!

Yesterday we went to the football (soccer) game in the gorgeous stadium here in Tamale! It doesn't fit in at all with the look of Tamale. The game was between Tamale and Accra and only cost us 3 cedis to get in (equivalent to about $2). So exciting to be there! The fans get so into it and it was so fun.

A shocking thing was that each team has a team of about 8 medics who will run onto the field if anyone falls and doesn't get up instantly. It'd be nice if the hospital staff worked with this mentality.......

Today I was supposed to spend the day in pediatrics but opted for the emergency room instead. It's a difficult place to be when you know the necessary tests can't be done due to a lack of resources...it makes for diagnosing patients very difficult. Tomorrow I'll be going to pediatrics, then emergency again on Wednesday, and then 2 days in a clinic here. The clinic is run by someone who gets a ton of donations and does free surgeries for kids. This weekend we're planning to hit up Kintampo waterfalls which I believe is a couple hour bus ride away and I hear it's gorgeous there!

We left Canada about 2.5 weeks ago and the novelty about seeing new things and doing all the touristy things is slowly wearing off. Don't get me wrong, it's still totally amazing to be here, but we've got into a routine now where we're all realizing that this isn't just a quick holiday touristy trip. We're living here for 7 weeks. To be honest, sometimes it's overwhelming to think that I am still here for 4 more weeks, but it's all about attitude. It's so important to embrace the opportunity I've been given and cherish every moment cause I know that once we get back to Canada I'll want to be back here!!

We've made quite a few friends here, both black and white. We tend to run into the same people everywhere, and the British med student and nursing student that I met at the hospital last week came to Mole with us.

To all you Vancouver-ites, I hope the Olympics aren't making life too chaotic! Must be fun to be there!

Miss you all, and.......the good ol' washing machine. Handwashing clothes is no longer fun.

Harsh Reality

I can't get over what health care looks like here in the Tamale Teaching Hospital. There are very, very, very sick people. They are unable to get the health care that they need. They often come to the hospital too late and such drastic measures are needed but cannot be taken due to a lack of resources, and the patients often cannot afford what needs to be done.

This hospital has no CT machine, no MRI, and it's only xray machine is broken. Some bloodwork can be done at the hospital (and the ward is lucky if they actually get the results back and the paperwork doesn't get lost), but the more complicated blood tests and cultures get flown to another city in Ghana and results take days to get back. It's RIDICULOUS. There is SO much that can't be properly diagnosed because the resources are not available. The doctors are well-trained and know exactly what they would do in an ideal situation, but they have to lower their standards to match what is available here. It's awful. So awful.

I spent today on the male medical ward and I saw things that I should never have to see. Things that patients should never have to experience. Nurses treating patients in ways that they should never be treated. Staff working with the little resources that they have, but it isn't enough! The patients are not getting better, and likely won't.

I wish so badly that what I see everyday is a nightmare and that I'd wake up and it'd go away.

The nurses role here is so much different than how nurses practice in Canada. They dust in the morning, give some meds here and there (if they feel like it), and then do a few dressing changes here and there. They do not do any assessments, do not walk their patients around, and do not ensure that they have sufficient food and water (which none of them have). They do not join in on rounds with the doctor. To be completely honest, I don't really know what they ACTUALLY do. There is no structure. Not every ward is like this, but the medical ward today was.

It's not right for me to to walk onto a ward, as the only Canadian, introduce myself as a nursing student, and expect things to change. The nurses today are senior nurses and have been practicing for ages. We are not going to change what they do in just one day. The problems are so much deeper than that. So many times I just had to cringe as I watched what was happening -- I couldn't stop what was happening, all I could do was recognize that it was not best practice, and know that I would do differently in Canada.

Pain medication is barely an option here. Patients are in SOO much pain and are enduring things that are incredibly difficult, yet lie there in bed, all day, struggling. It's so difficult to watch. Hearing the moaning is too much.

I spent a good couple hours today chatting with a new doctor who graduated here in Ghana, and a medical student from England. We discussed the depth of the issues and how heartbreaking it is. We talked about how difficult it is to make change when this "system" (with zero structure) has been going this way for so long, and when the money-holders sometimes squander it for their own benefit (apparently there's an office in the hospital with a big screen TV...when patients are dying by the dozens, this is not right).

