I started this blog with the thought that it would be an organized way to record my time in Ghana and a convenient way for my family to follow my progress. I was pleased to realize that more people have been following my blog than I expected and I have been touched by many of the comments and emails I’ve received. I love hearing things from home. Thank you for your support and keep the messages coming!
To Hugh, Mully, and the GNS girls – good luck this weekend!! As I write this, you are on your way to Osoyoos to compete in the BCs and wrap-up what has been a phenomenal season. I’ll be thinking about you and sending you good vibes. I look forward to hearing about the tournament. Good luck!
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Sunday, May 27, 2007
Weekend away from Cape Coast
We have just arrived back to Cape Coast after a fairly adventurous weekend in which we covered quite a bit of ground. This entry also covers quite a bit of ground and has ended up being fairly lengthy so feel free to skip parts.
On Friday, we headed to Accra with a bunch of the other volunteers from Cape Coast. The eleven of us all piled into a tro-tro for the three-hour journey east along the coast. Tro-tros are essentially rickety, oversized vans with an extra bank of seats and as many people as possible stuffed into them. For long journeys (i.e. several hours along major highways), they seem to be more concerned about safety and require you to actually buy a ticket to reserve a whole seat for yourself. For shorter journeys (up to 30 minute trips around town and the surrounding areas) you can just hail down a tro-tro and try to cram yourself into any remaining space. We’ve all had some fairly uncomfortable trips of sitting half on a seat and half on someone else’s lap.
Once in Accra we checked into our hotel (hotel is a fairly generous term here) and then headed off to the Projects Abroad party. Projects Abroad has volunteers placed all over Ghana – in Accra, Cape Coast, Kumasi, and the Akuapem Hills. About seventy-five volunteers were there altogether. I met four girls who are living up in the hills and are from Oakville, Ontario. I mentioned that I was in Oakville in 1998 for a soccer tournament hosted by St. Mildred’s and (it is such a small world) it turns out that the four of them actually go to St. Mildred’s. None of them were at that CAIS tournament though – not only do they not play soccer but they also informed me that they were only in grade two back in 1998. I suppose that makes sense - they are only 16 now and that tournament was almost 10 years ago (wow!). The party was fun and we went out dancing with the other volunteers afterwards. Apparently, the Accra volunteers go out every night – one of the several reasons I’m glad I’m in Cape Coast.
Early Saturday morning we all piled into a tro-tro again and headed up to the Akuapem Hills. Once we got out of Accra the drive was spectacular (though it still doesn’t rival Cathedral Grove and Cameron Lake on the way up to Port Alberni). From the highway, the view looked out over green rolling hills and all the way back to overpopulated Accra. The hills have the potential to appeal to tourists and looks like they already have as there are several enormous mansions built into the hillside with incredible views.
We stopped in Aburi to visit the wood market, which consists of about fifty stalls on either side of the road all selling stunning pieces of handcrafted wood – masks, statues, drums, chairs, tables etc. I bought a few pieces and am already wishing that I could carry back more. After a few hours at the wood market we headed to the Aburi Botanical Gardens. We ate lunch there but were too tired to fully take advantage of the gardens (again, they were pretty, but really can’t compare to Butchart Gardens back home).
After the Botanical Gardens, our plan was to head past Somanya, to the Agomanya bead market, but we were told that it is only open on Thursdays. So, we set out for Boti Falls instead. It was quite a trek to get to the falls. We rocketed along unpaved roads in a taxi for about thirty minutes before we reached a camping ground, which serves as a base for visiting the falls. I felt like we were at the beginning of some horror movie as the taxi abandoned us and we walked into this isolated, bizarre, little community.
We planned to spend the night at the falls, so a man showed us the room that they have available for guests. For 50 000 cedis (about $6) altogether, four of us shared this questionable room with two beds and a really sketchy bathroom. The waterfalls fully made up for the slightly sub-par accommodation though. We descended about two hundred stairs to reach the base of the 30 metre high waterfall. There is a pool of water at the base, which is safe for swimming. The falls aren’t as powerful as they would normally be because the rainy season has only just started. This turned out to be a good thing though as we were able to stand right under the falls. The water was refreshing and, after 10 minutes of being washed by the cool water, I felt completely clean for the first time since I got here.
We had a long sleep on Saturday night, went in the falls again on Sunday morning, and then began the long journey back to Cape Coast. We had a thirty minute taxi ride to Koforidua, a 2 hour tro ride to Accra, and another 3 hour tro ride finally back to Cape Coast. That considerable amount of time in a moving vehicle was less dull than you might think. We passed through many small towns that we wouldn’t have seen otherwise and I find that everything here, from the landscape to the buildings to the people, is so different from back home that the time passes fairly quickly as you try to take everything in.
