Megan has a birthday, Chad falls asleep, and we all dance

Sunday in Tamale (July 12) began with sleeping in! Sleeping in for us was about 7:30 a.m. At breakfast that morning we all sang Happy Birthday to Megan, and we practiced our church songs so that we were fresh for the service. The church we attended was the one affiliated with our partner we worked with up north. It was actually in the same compound as the hotel that our partner runs and which we stayed at, so we didn’t have far to walk to church. When we got there we joined in on one of the Bible study meetings, which was discussing angels and demons (somewhat fitting considering the conversations we had as a group on the spiritual world earlier that week). Some of us interns had befriended one of the hotel staff (well, more than one). But one guy in particular we had talked to quite a bit, and we had told him the night before that we were singing at church. He had told us he was excited to hear us, but what he failed to mention was that he was the praise team leader for the church. We were shocked! The music was great—the joy and fervor with which the churches here praise the Lord is really infectious. We (the interns) actually ventured out of our seats that Sunday to join the dancing up front. It was really special to be a part of that.

All dressed up for church!

After church that day we had lunch and then were planning to head to the pool for a while in the afternoon. Before we left for the pool Laura and Andrew arrived! It was awesome to see them. John ended up staying at the hotel instead of going to the pool since he had left his swimsuit in Accra. We were all sad that he didn’t go, but we managed to have some fun anyway! We met up at the pool with the “Great White Chief of the North” (David) and his wife and children. The weather was pretty cloudy and looked like rain so we didn’t know how much time we’d have to swim. After a few hours of splashing around and tossing a beach ball back and forth we noticed some lightning and decided it might be a good idea to head out soon. As we were going to change it started raining a LOT. By the time we were ready to go it was pouring so we ran to the van as fast as we could to avoid getting drenched.

 
That evening we were meeting David and his family at a restaurant called Swad. The menu had so many different choices of food on it and we all had a really hard time making decisions on what to get. They had a lot of Indian cuisine, but also traditional Ghanaian, as well as pizza. And we had heard that all of it was good. So naturally we ended up ordering way too much food. And while we each had a ton of our own food, people who had already had their fill would pass down their leftovers for people to try. It was like a never ending food line! It was really good though.

We had team time that night to talk about some things and spend a little time as a whole group. Andrew and Laura had brought a cake that Eva cooked all the way from Accra for Megan’s birthday! It was super delish, and extra special since it had traveled all the way on a plane. It was heavenly to get a little bit of Eva’s cooking—we all sorely missed it at that point. The interns rounded out the evening by hanging out in Jules and Rachel’s room, where Chad promptly fell asleep. We had another long week of clinic work coming up, so we all went to our own rooms fairly early. Instead of going to sleep early like we should have, Helen, Megan and I stayed up really late talking. It was totally worth getting less sleep, though. When your days with people are numbered you grab onto every opportunity for conversation, regardless of how exhausted you know you’ll feel the next morning.

A few of us meet the chief, I test some urine, and we all eat FanIce

Saturday (July 11) was our final work day of our first week up north. We went through our usual morning routine of breakfast, loading up the truck with meds, team devotions, and driving out to the village. The community that we went to that day was very large. It was nicely spaced out, however, so it didn't feel cramped at all. When we first drove in we saw a fenced in square that was titled a "Sani-Mart". It had examples of different latrine options that presumably could be purchased and installed in someone's home. Some large water tanks (or some other official name) and a well were nearby to where we were working. The space we had was a very nice open area with lots of trees, right in front of the school building.

The doctor area of our clinic!

I got to meet the chief that day! John, Chad, Helen, Jules, and I went with Pastor Paul and Dr. Joe to greet him. I was really excited, even though Sheila had said it was fantastically unexciting. The chiefs always have a linguist that talks for them so that they don't speak directly to people. The chiefs that we've seen, however, have actually talked directly to us or Pastor Paul. I don't know if we've just met more chill chiefs or if more modern chiefs are more relaxed on that rule. They all have had their linguist with them, however. He's the one who led us to the chief's house. We entered into the stooped doorway with our heads bent and squatted down once we were inside the room (your head is never supposed to be above the chief's). The chief was an elderly man who was seated on an old armchair that was placed on top of a concrete dais that was built into the floor. Paul and the chief/linguist exchanged greetings and we left. Sheila was right about it, but it was still kind of cool to experience!

I was shadowing Dr. Joe that day. We saw a lot of the usual (waist pain, malaria, headaches). We did get a few kids who had somewhat high fevers. It's likely they had malaria, and that's what they were treated for. We also administered a urine test for a guy who told us that his urine was orange. It was the darkest urine I have ever seen. It was like a burnt orange color. The test showed that he did have some blood in it. Staci got a very interesting case that day. A little girl (ten years old) that she saw had a huge heart murmur. You could hear it if you put your ear up to her chest, and it was visible to the eye as well. Steve said it was a grade five or six murmur (basically meaning it was really loud).

As we were packing up the cars that day someone decided we should all try out balancing something on our heads. It is unreal the things that the Ghanaian people will carry on their heads. HUGE bowls filled with corn, square boxes filled with breads, packs stuffed with soaps, etc. They maneuver and run and walk with these perched on their heads as if they are simply an extension of their own body. It really is incredible. Sadly the obronis don't seem to have the gift of balancing heavy loads (or any loads, for that matter) on their heads. A few of us could keep it balanced for a few seconds, but the box we were balancing would quickly begin to slide off. The village children who were watching us (and laughing at us) would ask their turn, and these small children would balance and walk with the box, no problem at all. Crazy!