Anyways. It's tough, so tough. I feel so helpless. We all feel helpless.

Tomorrow I'm heading back to the labour and delivery ward and hoping for only live births. I hate how I have to hope for that. But it's reality here. Harsh reality.

On happier notes, we found a pool at a hotel nearby and have hit it up the last couple days after work. It's so refreshing! Tomorrow after our shift we are heading to Mole National Park for a couple safari's! We will stay there until Sunday morning.

Oh and my leg is doing well! A few of you have been asking, it's about 95% healed. Also, thanks everyone for your comments and prayers. It means a lot to have so many people thinking about us!

Good-bye all!

One Challenge at a Time

So, today was day one in the hospital. Nothing could have prepared me for it. Nothing at all.

Our shift was from 8-2 and I was on the labour and delivery ward. These rooms are nothing like the rooms in Canada. There is a labouring room with about 5 beds and some mats on the floor, and a birthing room with 4 beds, no curtains inbetween. At about 8:02am I followed my assigned nurse into the birthing room only to find a midwife placing a babe on the scale. I noticed right away that the babe was not alive. My heart broke right then and there. Tears started to come, and my classmate and I slowly walked out of the room to regroup. The nurse followed us and said in an upbeat and happy way, "you're nurses! you need to be strong!" She encounters this situation all the time, I have never encountered it. Later the babe was placed in a box on the floor and left there for a good hour or two. The nurses here come to expect this situation, and carry on like it's no big deal. Well, I'm sure they think it's a big deal, but if they got caught up in every situation like this, they'd always be upset.

The day went on and I watched a c-section and thank God this baby survived and so did the mother. I then saw another birth and this babe and mother also both survived. In Canada there is much more enthusiasm when a child is born - laughter, happiness, emotions, etc. Here in Ghana that is not the case. The women are very silent, the husbands are not around, women are not given any pain medication and are told to be strong and brave. And when they are not...oh do they get heck from the midwives who yell at them. It's so hard to watch. This would never fly where we come from. And I'd never imagine it here in Ghana because everyone is so kind, but...that's not the case in L+D apparently. I'm not sure if all the midwives are like that, but the 2 I saw today were not very kind.

There is also a lack in communication between the hospital staff and the patients. The patients seemed confused at times, and were not informed of everything that was going on. They were given pieces of information, but it wasn't like how it is in Canada. And when it comes to the women whose child has died in the womb (there was one woman labouring today whose child had already passed), the mother is not told until after delivery. I asked the nurse why this is and she said it is because they are afraid that if the woman is notified before delivery, their emotions and stress and worry might contribute to further maternal complications. If the woman asks though, they will be told.

The doctors were super good to us though! They called us 'friends' - at one point the surgeon said to me "hey friend, what are you up to over there?" This would also never happen in Canada, haha.

Later on in the day there was another c-section that I did not watch, but I was looking for something to do so I wandered into the birthing room. Here I found a doctor and midwife trying to revive the little one. Once again, my heart broke. I can't get over how common death is here! Both of these women whose babies died had come in from the villages and came too late. The hospital staff tried, and tried, and tried with the few resources that they have, to get this little babe breathing again but he eventually passed away. These deaths would have been prevented in Canada.

I hate the feeling of helplessness. No code was called, no one rushed in to help, there was no major equipment brought in...those things don't exist here.

Tomorrow I'm spending the day in an orphanage and I'm hoping for a brighter day than today. Even though I've written about all the negative things today, I really did cherish the smiles that came from the moms whose babies survived, but unfortunately, these smiles were few and far between.

So, I continue, taking it one challenge at a time. Welcome to Africa.

Only in Africa

(That picture below is of random kids. It just goes to show how we are a magnet for these kids. They all followed us while we were walking to a main road to catch a tro-tro when we were in Kumasi).

Last time I wrote I mentioned we were going to a village for some cultural dancing. Here we are often being honored, and in this case they honored us by giving us a 300cedis (equivalent to about $200 canadian) performance for free! Our instructors 'adopted-son' (Sinbad) from here is a professional dancer and he and his group danced for us for free. These guys and girls were amazing! Loved it! We sat outside in the village and watched with a TON of kids and had a blast. There's always one child who takes the hand of any of us white people and I love it. I sat with a gorgeous girl for a good couple hours. I can't get enough. Taking it all in....