It was really nice to return to Cape Coast. As we drove through it, I was surprised to realize how familiar it seems now. It has really begun to feel like my Ghanaian home. I am so glad that I chose Cape Coast. Accra is far too big, too crowded, and too pushy for me to feel comfortable. The Hills were beautiful but uncomfortably isolated – it would be an interesting experience to live in a truly rural community but I felt a certain level of panic as my cell phone signal vanished and the distance to civilization increased. Cape Coast strikes a very good balance, with the luxuries of communication and other conveniences but without the overwhelming size and population of a big city.
On Friday, we headed to Accra with a bunch of the other volunteers from Cape Coast. The eleven of us all piled into a tro-tro for the three-hour journey east along the coast. Tro-tros are essentially rickety, oversized vans with an extra bank of seats and as many people as possible stuffed into them. For long journeys (i.e. several hours along major highways), they seem to be more concerned about safety and require you to actually buy a ticket to reserve a whole seat for yourself. For shorter journeys (up to 30 minute trips around town and the surrounding areas) you can just hail down a tro-tro and try to cram yourself into any remaining space. We’ve all had some fairly uncomfortable trips of sitting half on a seat and half on someone else’s lap.
Once in Accra we checked into our hotel (hotel is a fairly generous term here) and then headed off to the Projects Abroad party. Projects Abroad has volunteers placed all over Ghana – in Accra, Cape Coast, Kumasi, and the Akuapem Hills. About seventy-five volunteers were there altogether. I met four girls who are living up in the hills and are from Oakville, Ontario. I mentioned that I was in Oakville in 1998 for a soccer tournament hosted by St. Mildred’s and (it is such a small world) it turns out that the four of them actually go to St. Mildred’s. None of them were at that CAIS tournament though – not only do they not play soccer but they also informed me that they were only in grade two back in 1998. I suppose that makes sense - they are only 16 now and that tournament was almost 10 years ago (wow!). The party was fun and we went out dancing with the other volunteers afterwards. Apparently, the Accra volunteers go out every night – one of the several reasons I’m glad I’m in Cape Coast.
Early Saturday morning we all piled into a tro-tro again and headed up to the Akuapem Hills. Once we got out of Accra the drive was spectacular (though it still doesn’t rival Cathedral Grove and Cameron Lake on the way up to Port Alberni). From the highway, the view looked out over green rolling hills and all the way back to overpopulated Accra. The hills have the potential to appeal to tourists and looks like they already have as there are several enormous mansions built into the hillside with incredible views.
We stopped in Aburi to visit the wood market, which consists of about fifty stalls on either side of the road all selling stunning pieces of handcrafted wood – masks, statues, drums, chairs, tables etc. I bought a few pieces and am already wishing that I could carry back more. After a few hours at the wood market we headed to the Aburi Botanical Gardens. We ate lunch there but were too tired to fully take advantage of the gardens (again, they were pretty, but really can’t compare to Butchart Gardens back home).
After the Botanical Gardens, our plan was to head past Somanya, to the Agomanya bead market, but we were told that it is only open on Thursdays. So, we set out for Boti Falls instead. It was quite a trek to get to the falls. We rocketed along unpaved roads in a taxi for about thirty minutes before we reached a camping ground, which serves as a base for visiting the falls. I felt like we were at the beginning of some horror movie as the taxi abandoned us and we walked into this isolated, bizarre, little community.
We planned to spend the night at the falls, so a man showed us the room that they have available for guests. For 50 000 cedis (about $6) altogether, four of us shared this questionable room with two beds and a really sketchy bathroom. The waterfalls fully made up for the slightly sub-par accommodation though. We descended about two hundred stairs to reach the base of the 30 metre high waterfall. There is a pool of water at the base, which is safe for swimming. The falls aren’t as powerful as they would normally be because the rainy season has only just started. This turned out to be a good thing though as we were able to stand right under the falls. The water was refreshing and, after 10 minutes of being washed by the cool water, I felt completely clean for the first time since I got here.
We had a long sleep on Saturday night, went in the falls again on Sunday morning, and then began the long journey back to Cape Coast. We had a thirty minute taxi ride to Koforidua, a 2 hour tro ride to Accra, and another 3 hour tro ride finally back to Cape Coast. That considerable amount of time in a moving vehicle was less dull than you might think. We passed through many small towns that we wouldn’t have seen otherwise and I find that everything here, from the landscape to the buildings to the people, is so different from back home that the time passes fairly quickly as you try to take everything in.