Just chillin with this giant mango

On our way home from the village we stopped for our very first FanIce! It's the most delicious ice cream that traditionally comes in a sachet (basically ice cream in a bag) that you just rip the corner off and eat. Fan Ice is basically the best thing ever, especially when you're hot and sweaty after a long day out in the sun. I still can't figure out if it's actually that much better than regular ice cream or if it's the novelty of it that makes it so good. I think it really is that good. Yum! John and I were in the truck with Adeline on our way back and we stopped to buy mangos for the group. The mangos in Ghana are unreal, ya'll. They are like the size of my head (okay, a bit smaller) and the most delicious things I've tasted in my life. I really wasn't a huge mango fan before this trip, but I could eat it on the daily now. And I have been! Mmmm. The pineapple is amazing here as well. John and I thought it was pretty funny that the fruit stand was labeled "Fruit Sellar". The titles on a lot of places are misspelled and/or really hilarious. I have to consult John's master list for all of them, but here are a few to give a taste: "Living Bread Bread", "God is Perfect Microfinance Ltd.", "Exalted and Purified Tiles", "God is Good All the Time Book Shop". It's a fun car ride pastime trying to see what funny new shop names you can spot to add to the list.

Saturday night was a fun night with the team. We played a whole group game of Mafia. It didn't go quite as well as we thought it would..probably since a lot of the leaders hadn't played before and weren't super sure of what was happening. It was still fun though! The interns had been told earlier in the week that we were expected to sing in church on Sunday morning. So, naturally, we waited until Saturday night to get ourselves together. We spent a solid 30 minutes or more trying to figure out what to do. There was a lot of laughing and distractedness happening though, and we were not focused. It got bad enough that we had a prayer time in order to refocus ourselves. Even so we struggled. Finally we came up with three songs that we could do. "Our God is an Awesome God", "Lord I Lift Your Name on High", and our trusty favorite: "When Peace Like a River (It is Well)". We were having a hard time making things sound right without an audience, so we all charged down the hall and interrupted the leaders meeting time to perform for them. They assured us that we would fine; in previous years they've been pulled up to sing on the spot with nothing prepared. We felt a lot better after that. Singing with the team is always really fun. Sometimes it's really silly, like when we're blasting Taylor Swift in the car; other times it's moments of worship, like when we gather for Sunday evening worship time. There's something about singing that is uniting (even if you're not a superstar at it like John, Megan, and Helen are!), especially when singing hymns and songs of praise. Hearing all of our voices blend together for the glory of Christ is truly special, and it's something I'm going to miss profusely. I'm just so grateful that God gave me the people He did to join my voice with in song here in Ghana. I couldn't have asked for better partners in crime. Even though we've been together a short time, I love them all inexplicably.

I get peed on, John serves as a human mattress, and we all learn some English

On Friday (July 10) we went out to a very beautiful community that had a lot of open space. Upon exiting the car I spotted a woman holding an adorable baby girl. A few of us were saying hello to the mother and the baby, and then the mom just gave the little girl to me. She was one of the happiest babies I'd seen thus far on the trip. She would small and laugh and gurgle at you. So I'm standing there with her and talking to her when all of a sudden I felt something very warm and suspiciously wet on my side. I looked down only to realize that I was being peed on. And let me tell you, that baby girl had a LOT of pee in her little body. She continued to smile at me as her urine went dripping all the way down my leg to soak my sandal as well. Good morning to me!

That was the first time that our team went to greet the chief of the village. Paul, the doctors, Megan , and Rachel went to do that while the rest of us set up and got organized. I was on pharmacy with Rachel and Sheila that day, which was really fun but very busy. The village we were in didn't have many chairs of benches, so the vitals people (John and Jules) mostly stood to do their work. In pharmacy we were mostly standing, so we didn't notice as much. The kids crew (Helen, Chad, and Michelle) decided to do some bracelet making because they had a smaller group of children that morning. Or so they thought. About twenty minutes into their crafting we all saw a giant stampede of uniformed children running at high speed down the road towards us. They made a bee line right to where the other children were. I actually don't know how well that all played out, but no riots ensued so I assume there were no serious problems.

The lovely lady who gave me a golden shower

A while into the morning we noticed that both Doctors Steve and Joe were missing from their tables. A few minutes later we saw them walking back from a house, where they had lanced an abscess on the backside of a little baby. Sheila did some wound care on a man who I believe had burned his leg that day. Other than snippets of what was happening in the actual clinic I missed out on most cases because the pharmacy pretty consistently had a stack of prescriptions to fill and hand out. We gave out a lot of malaria medication that day. In fact we almost ran out of our main adult malaria medication that we had with us! Because we only had one translator on pharmacy we pulled over the teacher (who taught at the nearby school where the mass of children came from) to help translate for us also so we could get caught up. We originally had asked the pastor the translate for us, but his English was a little rocky and as its important for people to understand how to take their medications, he went off to help out Helen and Chad by translating their lessons to the kids instead. Helen told me that when he first came over he asked if they were going to start the story and she said "No, we're waiting for the pastor", to which he replied "I am the pastor!".

In the afternoon we got the opportunity to see a lot of Fulani people (a lot of women with their children). I've written about them before (check out my post "I write about the villages"). It was really cool to be able to administer care to these nomadic people who may not often receive healthcare. They are such beautiful and strong people. Their faces tend to have a longer, thinner shape than the Ghanaians do; they are often marked by faint tattoos on their faces or arms, and the women are always wearing bright colors.

As the day was winding down John found a little friend named Peter. He had actually seen the doctor and was being treated for malaria, and he really wasn't feeling well. He was sitting on John's lap and after a little while he fell right to sleep, his little head drooping to the side. As John resituated him he kept his arms around John. One of the other boys tried to wake him up but he just snuggled closer to John when he touched him. It was one of the sweetest things I've seen! It really is amazing how comfortable some of these children are with us.

When we return to the hotel in the afternoons our routine is generally to sleep, shower, or just relax until dinner at 6:00 and then to hang out either in someone's room or in the hotel restaurant. Sometimes we'll play Mafia, but lately we've been pretty tired so we just share stories or we'll ask a question and everyone will answer it. That night I had put off showering until after dinner so I missed out on a bit of the hang out session. When I showed up to the room where the rest of the interns were I found out I missed out on two Chad stories! The Chad stories thing started on the way up north when we tried to force Chad to tell us about his first kiss; he wouldn't tell us that, but he did tell us another story that was hilarious! Ever since then we'll ask him for a Chad story, and when he delivers it is never a disappointment. So imagine my chagrin when I missed TWO of them! Luckily he recounted them for me, but it was still a bummer. I'd also missed the confusion of my US teammates when the UK folks started talking about wearing a vest under a shirt. (In the UK a vest is what a tank top is in the US). This sort of thing actually happens quite often. The number of differences in US vs. UK English is higher than most people probably realize.