A few days ago Erin and I were walking home from the internet cafe when we ran into this 9year old boy. The kids here frequent this street and there is never a time that we do not run into someone that we met once before. This boy invited us to watch his football (soccer) game so we went and watched yesterday!! I love doing these random things. We didn't know this kid very well, but a few of us made the walk over to the field and watched his game. Oh what was really funny was the cow that gracefully walked across the field in the middle of the play - the kids weren't even phased!! Only in Africa...

Then we were invited over to Sinbad's house for dinner which his Mom made for us. It's called Fufu (spelling?) and is basically mashed yams (the yams here are white - weird!) with a ground nut sauce. You eat it with your hands. It was interesting...not my favourite, but it wasn't too bad! Oh, and I (and others) nearly fell into another open sewer. These are everywhere.

Today we went to the Market here in Tamale looking for some African things. Not all the shops were open so I only bought a couple things but are definitely planning on going back this week! Then we were planning to hit up the swimming pool and could not wait! We got all ready to go and grabbed a cab. We got to the pool only to find a man who informed us that the pool was closed for a few weeks or so, and then proceeded to ask me to be his wife. Sorry buddy, that's not happening. He asked me many times, then he asked all the other 5 girls we had crammed into the cab (there's no rules here - you can fit as many people as you can into these cabs).

After determining that the pool was closed, we tried to drive away and the clutch on the cab was shot. And that road is not frequented by cabs very often. He had to call someone to come pick us up. Poor cab driver couldn't get anywhere! So we sat on the side of the road and waited in the blazing African sun. No big deal. Only in Africa.

Tomorrow we are starting in the hospital. It'll just be a tour for a couple hours. The tour is supposed to start at 9am, but on Ghanaian time that probably means 10am. I'm so stoked to see what it's like!!

I could get used to this lifestyle. Right now we're not living in the poorest of the poor areas. It's so community driven. We run into the same people everywhere and are constantly being welcomed to this country. Random people walk by and say "welcome to Ghana" or "you are welcome". The kids giggle and wave when they see us. We are often being 'hissed' at (it's the way that people here get the attention of another person, similar to us yelling "hey you") by people of every age and sometimes hear "white lady!". The guys who are intrigued by us will join us as we run our errands and ask us question after question about Canada and our perspective on Ghana. Anything goes. Time is of no importance. Just community. Being together. So great. It makes me reflect so much on what life is like in Canada. Our priorities are so different.

I can't even begin to imagine how to 'fix' the issue of poverty. The problem is so big, and the people really have adapted to this lifestyle (I do find the simplicity of their life very attractive). My heart breaks every time I see a child running around with a huge belly (can be indicative of worms, or a diet lacking in protein), coughing like mad (likely a pneumonia, or TB) unable to get medication, etc etc, it's so not right. These issues are huge in the villages (not as common here in the 'city' part). But the situation is so big. So so big. It's mind boggling.

And on that note, it's time to walk home, grab a quick shower, and sleep to get ready for another day in Ghana! Still can't believe I'm here :)

One more pic.

Ah so not pleased! More should've uploaded but just got this one. Gotta run,...got 43 seconds. Bye!!

Pictures...well...that's what I had hoped.

Well folks, I had the intention of posting more pictures but this internet isn't exactly incredible. Nor are the computers. So...that's it!! I really wanted to post some of the kids and of the gorgeous sunset at Cape Coast, but no luck. This one is of my mini-group -- Shawna, Me, Erin, and Jaimee. We are the only four people going to Gushegu in 2 weeks.

Today we're off to a village for some more cultural dances, and then tomorrowe we're getting a traditional dinner meal cooked for us at the same village - our instructor has friends there.

Today we went to Melcom which is like their Wal-Mart, but way less in terms of quantity and quality, obviously. STRANGE purchasing system. You go find what you want, and then you find someone who works there who can write the code for it down on a piece of paper (the products don't have bar codes and the cashiers don't have scanners). They give you the piece of paper with the codes written on it, you put what you want in the basket, give the codes to the cashier who types it in, and then you go somewhere else and get your stuff bagged. Strange.