It was really nice to return to Cape Coast. As we drove through it, I was surprised to realize how familiar it seems now. It has really begun to feel like my Ghanaian home. I am so glad that I chose Cape Coast. Accra is far too big, too crowded, and too pushy for me to feel comfortable. The Hills were beautiful but uncomfortably isolated – it would be an interesting experience to live in a truly rural community but I felt a certain level of panic as my cell phone signal vanished and the distance to civilization increased. Cape Coast strikes a very good balance, with the luxuries of communication and other conveniences but without the overwhelming size and population of a big city.
Thursday, May 24, 2007
End of week
Friday is a holiday (African Unity Day) so we all have the day off tomorrow. On the last weekend of every month, Projects Abroad hosts a party for all the volunteers in Ghana. The one for this month is on Friday night, in Accra. We plan to make a weekend out of it: head to Accra during the day, go to the party tomorrow night, and then visit the Aburi wood market and a bead place on Saturday. It should be good.
Obstetrics this week was okay. I didn’t enjoy it as much as Radiology, but it was still interesting. Compared to Pediatrics and Radiology, the Obstetrics department was huge. There are almost forty beds (Pediatrics had twelve, and Radiology had one small waiting room), and every bed is full. The women in the beds are the ones who have paid for their health insurance or can afford the medical bills. One of the doctors showed us a hallway and small room (closet, really) where they put the women who can’t pay for treatment. It’s both sad and shocking to see women with their very small newborn babies lying on the dirty floor of this hallway. As he pointed at them the doctor accused many of them of faking poverty in order to get out of paying medical bills. Appallingly, he said that they send someone from the hospital home with them to check that they are actually too poor to pay. What a stunning display of faith in people.
The cases varied to some extent with some women in the hospital for ovarian cysts, some with uterine fibroids, some with newborn babies, and a few others with a range of things. Doing Radiology before Obstetrics was a good idea, as we saw ultrasounds of many of these cases last week. I watched a procedure for uterine fibroids (definitely no embolization here) but sadly, or maybe not, didn’t get to see any births.
On Wednesday we did a medical outreach session at Lady Heike School. The kids were adorable, as usual. Again, we went with a nurse who spoke to them about personal hygiene and then we dressed minor wounds.
Obstetrics this week was okay. I didn’t enjoy it as much as Radiology, but it was still interesting. Compared to Pediatrics and Radiology, the Obstetrics department was huge. There are almost forty beds (Pediatrics had twelve, and Radiology had one small waiting room), and every bed is full. The women in the beds are the ones who have paid for their health insurance or can afford the medical bills. One of the doctors showed us a hallway and small room (closet, really) where they put the women who can’t pay for treatment. It’s both sad and shocking to see women with their very small newborn babies lying on the dirty floor of this hallway. As he pointed at them the doctor accused many of them of faking poverty in order to get out of paying medical bills. Appallingly, he said that they send someone from the hospital home with them to check that they are actually too poor to pay. What a stunning display of faith in people.
The cases varied to some extent with some women in the hospital for ovarian cysts, some with uterine fibroids, some with newborn babies, and a few others with a range of things. Doing Radiology before Obstetrics was a good idea, as we saw ultrasounds of many of these cases last week. I watched a procedure for uterine fibroids (definitely no embolization here) but sadly, or maybe not, didn’t get to see any births.
On Wednesday we did a medical outreach session at Lady Heike School. The kids were adorable, as usual. Again, we went with a nurse who spoke to them about personal hygiene and then we dressed minor wounds.
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
STORM!!
I think it’s safe to say that the rainy season has officially started. We had an impressive storm on Monday morning and then again last night. The rain here is nothing like at home though; it’s more like Ontario summer storms (or, at least how I remember them). The rain tends to come in a downpour for a few hours and then stops, rather than drizzling constantly for days. The rain has a great warning system too. The temperature drops by a very noticeable, and appreciated, several degrees and the wind picks up. When this happens you know you’ve got less than five minutes to find shelter before you’re drenched.
On Tuesday nights all the volunteers go to Grant’s (the Cape Coast director) for a quiz night/movie. The sky was flashing with lightning, strobe light style, all evening. It was about half an hour into the movie when the temperature dropped and we decided to get out of there. Grant’s is about a twenty-minute walk away from our place, down these really dark dirt roads. Nicole and I seemed to be the only ones who urgently wanted to get home. We pulled ahead of the others by speed walking, trying to ignore the really creepy shadows and rustling in nearby bushes. As we rounded a corner we felt a cold blast of wind and both broke into a run, in our flip-flops, for the last kilometer or two back to Philo’s house. And, thank you soccer fitness, we made it inside the house just before the downpour started.
It was good fun! I love storms and it’s not everyday that you get to sprint through the rain with lightning and thunder around you while people laugh and clap for the running obrunis. Fun fun!!