I succeed a goat snatch, Chad gets interrogated, and we all see a birth

On Thursday (July 9) we had a teammate down! Megan woke feeling really awful and so she stayed back at the hotel with Michelle. We set off a few short and were on our way out to the village by 7:30. On the way there I saw a sheep with something weird hanging from its..err, bum. It was sort of pinkish looking. Then I realized there were two newborn lambs on the ground nearby, and that it was probably giving birth to triplets! I was actually really bummed that we didn’t get to see it, I think that would be pretty Dench (a reference for my British pals).

When we first got to the village Sheila and I had to scope out the bathroom situation. It’s actually become our routine to do that. We both have tiny bladders and since we’re all trying to stay hydrated it equals multiple wee trips in a day. Anyway that day we got lucky and easily found some nice bushes and trees a short walk away from the village to serve as our latrine. Score! While I was busy with that and helping set up a couple of things, Jules, Helen, and Rachel had pulled out bubbles to blow for the kids. They absolutely loved it. Every time a new rush of bubbles was released they would jump up and grab them, screaming and laughing. I was on kids that day with Jules, so she and I took over with the kiddos after Helen and Rachel had left.

There was a group of kids that were excited to play with us, but across the road from where we were was a small group who was apparently pretty scared of us. Every time we would look over and wave they would run inside their house and not reappear for a while. The kids who weren’t scared got going with some football, which was really fun. We kicked the ball around for a while and then did story time (that day Jules told the story of the nobleman’s son being healed) and had a coloring session with the kids. They always love getting their papers and crayons, and for some of them it’s a first time experience! I noticed one boy that day who was just sitting there holding his paper and crayon, looking a little lost. After I showed him what to do, though, he really enjoyed it. Anytime we color with the kids they always bring their papers to us after they’ve finished to show us their work. It’s really amazing that a few kind words from a strange white girl can fill a little child’s face with so much joy. I’m so thankful that these kids (well, most of them) invite us so easily and willingly into their lives for the short time that we’re able to be there.

When lunch rolled around I went over to where the van was parked and spotted the tiniest goat I’ve seen on the trip. It was so little! There were two other small ones (but not as small) nearby; as I walked near them the two larger ones ran off, but the little one faltered long enough for me to get him. It took about five seconds for that little cutie to steal my heart. I spent most of my lunch break freaking out about how cute and tiny he was. The goat obsession is real, people. Thank you to my goat obsession partner, Helen, for supporting and encouraging me at all times.

Thursday night dinner turned into an interrogation session for poor Chad. The other interns were still salty that we’d never gotten to hear his first kiss story when we’d heard everyone else’s. In an attempt to right this, Jules, Helen, and I grilled him with a series of yes-or-no questions about the experience until we were satisfied that we could say we knew the story of his first kiss. We also managed to weasel a second kiss story out of him! He (and John too!) do a good job of putting up with all of the girl crazy that goes on.

 

Lindsay saves the day, I attempt a goat snatch, and we all eat fishy joloff

Wednesday (July 8) was our first day out in the villages up north. We generally aim to get into a village, get set up, and start working by about 8:30 a.m. To make this happen breakfast is available from 6:00 until 7:00, with an ETD between 7:00 and 7:30. Wednesday's breakfast was a little different. I came down to the dining hall intending to enjoy a coffee, some toast, maybe an egg. In an unfortunate turn of events, the toast turned out to be fish sandwiches. Not my most favorite way to start the day! But at least hot coffee (albeit instant Nescafe) was plentiful.

Wednesday was my first day on vitals. I worked with Helen and Lindsay. The first patient through the line was the chief; Helen and I had a minor moment of panic, each trying to make the other take his vitals. Lindsay saved the day though and did a stellar vital-taking job! It didn't take too long to get the hang of taking down vitals, but it was a little overwhelming when a mom would show up with four or five children. On adults we take BP and pulse, and on kids we take temperature, weight, and pulse.

I had another first also on Wednesday: using a village latrine. These little rooms have no roof, so they tend to be somewhat aired out, and they do get rinsed every now and then. I made Helen go with me in order to guard the entryway. As I was doin my thang, my phone fell out of my pocket onto the ground, which was not only covered with my own urine, but that of previous users. I quickly snatched it up, but then my camera fell out of my other pocket! I had two hands full of electronics, which Helen graciously held for me so I could finish up (truest form of friendship). If I ever meet someone who can use one of these latrines without splashing urine up onto themselves and all over their feet, I probably won't believe it. Another tidbit about latrine usage (which I've mentioned before) is to do your number two business elsewhere. One of our teammates (who shall remain nameless) learned this the hard way. The teammate had a bowel movement in the latrine, and had the unpleasant experience of having to rinse it out the small drainage hole in the wall. That doesn't sound all that terrible, you might be thinking. Ah, but if the latrine were to end up getting a bit flooded and you were standing in a mixture of your own poo, urine, and the urine of others while it slowly drained, you might find it a fairly nasty experience.

 

Moving on from the latrine. All of us are quite taken by the baby goats that we see out in the villages. We've been informed that catching one and getting your photo with it is quite the rite of passage here. Helen and I in particular have taken a liking to the baby goats (and by liking I mean we squeal like fan girls each and every time we spot a baby goat). On Wednesday I had scoped out the goat situation upon reaching the village. I had a very small tan goat in mind to chase down when I had some free time. We had a lull in the vital parade and the little thing was right nearby. I tried, unsuccessfully, to chase it down for a few moments. One of the village women took pity on me and came over to show me how to catch them. The poor thing was terrified and crying for its mother, so I didn't get my photo op then. If you've never heard a kid bleating for its mama goat, let me just tell you that it is a terrible sound. It's LOUD. And grating. And will cause the entire crowd of people waiting at the clinic to look at you and laugh at your sad attempts to catch a baby goat on your own. (For the record, Helen and I caught it later and it was chilled out enough to take pictures with. Okay, okay, the village women caught it for us...).