So random - today we were on the side of the road waiting for people to finish up in the store and some random guy came up to us and was like "I was in the village that you went to yesterday! You danced with us! You guys were hilarious" okay he didn't say those words exactly, but that's what his broken English implied.

I don't think I brought enough sunscreen or bug spray. I wish they sold it at Melcom but they don't...seeing as a) they don't sunburn, and b) they don't use bugspray.

Tamale tends to have two main issues - power randomly turning off (and no one even cares haha) and the water likes to randomly stop working. Both of these things happened last night. Every room has a bucket in it that they tell you to have full at all times just in case the water stops working so that you can still wash your hands and such but ours was only half full, oops. So much for washing my clothes today. I miss running water!! The power went on an hour ago, and hopefully the water starts working today!

Apparently the Tamale hospital doesn't even have running water. I can't imagine. That'll be experienced on Monday! So excited to see how they nurse there.

Mom I know you're worried about my leg but it'll be okay! I'm changing the dressing 1-2 times a day and doing my best to prevent it from getting infected. I'm in good hands here - 17 nurses, so don't worry :)

Gotta run! Hope all is well.

Tamale

So, yesterday we took an 8hr bus ride and arrived in Tamale! This city is quite different from the three other main areas we've been to so far (Accra, Cape Coast, Kumasi). We are further north now, and the weather went from incredible heat humidity with some lush green areas, to intense heat and dryness and very little green.

We arrived at the Catholic Guest House at around 630pm (which is like a motel - 2 people in a room. Super nice people work here and run the Guest House).

Today was an amazing day. There's an organization here that a man named Wali Su began which is called Rural and Social Development Program. He went to school for tourism and wanted to put his knowledge to good use, so he takes people on tours to 3 villages for a fee of 17 cedis (which is around $11 Canadian). He uses the revenue for those villages so they can purchase things for their village like a grinding mill to make shea butter, and one of the villages built a classroom (but now need a teacher). So we went on that tour today from 10am-6pm or so and it was HOT. We didn't bring lunch, and were all incredibly dehydrated, that part was not good. But I LOVED the rest!!

We began at one village where we were shown how they make shea butter (used for lotion, or cooking oil). They take shea nuts, take off a few layers, grind them down, and then add water while mixing for hours and hours, go through a few other steps, and eventually they get the shea butter. Then we got welcomed by the entire village through drumming and the traditional cultural dance! It was amazing!! We all joined in on the dancing and it was a wonderful time. So hilarious. They laughed at us a lot.

It was at this time that a gorgeous Ghanaian child fell asleep in my arms. She was beautiful.

We then carried on to two other villages, at one of them we saw how a spinner makes uses cotton to make thread, and how they make clay pots. These people really do live off the land. It's amazing to see! They all lived in those classic African huts (the temperature is surprisingly cool inside these).

The hardest part of the day was when the kids were all asking us for water. There was TONS of kids. Some of them drank water while we were there, but it was nasty and I would never have consumed any - so sad. So they wanted our pure bottled water and were fighting over it cause they wanted it so bad. So there we stood, pouring water into their mouths one at a time. So sad. So sad. I can't get over it. It's not right that people have to live like this.

It's interesting how in this culture it's okay for men to have a maximum of 4 wives. So, there are more women than men in the villages, and lots of kids. The women are almost all illiterate so they do the traditional rural women jobs like thread spinning, pot making, etc.

Tomorrow we are going to see another village and are apparently going out to an African club just to see what it's like!!

That's all for now!!! I am so in love with Africa and so stoked to see what else it has to offer! On Monday we start in the Tamale Regional Hospital where I will spend 10 days.

Love to all!

Ceaselessly Amazed

(FYI: I realize these posts end up really long! I just find this place so hard to describe in few words, and I don't want to forget details down the road...:)).

This place never ceases to amaze me. Honestly. I cannot get over it. Here, plans are just that, PLANS. They are in no way written in stone, and anything goes. Yesterday was a perfect example.

