Public Health
I spent one week in the public health clinic at Military 37 hospital.
Day 1: Went with the nurses to a school and we assessed all the children ages 3-5. There were three classes with 60 kids in each!! The nurses did a quick assessment of the head, eyes, hears, skin, abdomen and genitals. Some of the more common findings with these children were dental carries, ringworm, undescended testicles (which the nurses tried to manual descend!) and anemia. The children that had these conditions had to come back to the hospital to be further assessed by the physician. The nurses also did a very quick educational session about proper hygiene. And it was in English!!! So I could actually understand what they were saying.
Day 2: Vaccination day at the hospital. Mom’s brought their babies in to the hospital where they were vaccinated. The babies ranged in age from newborns (or fresh babies as the Ghanaian’s call them) to about 16 weeks. In Ghana babies are given BCG (for TB), Penta (pertussis, diphtheria, haemopholis influenza B, measles and Vitamin A), yellow fever and polio vaccines. The nurses were very surprised when I told them that not all babies in Canada get vaccinated. They say it would be extremely rare for a baby to not be vaccinated in Ghana.
Day 3: Health Baby Clinic: Today mom’s brought their babies in to be weighed, assessed and vaccinated. I was the official baby weigher of the day. I weighed between 100-130 babies in three and a half hours and wow were my arms sore the next day!
Day 4: Healthy Baby Clinic at a maternity clinic on a military base (same as day 3 but fewer babies, good thing!)
ICU/Burns Unit
I spent two weeks in this unit. This unit could probably hold about 30 patients but we only ever had up to 4. It was actually sad that there were all these open beds but no one could ever afford to pay for one. The ICU is about $50 US per night for a Ghanaian and $500 per night for a non-Ghanaian . I was actually very impressed with the ICU, they had beds that could be raised and lowered, running water and even ventilators! In two weeks I think there were about 6 patients. Some of their conditions included cerebral malaria, Guillian Barre’ Syndrome and a patient awaiting pacemaker insertion. It was very frustrating to be in the ICU actually because there were so many open beds and a lot of staff. There were so many people coming into trauma that were critical enough for the ICU but they couldn’t be admitted because they were civilians and they couldn’t afford it.
Interesting Case: A 27 year old man (soldier) came into the ICU after he was allegedly attacked by a group of Nigerians. He ended up with a perforated bowel and also damage to his gallbladder. The real disturbing part of this though was that his penis and right testicle were cut off. He was placed in ICU for protection and the Military Police were posted at the front entrance all day.
Next Week: Mamprobi Polyclinic on the outskirts of Accra
Day 2: Vaccination day at the hospital. Mom’s brought their babies in to the hospital where they were vaccinated. The babies ranged in age from newborns (or fresh babies as the Ghanaian’s call them) to about 16 weeks. In Ghana babies are given BCG (for TB), Penta (pertussis, diphtheria, haemopholis influenza B, measles and Vitamin A), yellow fever and polio vaccines. The nurses were very surprised when I told them that not all babies in Canada get vaccinated. They say it would be extremely rare for a baby to not be vaccinated in Ghana.
Day 3: Health Baby Clinic: Today mom’s brought their babies in to be weighed, assessed and vaccinated. I was the official baby weigher of the day. I weighed between 100-130 babies in three and a half hours and wow were my arms sore the next day!
Day 4: Healthy Baby Clinic at a maternity clinic on a military base (same as day 3 but fewer babies, good thing!)
ICU/Burns Unit
I spent two weeks in this unit. This unit could probably hold about 30 patients but we only ever had up to 4. It was actually sad that there were all these open beds but no one could ever afford to pay for one. The ICU is about $50 US per night for a Ghanaian and $500 per night for a non-Ghanaian . I was actually very impressed with the ICU, they had beds that could be raised and lowered, running water and even ventilators! In two weeks I think there were about 6 patients. Some of their conditions included cerebral malaria, Guillian Barre’ Syndrome and a patient awaiting pacemaker insertion. It was very frustrating to be in the ICU actually because there were so many open beds and a lot of staff. There were so many people coming into trauma that were critical enough for the ICU but they couldn’t be admitted because they were civilians and they couldn’t afford it.
Interesting Case: A 27 year old man (soldier) came into the ICU after he was allegedly attacked by a group of Nigerians. He ended up with a perforated bowel and also damage to his gallbladder. The real disturbing part of this though was that his penis and right testicle were cut off. He was placed in ICU for protection and the Military Police were posted at the front entrance all day.