After a lunch of chicken, joloff rice (with tidbits of fish reminiscent of our breakfast), and soda I was hopping around taking pictures of my fellow interns and teammates doing their work. I came across a ring of our doctors and translators surrounding a girl who was writhing on the ground. Our translator Pastor Paul was speaking in their language, so I had no idea what he was saying. John was nearby and I asked him what was happening. He told me that the girl in the ring was demon possessed and that Paul, who had experience with this, was praying and commanding the demon to leave her. I learned later that the girl had entered the clinic area and Paul called over some of the team to lay their hands on her and pray for her. When they touched her, she began to writhe, her head was rolling, and she dropped to the ground and rolled down this slope, where she began writhing and flipping about in the dirt. This was when I appeared on the scene. After a while Paul and one of the other translators got the girl up the hill and into a chair. We remade the ring around her, and Paul stood near her and continued to speak. There are moments in life when things don't make sense and the only clarity I can conceive is in prayer. This was definitely one of those moments. So as I listened to Paul's commanding voice, and to our teammate Joseph say over and over "Jesus. Jesus Christ. Jesus", I prayed. After a while the girl's head began to roll quite violently. She fell out of her chair and rolled on the ground some more. I could hear Paul asking her what her name was (one of the few phrases I know in their language). Eventually she was able to stand, and walk haltingly away from the crowd. Paul told us later that he followed she and her mother to their house, and when he left her she was laughing and much better. He also told us that as he was asking her for her name she had replied with a man's name, the name of the demon, but that eventually she did respond with her own name.

The whole experience was really mind blowing for me. I feel like I'm still processing it in some ways. Our team actually had a discussion that night at Bible study about the whole situation. We talked about how Western culture wants to ascribe a logical, scientific explanation to any and all ailments that befall people. Controversially, in African culture the spiritual realm plays a larger role. People are more likely to ascribe events to a supernatural cause than those in Western cultures are. We had a lot of discussion about the pros and cons of both cultures.

I write a post about the villages

Before I do any writing about our work out in the villages here in northern Ghana, I want to write a

general overview of what these villages are like. The villages that we are currently serving are all of the same tribe, therefore they speak the same language. Driving out to the villages takes anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour, depending on which village we are visiting. We leave our hotel, driving for a while through the city. Along the sides of the road are many little wooden and tin shanties where people are selling different goods. Some sell clothing, purses, baskets, shoes, fruit. Food stands are also found quite frequently. They may serve a whole chicken that's been cooked up, or some sort of Ghanaian food like banku and fish soup.

Soon we'll turn off onto a less developed road and the landscape shifts dramatically. Instead of the green, blue, yellow, pink, orange of the shacks in the city there is a vast expanse of greens and brown. We drive by many, many agricultural fields. The produce planted here is mainly maize, yams, cassava, and rice. The landscape is dotted by many trees, of which many are shea trees. The fruit produced by these trees is eaten, and the seeds are used for their oil to produce products such as shea butter. Some of these trees have termite hills next to them that can tower over seven feet! There are also a lot of sheep and goats, along with their offspring, that are seen everywhere. We see quite a few in town as well, but the number drastically increases as we leave the city behind. Cow herds are also very common, and occasionally we'll be stopped by a herd crossing the road.

A yam field

Speaking of cows, they are herded by the Fulani people. This is a nomadic group that herds cows throughout Sub-Saharan Africa. At times they will settle in or near a village, resulting in a mutualistic partnership between the Fulani and the villagers. The village benefits from having cows' milk available to them, and the Fulani benefit by having a secure place to settle for a while.

After a while of driving we'll begin to see the mud huts that a village consists of. As you can see from the picture below, they are very simple. Most of them are round structures with a slightly sloped roof. These huts are made out of mud mixed with some cement. If they are made well they can last up to ten years. One family will have a collection of huts that are arranged around a central area which contains a large fire and common area. As far as I've observed so far these circles of huts also contain a little room off to the side with a drain to the outside of the center. This is the latrine, but it is strictly for number one (at least that's what we've been told). Anything other than that, well...go find some privacy and dig and bury.

Many of the villages we've visited also contain a mosque, as this is a very Muslim area of Ghana. Another thing that we commonly see is huge patches of the ground covered in either rice or shea nuts being dried after boiling. There are always a number of large metal bowls that are used for carrying water or food lying around as well. Some villages will have a well for drawing water, or there is one nearby.



Shea nuts drying in the hot sun

The people in the villages are strong, beautiful, and very kind. They are always excited to greet us, although at times the smaller children take some time to warm up to us. The women generally wear a brightly colored and patterned piece of fabric wrapped around their waist as a skirt. They also often have a hair covering (such as a scarf). Most of the women carry a baby or small child on their back, tied to them with a scarf. We also see a decent number of elderly men, and often some younger men as well. Each village has a chief, though some village's chiefs are chief over multiple villages and may not actually reside in the village we are in. If the chief is present and wanting to be seen by us, he is given priority over everyone else. Everywhere we look in the villages we see so many children. It's the custom for women to have many children, and it's evident.

Being in the villages is humbling and eye opening. There are things that we as westerners deem "necessities" that these people have no notion of. Their focus is not on the material, but on the necessary. Family, food, water, shelter. Before I came to Africa I had a mental image of what an African village and the people that lived in them were like (as I assume most who haven't seen them do). Before, I felt a sense of superiority, that I had so much in the way of material goods to offer. I could give clothes, money, food, time. I had an image of people who were unable to care for themselves or provide for their children sufficiently (why else would Africa be in so much need, I would wonder?). Boy, was I wrong. Yes, there is poverty and less healthcare. Yes, there are some who can't, or don't know how, to care for themselves. But God and Ghana are showing me that these people are my family, they are my brothers and sisters. I am not above them. In fact, in many ways, they are much wiser than I am. I'm learning, in the most tangible way, that life is more than things, or money, or success.