The plan yesterday (Monday) was to do the Canopy Walk in Kakum National Park in Cape Coast at 9am and then catch the 1pm bus from Cape Coast to Kumasi which would take four hours, and spend one night in Kumasi, and then take a 6 hour bus ride to Tamale today. I have learned that in Africa, nothing goes as planned. This is what actually happened:

After negotiating a taxi price with the drivers for a good half hour (you must set the price before getting in the vehicle because they like overcharging, and we wanted them to drive us around for 4 hours), we were finally on our way to the Canopy Walk. This was AMAZING. Gorgeous rainforest, huge trees, crazy moving walking bridges. Absolutely gorgeous. The photos and video I took do not do it justice. God's creation is beautiful. Here's a link I found that shows some picture:
http://www.mrfs.net/trips/2005/West_African_Coast/Kakum/Kakum.html

We then headed back to the Botel, packed up our stuff quickly, and carried on to the bus station. We showed up 1 hour early like we were told -- got there at noon, the bus was to leave at 1. SURPRISE - the bus came at 3:15. We got to sit in 40+ degree weather for 3 hours. Not a fan. Seriously though, in Ghana, anything goes. Clocks don't matter, we like to call this "Ghanaian time". I am now sunburnt.

Finally we're on our way. These roads are awful. Ridiculous potholes. The kids like to grab sand from around (everything is dirt here) and fill them which is wonderful, but still, they are awful. All we can do is laugh :)

We arrived in Kumasi at around 7:30pm only to find out the hostel we booked in was 35km away from the bus station so we hunted around for a different one...for 18 people...not easy! Finally found a hotel (we splurged and are staying in a hotel - and by hotel, I mean the equivalent of a 0.5 star hotel in Canada). We have AC though, and free internet!

Then we decided to have dinner at around 9pm. We did not leave this restaurant until 12:30am. Food. Takes. Forever. Honestly...it took one girl over 2 hours to get her meal, and the servers don't even care! There is no rush here in Ghana! We learn to wait, and wait, and wait.

Walking back to the hotel, I gracefully fell into a 3 feet deep uncovered sewer that runs alongside the roads here in Ghana. These are everywhere, and if you aren't expecting them and it's dark, you might fall in. And that is what I did. Thankfully it was dry, and thankfully we have a variety of dressing supplies (my leg is in rough shape...rather painful).

And so it goes. After such a long day we opted to stay in Kumasi for two nights instead of one, so we will head north to Tamale tomorrow instead of today. We went to the Marketplace today which is apparently the largest marketplace in the world. It was insanity!! SO busy!! So many people everywhere. We quickly learned that people in Kumasi do not like it when we have our cameras out and actually get mad. I did get a video of the chaos though, pure chaos.

Other than that it's been a pretty slack day. So nice. Definitely needed. I'm pretty excited to get to Tamale tomorrow - we will be staying there for almost 3 weeks (sorry Mom, the itinerary I sent you wasn't correct. I'll try to email you a new one sometime soon...). We haven't really been able to settle yet and feel like backpackers unloading all our stuff, loading it all back up. Settling will be nice.

Main lessons learned so far: patience and looking on the bright side is a necessity here in Ghana, positive attitude is HUGE, watch out for the uncovered sewers, wear more sunscreen, get used to crazy driving, and never complain about the heat.

Lastly, what you see on TV is reality. I have seen harsh poverty and it's rough. So hard to see. The kids are beautiful though and I'm soaking up their smiles!! Seeing them grow up like this and knowing that they will likely stay in this cycle of poverty breaks my heart and brings tears to my eyes. I wish the poverty could just go away.

And on that note, I'm signing off! Time to get my bags organized for tomorrows 830am departure and then head to bed. Here's to hoping the bus to Tamale is on time!!

Love, Lauren

WOW!!!

I can't believe I am writing this right now. I thought this whole Africa thing would hit me once I left my house and headed for the airpot, but to be honest, it still hasn't hit me!! But I love it. Love love love it.

After about 30 hours of travel, we finally made it to Accra, the capital of Ghana, on Friday night at about midnight. Proposals already began at the airport. These guys really have something for white people and don't leave us alone! Grabbing our hands,walking alongside us for a long time, and asking us for our numbers.