Next Week: Mamprobi Polyclinic on the outskirts of Accra
Weekend at Wli Falls and Akosombo
We headed out to the mountains for a nice relaxing weekend, so we thought! The craziness started when we were waiting to get a tro-tro to head to the town of Hohoe. We waited in what we thought was a line up but as soon as a tro-tro pulled up the crowd of people just swarmed the vehicle leaving us in the dust. We definitely did not feel like breaking any bones trying to get on this thing. Finally after the same thing happening two or three times in a row, the driver of the next tro-tro actually physically held the crowd back so that we could get on. It was insane, but we were very grateful to this guy for helping us. Then we rode in the back of this crammed, hot vehicle with our huge bags on our laps for four and a half hours straight. By the way, the record for the most people on a tro-tro on our trip so far is 26 people on a 15 passenger vehicle!
After a very long ride we finally made it to the town of Hohoe. From there a nice young man took us to his village (called Liati Wote) that was in the mountains and found us a nice little guest house to stay in for about $3 each. There was a funeral taking place in the village that went all through the night and ended at about noon the next day. The next morning at 5:30 we climbed Mount Afadjato, the tallest mountain in Ghana (885 m). It took us 45 minutes and we were all soaked by the time we got up there. It was so worth it though, the view was amazing. A couple hours later we headed to the village of Wli to climb another mountain. This hike was the highlight of the weekend. It took us about 1.5 hours to reach these amazing water falls. It was probably the hardest hike I’ve ever done, we were actually using vines to climb up some of the steep parts!
After a very long ride we finally made it to the town of Hohoe. From there a nice young man took us to his village (called Liati Wote) that was in the mountains and found us a nice little guest house to stay in for about $3 each. There was a funeral taking place in the village that went all through the night and ended at about noon the next day. The next morning at 5:30 we climbed Mount Afadjato, the tallest mountain in Ghana (885 m). It took us 45 minutes and we were all soaked by the time we got up there. It was so worth it though, the view was amazing. A couple hours later we headed to the village of Wli to climb another mountain. This hike was the highlight of the weekend. It took us about 1.5 hours to reach these amazing water falls. It was probably the hardest hike I’ve ever done, we were actually using vines to climb up some of the steep parts!
We were so happy to reach the upper falls!!!
The next day we headed to the town of Akosombo which is located near Lake Volta, the world’s largest man-maid lake stretching 402 km from Akosombo (according to my guide book). This lake was created in the 1960’s and about 84 000 people lost their homes and had to be relocated. The dam on this lake is 124m high and 368m wide and can generate about 1,012,000 KW of power. We took a small cruise ship called the Dodi Princess. It had a huge buffet and live band. It was nice but way too over priced. We also made a stop to Dodi Island where we were greeted by the community doing anything they could to get our money.
FuFu
Erica and I headed over to my friend Angela’s house for some FuFu which is one of Ghana’s most common dishes. She lives in a little apartment on the army barracks behind Military 37 hospital. Making fufu is a very time consuming process. First we had to pound cooked cassava and plantains into a dough using a wooden mortar and pounding stick. Then a spicy soup was made with goat meat, garden eggs, hot peppers, herbs, spices and tomato. The dough is then placed in the soup and you eat it; with your fingers!!! It was actually really good, but Erica and I have yet to master the art of eating soup with our fingers.
Erica and I headed over to my friend Angela’s house for some FuFu which is one of Ghana’s most common dishes. She lives in a little apartment on the army barracks behind Military 37 hospital. Making fufu is a very time consuming process. First we had to pound cooked cassava and plantains into a dough using a wooden mortar and pounding stick. Then a spicy soup was made with goat meat, garden eggs, hot peppers, herbs, spices and tomato. The dough is then placed in the soup and you eat it; with your fingers!!! It was actually really good, but Erica and I have yet to master the art of eating soup with our fingers.
Riding bikes through Aburi Gardens
Day at Aburi Gardens
Ghana Independence Day Celebration
Day at La Pomme Hotel pool
An Interesting Friend
Weekend at Kokrobrite Beach
Bucket Shower
Finally met someone with the same name as me! Here's my new little friend, Aaron
Flushing the toilet takes work!!!
Celebrating St. Patrick's Day at Ryan's Irish Pub (I had to have mashed potatoes!)
A typical supper (rice, noodles, hot sauces, plantains)
Hi Erin,
ReplyDeleteEnjoying your blog very much sitting home in March..some difference from where you are!
Wonderful pictures...thanks for taking the time to post, so we can all share in your adventure!
Take care...we'll heave a sigh of relief when we know your safely home. Sorry..its an old lady thing.
Gladys
Amazing stuff Erin. We should never take our health care system for granted!
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