John cracks a joke, I give the papers their due respect, and we all get cotton mouth

Tuesday (July 7) ended up being a more relaxed day for all of us. We got to sleep in some and then we had an orientation time with our partner that we're working with up here in the north. They gave us more info on etiquette, etc. One of the tips that we thought was particularly interesting was when praying for someone who is demon possessed, it's imperative to keep your eyes open or they will slap you in the face. They expanded a bit on our lesson the night before about how to act towards a chief as well. We got to meet some of the translators that we're working with, all of whom are super amazing guys. It's really been a blessing to have them with us, not only for the obvious reason that they are our way of communicating to the people, but also for their love for Christ, their enthusiasm, and their knowledge of northern Ghana and the people here.

After our orientation time we said goodbye to our fearless leader, Lee. We were really sad to see him leave. We felt like he was the father of the group! A lot of Ghanaians have asked us for our contact information and we've always had Lee (who stands over six foot) to point to and say "no our dad doesn't allow that". He was the one who taught us how to speak our first Twi (pronounced Tchwee) phrases in Accra. One of his personal favorites is "Ah Dain!" which means "why". We've adopted it a little bit, and every once in a while I'll hear one of my fellow interns saying "Ah Dain! Ah Dain!" (Lee, if you're reading this, we miss you and we are so grateful we got to spend the time with you that we did!)

Lee and us interns!

Lunch was an interesting experience on Tuesday. The hotel hadn't been expecting us for that one meal, so we were served a platter of fish sandwiches and muffins which we were a bit dry. It really was tasty food, but it was a lot of dense breading to eat at one meal. I don't want to say our mouths were as dry as the Sahara but...they were a bit dry! After we had lunch we did a mini clinic at the hotel that we're staying at for the staff here and for some people who came from the surrounding area. I was on pharmacy for the first time that day. I got lucky being introduced to the pharmacy on a slower day. Usually the pharmacy people are working their tails off all day with not much rest. At one point there was a man who needed a shot of ceftriaxone for gonorrhea. He was sitting by the pharmacy with his eyes glued (in what you might say was terror) on Sheila as she prepped the shot. When John realized what Sheila was making up he told her he'd "give it a crack". Sheila replied "no, not the crack". For those of you who don't understand the humor here, ceftriaxone is a shot given in the upper right quadrant of the buttocks.



Steve numbing an abscess before lancing it.

I know I've talked a bit about our clinic setup before, but I'll go into a bit more detail here. We have these papers that we number each day from 1-120+ (the number depends on the number of patients we're seeing on a given day). The papers are quite coveted; they're almost sacred, really. At the registration point someone takes down the patient (or patients, as often we get a mother or grandmother with a group of anywhere from two to five children) name(s), age(s), and the community we're in. Each human that is seen by a doctor MUST have a paper. Once they've gotten their own paper, people wait in line to get their vitals taken (BP, temp, weight, pulse, etc.). They then wait to see the doctor. Because of the paper numbering we do, people are seen in the order that they arrive at the registration table. After they've seen the doctor they take their paper (which now has a diagnosis and prescription on it) to the pharmacy, where they wait for it to be filled. This whole process can take a while at times, but people are always patient and gracious about having to wait.

After dinner on Tuesday night Chad informed Helen, John, and I that he thought someone had broken into he and John's room and was hiding in the bathroom. The three of us went up the stairs Mission Impossible style to check out the scene. Chad had told us that when he came to the room the front door was wide open but the bathroom door was shut. Upon arriving at the room we pushed open the front door and Chad turned on some lights. He and John shoved open the bathroom door to find...nothing. Probably the cleaning staff had left the front door unlatched or something. But amidst this excitement John pointed to the toilet and informed us that that was where "it" had happened. (His first solid poo in a few days time. He'd previously been quite sick and clearly having some bowel issues). We're quite an open group at this point. Apologies to any readers who decided to catch up on the blog during lunch. When the other girls had joined us we played a few games of Mafia before we dispersed for bedtime. While Mafia is a really fun game to play, it sure does bring out the mischievous in each of us. We always have a good laugh at poor Chad when he attempts to defend himself during an accusation. He just can't keep a straight face! It actually seems to be pretty often that his response to being asked if he wants to make a defense for himself is just "no". I think it's hard for us to kill him off, though, as he's really a sweet guy!

Chad tells a story, I buy stale biscuits, and we all go a little crazy

Monday (July 6) came with an early wakeup call at 5 a.m. The night before we had laid out giant rat traps for this rat that some people had seen scuttling around the kitchen. We were really hoping that we'd caught him before we were going to leave, but no such luck. Here's hoping he has been caught in our absence! Michelle was right on time with the van to pick up us and our luggage. We rendezvoused with the boys at Lee and Michelle's, and we departed Accra shortly after 6.
We were told to expect a 12 hour drive. While most of those from the US wouldn't balk too much at a 10 hour road trip, our friends from the UK definitely do. Rachel (one of the UK interns) had done a long road trip before, but John (the other UK intern) had not and as a result spent much time mentally and emotionally preparing for the drive. We passed the time by listening to (and singing along loudly) to a variety of music, talking, and napping. Lee (who was our driver the whole way) was a champ! He sang along with us, and picked out a few of his own songs like "Bleeding Love".

Our fearless leader!

There was a good chunk of the trip when we girls were telling first kiss stories (I know, I know) and we encouraged the guys to share as well. Chad absolutely refused, but John's turned out to be the best story of anyone's in the van! And Chad rewarded us a while later with a smashing story about an unfortunate pick-up line experience. Lee shared about how he proposed to Michelle also, which was fun to hear!

One of the quirks of Ghana that we've noticed is that every now and then a bag of crackers or box of biscuits (especially imported ones) will be in some state of staleness when it is purchased. I experienced my first stale biscuits on our road trip, when I bought some Digestives on one of our stops. Besides our few stops for fuel, snacks, and toilets, we chugged along with no interruptions and ended up taking only 10.5 hours to complete the trip. Oh, I forgot to mention that the doctors, Michelle, and a few other staff people flew north instead of driving with us. So they had all had a late wake-up call, a short plane ride, and an afternoon of relaxing at our hotel by the time we reached our destination. But they’re the ones who really missed out! Our road trip really was fun, and it was sort of a unique thing to be able to experience Ghana by vehicle like that.
 