From the aiprort, 13 of us, with 26 BIG bags of luggage and all our carry-on's, crammed into a 8 passenger vehicle. It was insane. Wow. But, we've discovered that there are no rules on Ghana roads! None whatsoever! For the most part, we take taxis everywhere and flag them down like we're in New York haha, (they often give us their cell number asking us to call them next time we are going somewhere - it's every taxi driver for himself so they compete for business). There are also tro-tro's but these are bigger vehicles and they will pick up people as they get flagged down and drop off people in the most convenient order for the driver, so we never know how long it will take us to get to our destination. People are constantly honking and driving INCREDIBLY unsafely, but...I'm learning to sit back and try to stay calm. Jaimee took her video camera and filmed the driving here, it's a must see. The only rules are: never stop driving, never yield, never shoulder check, drive really fast, honk you horn a lot, drive on whichever side of the road you want, never give pedestrians the right-of-way, and just get to where you're going as fast as you can in any way you can.

There were quite a few backpackers in the hostel we were staying at in Accra so they gave us good tips like where to buy cell phones, good reliable banks, the best way to get around etc. We stayed in Accra until this morning (right now it is 730pm in Ghana). Accra is a very chaotic city, and I don't think I could have spent much more time there. It is very loud, very busy, and incedibly hectic. This morning we got up at 6 (after about 3.5hrs of sleep, ya sleep is lacking BIG time), and took a bus over to Cape Coast. That is where we are now. We had lunch at the restaurant, and then went to the Slave Castles (WOW...such incredible stories and no one should ever have to be treated that way).

The kids here are beautiful. Absolutely beautiful, and they really love us. They really don't have much though, and it's so sad because they all come up to us asking for money and water etc etc.  Everyone here carries things on their head (even while running!) and walk up and down the streets selling things off the bowl/dish/whatever it is that is on their head. As white people, we cannot get away from everyone trying to sell things to us. Whether it be simple things like mentos and bandanas, to bigger things like cell phones and clothing, we are constantly being bombarded while walking though the streets past all the markets. It's hard to say no, but we can't say yes to everyone.

Water is bought and is rarely ever cold. Beer is cheaper though and cold which is wondeful. Some of the places we stay offer breakfast which is so nice, but we've eaten all our other meals in restaurants. I'm thankful for the granola bars and fruit-to-go's that I packed.

It is HOT. We've all come to accept the fact that we can't care what we look like and we will be sweating 24/7, and showering a few times a day, which only helps for the 2 minutes after the shower. And sleeping with mosquitos nets is not too pleasant but we'll get used to it :)

The place we are staying at right now is called the Hans Botel and is sort of a hotel on water. And...get this...there are crocodiles in the water!! It's crazy. I was about 3 feet from one on the land today.

The Ghanaian people are really quite laid back. Just a much different paced life.

Tomorrow we are taking a bus to Kumasi which will be about four hours. We will spend one night there, and then go another 6 hours or so by bus to Tamale where we will settle for 2 weeks. And...hopefully drop off some medical supplies! Our bags are so heavy!

Okay my one hour is up (but is only costing me about 80cents Canadian :)). I should really get going. And I'm being eaten alive by mosquitos and need to put bug spray on. I do NOT want malaria.

So, take care all!! Hope life is treating you all wonderfully.

Love, Lauren

The Story

Since before beginning the Nursing program in 2006, I knew that UBCO offered their fourth year Nursing students an opportunity to go to Ghana. I knew right away that I wanted to take part in that trip, and have been looking forward to it ever since.

And now...

It is almost here. Completely surreal. Wow.

I will be going with 15 other students and one instructor. We will leave Kelowna at 1030am on January 28th and will arrive in Accra on the 29th at 2130 local time. We will spend 2 nights in Accra, and then head over to Cape Coast where we will go to the slave castles and spend one night. We will then spend a night in Kumasi, and then my mini group of four will break off and move along to Tamale. Here we will complete a 2 week practicum in the regional hospital and in the orphanage. We will then go to Gushegu (a rural village) for 2 weeks where we will do a practicum in an outreach clinic and a small modern hospital (furnished by IKEA!). After that we will have a week of our own travels and the specifics of that will be determined later on. We will return to Kelowna on March 16th at 2100.

Thanks for joining me on this crazy, wild, incredibly exciting, and lifechanging adventure. Hope to keep you all posted as often as I can :)

Love, Lauren

P.S. Here's a map! Gushegu isn't on it but it's northeast of Tamale.