I think by this point we've all lost a little sanity.

 After everyone was settled into their rooms, we had dinner (all of our meals here are served by the hotel), and then one of Lee’s friends who lives up north came to introduce us to this part of Ghana and give us pointers on how to act respectfully. One of the main things he spoke about was how to act properly in the presence of a chief. Most of the villages we’d be visiting would have a chief (likely that we’d be seeing in the clinic), so it was important information to learn. We haven’t yet been formerly introduced to a chief, but we learned that you’re never supposed to have your head above the chief’s, so it’s proper to squat in his presence and to clap very quietly. Chiefs don’t speak to people, they talk through a linguist who is always with them. The chiefs we’ve seen thus far have seemed (to me) to be a bit relaxed on some of these rules.

It was ironic to hear Lee’s friend talking about how to act towards a chief, because he then revealed that he’d actually been made a chief recently in the area that he lives. Lee jokingly calls him “the Great White Chief of the North” because he is literally the chief of all the white people that live in and come into that area.

 After the talk, the interns came to Meg, Helen, and my room to hang out together for a while before heading to bed. It really is crazy that we’ve only known each other for a week and a half. It really feels like we’ve all been friends for quite a long time. Things that happened last week feel like a lifetime ago. On the other hand, some days it feels like I just arrived in Ghana yesterday. I’m really taken with this place, and the people I’m experiencing it with. Ghana is captivating to me. The Ghanaian people, the land, the “quirks” like stale biscuits and powdered milk, the goats and sheep, everything here seems to draw me in a little more every day. I’m so thankful that I’ve been given the opportunity to have this experience and to make these memories.

I sweat a river, Laura ponders her life choices, and we all eat at DNR

On Sunday (July 5) we attended church at Legon Interdenominational Church (LIC) which is located on the University of Ghana campus. The service was really joyful and inspiring. The Mass Choir sang, which was fantastic. Probably about the first hour of the service was worship, which was led by the choir. Someone in our group commented afterwards that the words we sang were so simple, yet so powerful and full of praise. It really was an experience to be in a church where everyone is dancing—even the offering was danced to the front of church—and so clearly passionate about Jesus. The only negative point was sweating out a couple gallons of sweat during the service! What’s crazy is that right now it’s rainy season in Africa, so it’s not nearly as hot as it gets in February/March.
 
After the service (which was 2 hours 15 minutes by the way) we had lunch at a restaurant called “DNR: Turkish Restaurant”. Earlier that morning I had asked Dr. Joe where we were getting lunch and he said it was some place called “DNR”. Immediately Helen and I both said “Do Not Resuscitate!” Of course we weren’t the first two to say this either. I guess that’s what you get when you’re traveling with a bunch of pre-med students!

 Sunday afternoon was a great relaxation time. We were supposed to all be packing for our trek up north on Monday, but the boys came over to the girls’ house and we spent the afternoon counting medicine and talking. After dinner at Lee and Michelle’s we had a worship time in the living room, with us interns leading everyone in song. It was really a cool time to connect spiritually with the team. Near the end of our worship time Lee shared that he would be leaving the team on Tuesday to fly to the States for some family business. We were all crushed, but we got to say prayers for his journey and we had the promise of a 10+ hour drive up north the next day with him to lessen the tough news!

 
Back at the girls’ house after dinner we had a rough time focusing on our packing! We had an intense Taylor Swift jam session and went dancing around the house to “Shake it Off”. This may or may not have been the moment when Laura questioned what she’d gotten herself into by being our house mom! But even with the Taylor Swift and the M&M’s we broke into, we did eventually get all prepped for our trip the next day.

John eats "Chicken Mexican", Steve grills, and we all jump off a rock

On Saturday (July 4) we went to Till's Beach for a day of fun and relaxation. It was a really great place to recharge from our busy week. We set off pretty early the morning to avoid traffic, and got to the beach around 9:30. We played some football, did some body boarding, swam around in the waves, and some folks did some sunbathing and reading as well.

 

We enjoyed a really nice lunch served by the hotel on whose beach we were visiting. Poor John was feeling pretty sick, but that didn't deter him from ordering a big plate of "Chicken Mexican", a decision which I believe he came to regret. Helen and I shared some joloff rice with our chicken. Joloff rice is a dish served throughout West Africa, though it's done differently in each country. Ghana's version is rice with tomatoes, onions, and often some sort of meat as well. It can be spicy, but the joloff we had that day wasn't at all. We also drank some fresh coconut water with our lunch. I personally am not a huge fan, but it was a cool thing to try!

 

After lunch quite a few of us decided to crash on the beach for a nap. I was awoken from my nap by a large splash of water on my back. When I looked up to see who would dare do such a thing, I saw Michelle! (Michelle is the wife of Lee, who I believe I mentioned before is the Reach Beyond Regional Director of Sub-Saharan Africa). I couldn't resist spreading the mischief, so Steve received some water to the face by me during his snooze.

 

Before leaving, we interns were required to join in on the tradition of taking a photo jumping off a rock on Till's Beach. The rock was quite large, and while we did get a great picture, Megan got a nasty ouchy on her ankle! But have no fear, folks--her foot is still attached and she's doing well! On our way back from the picture-taking, Helen "triple-dog dared" me to run into this circle of Ghanaian girls and start dancing. I told her I'd do it if she did too, so we ran down the beach and started "dancing" (AKA wiggling around like silly white girls) in the midst of this group. After their initial shock, they joined in with us and we had a poppin' spontaneous dance party on the beach! It was really a pretty cool moment--they didn't question it, they just joined in and were yelling and moving around with us. I think that this incident is a cool image of what the Ghanaian people are like in general. All those that we have met have been so welcoming and friendly. They are happy to see us, and are so inviting and kind.

 

We ended our day with a cookout for the 4th of July (hamburgers grilled to perfection thanks to the brilliant Dr. Steve), and a group sing of the Star Spangled Banner. A few games of Mafia rounded out the day as well.

 



Chad enjoys some Charles Dickens

Chai (Lee & Michelle's puppy) gallivanting on the beach!

  

John recovering some strength after his "Chicken Mexican"



The "bromance"

Me spreading the love



The girls! Helen, me, Megan, Rachel, Jules







Helen and I getting down




Rachel sipping coconut water

One of John's infamous selfies

Helen falls in love, I administer a shot, and we all eat banku

So onward we move with the backtracking. Power is running today, so there should be nothing to stop me from catching up completely this time! Yay!

Friday (July 3) brought an early morning. Our takeoff was 6:30. For us at the girls' house this was preceded (once again) by a somewhat late night of chatting. Regardless, we all made departure on time. Our drive was a bit further outside of Accra than it was on Thursday. We decided to pass the time with some singing. Unfortunately our repertoire of songs we all know and sing well isn't HUGE, so we mostly sang "It Is Well With My Soul" on repeat. Lee had told us that if we opened our windows that Ghanaians on the street or in other cars would join us. We tested this out while sitting in some traffic. Unfortunately the gentlemen in the van next to us didn't feel like joining in..but we did get some smiles and a thumbs up at least.

Upon arrival to the village we were greeted by a large group of cows and a young man bathing himself in the community "bathhouse". This was simply four wooden posts with some metal wrapped around. It seems to be a trend that we catch people (men in particular) bathing in very public places. While this instance in the village isn't necessarily one (as he was enclosed in the bathing structure), we did see a man on the side of the highway lathering himself up for an afternoon wash later that day. We also witnessed a bathing taking place behind the gas station that we stopped at on Saturday.

The cows that greeted us.

Anyway, back to Friday! The doctors and pharmacy were able to set up shop in the small village church, while registration and vitals set up right outside under a large tent. It rained a bit off and on in the morning, so having the shelter from it was really nice. I shadowed Steve again, which was quite fun! John was my fellow shadowee that day, though he was stolen away for a while to join the pharmacy team (Rachel and Megan were the pharmacy interns that day). The adorable children were loved on by Chad and Helen all day, and Jules took vitals! From what I was seeing on the doctor side of things, it seemed to be a really smooth day. We saw a lot of people complaining of "waist pain", which is almost always lower back pain. There are also lots of headaches and stomachaches, as well as a fair amount of malaria. Steve and I saw two young men who had what seemed to be STDs. Unfortunately for them this meant a shot of ceftriaxone, which I hear is quite painful. I got to observe Sheila administer the first, and then later on got to administer the second myself! Steve and I also saw a woman with a blood pressure of about 220/180!! (For those of unfamiliar with BP, this is VERY high. Normal is 120/80 range).

Our lunch was served to us by the village.

Banku (on the left) along with the fish stew.

We had banku, which is a mixture of corn and cassava that is pounded into a really thick mixture and fermented for three days. These were served with a sort of fish and okra stew. I was not a fan of the banku, but the stew was quite good. To the chagrin of many of my teammates, however, it didn't seem to agree too well with our fragile obroni stomachs.

Aside from the doctoring that was going on inside the church building, Helen was outside falling in love. She formed a quick bond with an adorable little boy. I also had my heartstrings pulled by a little girl who Steve and I saw, and another little girl attached herself to Jules and wouldn't let go. Megan was also smitten with a little girl, whom she ended up giving her headband to. Chad worked the reverse equation, and had a small mob of children following him around all day.

After returning to the mission house we enjoyed a delicious meal by Eva the Great, and then we headed back to the girls' house for a few games of Mafia. (If you are unaware of what this game is, click here to read about it and learn how to play!). Essentially there is a town vs. a group of mafia. The mafia know who each other are, but no one else is aware of others' identities. The games got quite heated, especially when Helen pulled a stellar performance a few games in, and convinced most of us that she was not mafia when she really was. I was one of those who was absolutely convinced of her identity as a townsperson and as a result she chose to kill me off. I'm still recovering from the betrayal.

I get my hair pet, Jules leads a game, and we all sing some hymns

I'm writing this post with my tail between my legs (much like Max the guard dog when he escaped the gate and ran for freedom only to be caught and chastised by Laura!) as I'm feeling a bit abashed at not having caught up on blogging yet. I am also quite ashamed at how unimaginative my title is. I blame it on my exhaustion from the beach today. For those of you sticking with my ramblings, please bear with me. We're nearly caught up on all the grand adventures in Ghana!

We left off last on Wednesday evening (July 1). After our Bible study we girls went home, readied ourselves for bed, and got to sleep at a respectable hour. NOT. When we're all in a room together, no matter how early our morning wake up call is, we can't resist talking. It's really fun to all be so comfortable and friendly so soon--that is, until our alarms go off at 6:00 in the morning. Thursday we headed off to a village quite near Accra. We set up our clinic area in a shaded spot near the village school. There was also a large grassy field perfect for playing with kids!

The clinic!

I was especially glad about this, as I was on children's ministry with Jules that day. We began to kick a football (soccer ball) around between the two of us and Laura (sidebar: Laura is a missionary in Ghana, and she's our house mom and one of the children's ministry leaders for us!). We attracted a couple of kids, things were going smoothly. And then the schoolchildren went on break. KIDS ON KIDS ON KIDS. We're not sure how many actually attend the school, but at one point I heard from Laura that she'd heard a number like 700 or so from a teacher there. We had two footballs and a beach ball. All three were immediately swept up by different groups of kids. While this was happening, Jules and I were being mobbed by children. We played some different games with them. A modified version of "Duck, Duck, Goose" using the beach ball was really enjoyed, as was a game of "Simon Says" that Jules got going later on. Throughout the day the school had breaks from lessons, so during those times we had the hundreds of children wanting to play with us; at other times it was much calmer, and we were able to do some Bible stories and coloring.

Though it's likely that these kids had seen an "obroni" (foreigner) before, they were really intrigued by our skin and hair. The girls especially wanted to touch and feel our hair. It would start with one child tentatively reaching out to hold my hand. When I made it clear that I was okay with holding a hand, giving a high-five, or a fist-bump, it encouraged the others to crowd in and grab my arms, rub my hands, pet my hair. A few times when I was holding some girls' hands, others would come up to have their turn holding it, but the ones in possession would fight them off. If only I could sprout another arm or two for this trip! The kids were so joyful, and curious, and bold. They are beautiful, inside and out. Recalling their smiling faces brings a smile to my face. It's truly an honor to be someone who potentially leaves a mark on their life.

While Jules and I were sweating all over the place with the kids, our team was working hard on the medical side. Chad was the vital taking champion of the day--he was so diligent about his job, and forged through the day with a lot of determination! John and Rachel (recently graduated from pharmacy school, and in pharmacy school, respectively) again headed up the pharmacy with Sheila (one of our leaders). Helen and Megan shadowed our fabulous doctors. I believe we saw about 140 patients that day.

That evening I was informed that we interns were in charge of heading up a worship time this Sunday evening and we decided to head to the mission office after dinner to practice our singing. Before we got started, however, rain began to fall. Helen, Jules, and I decided to run outside and jump around in it. Upon returning, sopping wet, to the office, we found our fellow interns singing "How He Loves" in the dark (the rain had caused a power outage). We all joined in for what was, in my opinion, a stellar rendition of the song. We went on to sing other worship songs, and Lee broke out the hymnals for us to use as well. We spent a good 45 minutes in the office that evening, praising, laughing, and trying out some really hilarious singing voices. This evening time with my intern family was really special to me. Just as Christ was a relational being, so too are we, and sharing silly moments (like running around in the rain), heartfelt ones (like singing "How He Loves" in the darkness together), and all those in between are not only bringing me closer to my team here, but to my God. Though the acceptance and love I feel from my team is but a glimpse of that which I receive through Christ, it still encourages me to pour out love and acceptance on others, such as the Ghanaian people.

---For those of you who are unfamiliar with the power issues in Accra, let me fill you in. Accra doesn't really have enough electricity. What this means is that everyone is on a schedule for when and how long they receive power. Right now we're on 12 hours with power/24 hours without. We're blessed to have a generator. We do turn the generator off late at night until early morning, however, in the interest of conserving its gas,etc. So right now there's no power, and the generator just shut off (fingers crossed that it was turned off by our night guard and didn't break down)! In addition to this situation, I'm about out of juice on my tablet, which means I'll leave off posting about our final day of clinic this week (Friday) and our day at the beach (today) for tomorrow.---

The Adventure Begins

I can't decide if starting a blog almost a week into my trip is a negative thing (because I've slacked off thus far) or a positive one (because I'm actually doing a blog at all)! For better or for worse, though, here we go...

For anyone who has found themselves here and has no clue what this is about, a quick intro: I'm a pre-med biology undergraduate student and am currently on a month long medical mission trip/internship in Ghana, Africa. I love Jesus, I love medicine, I love Africa (so far), and I am SO excited to be here.

It all began on a crisp June morning in London, England. After traipsing through Europe for a month, I found myself facing my first trip to Africa! At the airport I was greeted with the lovely news that my flight was being put on a different aircraft—the first delay of many that day. Once past security I met up with my first team mate: Helen! Together (along with Staci, who was also on our flight, but whom we hadn’t connected with before the flight), we conquered boarding delays, at least 30 minutes sitting on the tarmac waiting to taxi for takeoff, a long flight “dodging some storms”, at least 40 minutes of circling the Accra airport in Ghana before landing, another hour of waiting for luggage, and FINALLY uniting with team members Lee and Rachel! Lee dropped us girls at the girls’ house, where we had a little celebration for Helen’s birthday (woot!), and all went to bed.

The first two days here in Ghana involved orientation to the program, as well as a tour through the clinic and offices of a partner of Reach Beyond. My fellow interns are amazing human beings, and it was great to get to know everyone a bit in those first few days. Our topic of conversation at meal times mostly focused (and still focuses) on the absolute magnificence of the food that is cooked for us at the mission. Our dearly loved Eva does the cooking and baking, and her praises were and are sung quite often by us interns! In addition to Eva’s cooking, we spend a lot of time enjoying the differences in the English of the UK interns vs. the US interns. While I won’t recount all of our hilarious moments and deep conversations, I will say that God truly knew what He was doing when he brought this team together. We’ve really meshed well as a unit. The ebb and flow of our personalities creates a really great dynamic that involves a lot of laughter, silliness, and singing!

The intern crew! L to R: John, Jules, me (Lauren), Helen, Rachel, Megan, and Chad!

 Our first day of medical work was done in Accra at the clinic of Reach Beyond’s partner. This area is extremely upscale from where we have been since and will be in the coming weeks. It served as a sort of “easing in” to the work for us. Our clinics consist of a team taking vitals and checking people in, the doctors who see the patients and prescribe medication, and the pharmacy which hands out medication and delivers instructions on how to take them. Additionally, we do children’s ministry each day. This consists of telling some Bible stories, playing lots of games with kids, and doing some handwashing/health type lessons. All in all this results in four “jobs” that we interns rotate through: vitals, shadowing doctors, pharmacy, or kids. That first day of clinic I was shadowing Dr. Steve, which was great! My family has known his for many years, so it’s been really special for me to be a part of this trip with him, especially as a student learning from someone to whom I’ve really looked up to in my life. 

Pharmacy! John counts meds while Rachel consults with Dr. Steve.

Before we began working that day we already had a fairly full waiting area. The Ghanaians waiting to be seen stood with us to say a prayer, which included a song of praise before praying. It was really powerful to hear all of those voices singing heartfelt praise to Jesus, and to be reminded that they are our brothers and sisters. After a very busy day (especially for our pharmacy folks!), we finished in the early afternoon, which left us time to shower and relax before another amazing dinner by Eva the Great. At Bible study that evening (which we do every Wednesday) we debriefed from the day, and we found it to be a very successful and smooth day—we gave care to almost 170 patients!

---At this point it is Wednesday evening (July 1). July 2-3 (yesterday and today) involved clinics in two rural areas near Accra. In the interest of keeping my blog posts readable, I’ll stop here and finish July 2-3 in the next post.---