On Tuesday nights all the volunteers go to Grant’s (the Cape Coast director) for a quiz night/movie. The sky was flashing with lightning, strobe light style, all evening. It was about half an hour into the movie when the temperature dropped and we decided to get out of there. Grant’s is about a twenty-minute walk away from our place, down these really dark dirt roads. Nicole and I seemed to be the only ones who urgently wanted to get home. We pulled ahead of the others by speed walking, trying to ignore the really creepy shadows and rustling in nearby bushes. As we rounded a corner we felt a cold blast of wind and both broke into a run, in our flip-flops, for the last kilometer or two back to Philo’s house. And, thank you soccer fitness, we made it inside the house just before the downpour started.
It was good fun! I love storms and it’s not everyday that you get to sprint through the rain with lightning and thunder around you while people laugh and clap for the running obrunis. Fun fun!!
Sunday, May 20, 2007
Cape Coast Castle and Elmina
FANTASTIC weekend! Nicole arrived on Saturday after staying an extra day in Accra to wait for the luggage that the airline lost - not the way I’d like to start a trip, but she seemed unfazed. Kate, Tamsin, and I went to meet her in town and then the four of us headed up to do the guided tour of the Cape Coast Castle.
Brief history of the Castle: It is believed that a Swedish fort, built in 1653, was the beginning of the Cape Coast Castle. Cape Coast was captured by Britain in 1665 and the fort was expanded to be of similar size to the Dutch fort at Elmina (a nearby fishing town). Sometime between 1760 and 1795, the Castle was expanded again and became, more or less, the structure that still stands today. Cape Coast was founded as a small fishing village but grew into a hugely important trading port along the coast – it was at the heart of the trans-Atlantic slave trade in the 1700s and would hold up to 1500 people in the dungeons.
The Castle was…odd. On the one hand, it provides an incredibly picturesque view with the whitewashed walls standing out against the bright blue water and colourful coastline of fishing boats. On the other hand, the dungeons are creepy and it’s disturbing to consider the horrors that occurred for so many years, in the very space that we walked through. There are separate male and female dungeons and you can see lines on the walls marking the levels that their excrement reached as they were held captive. Ironically, a church was built directly on top of these dungeons and the slaves would often hear the singing and praying from people above them. The part of the tour I found the most disturbing though was a so-called “condemned cell” – a small room with no ventilation in which thirty people would be packed and abandoned until they all suffocated. People would return three days later to pull out the dead bodies. I’m not entirely sure what to make of the Castle. It’s an odd (I can’t think of another word) feeling to stand in the exact spot where so much suffering occurred. Even while considering the horrors though, it’s hard not to appreciate the spectacular view – green trees, blue water J.
For Nicole’s first night we went to the nearby STC (bus) station where they have a big screen TV and bar outside. I love the atmosphere there! They were playing the fourth Harry Potter movie, but you couldn’t hear any sound from the movie because the 80s/90s pop music was so loud. For 10 000 cedis (just over US $1) you can get an absurdly large beer from the bar. It’s definitely the coolest gas station/bus stop I’ve ever been to!
On Sunday we went to Coconut Grove Beach Resort in Elmina. Elmina was stunning. I definitely want to go back there and explore the town at some point. The 15 minute drive there was amazing too – on one side of the road you can see white sand beaches, crashing waves, and palm trees while, on the other side, people live in tiny huts of mud and straw. Elmina appears to be a smaller version of Cape Coast and, though founded 700 years ago, it still remains a fairly small fishing village. The Coconut Grove Beach Resort was really pretty and very resort-y. We quite easily could have been sitting on a beach in Mexico. It was nice to get away for a day though (and for a shower!!).
All in all it was a relaxing weekend and Nicole seems to love it here already.
Brief history of the Castle: It is believed that a Swedish fort, built in 1653, was the beginning of the Cape Coast Castle. Cape Coast was captured by Britain in 1665 and the fort was expanded to be of similar size to the Dutch fort at Elmina (a nearby fishing town). Sometime between 1760 and 1795, the Castle was expanded again and became, more or less, the structure that still stands today. Cape Coast was founded as a small fishing village but grew into a hugely important trading port along the coast – it was at the heart of the trans-Atlantic slave trade in the 1700s and would hold up to 1500 people in the dungeons.
The Castle was…odd. On the one hand, it provides an incredibly picturesque view with the whitewashed walls standing out against the bright blue water and colourful coastline of fishing boats. On the other hand, the dungeons are creepy and it’s disturbing to consider the horrors that occurred for so many years, in the very space that we walked through. There are separate male and female dungeons and you can see lines on the walls marking the levels that their excrement reached as they were held captive. Ironically, a church was built directly on top of these dungeons and the slaves would often hear the singing and praying from people above them. The part of the tour I found the most disturbing though was a so-called “condemned cell” – a small room with no ventilation in which thirty people would be packed and abandoned until they all suffocated. People would return three days later to pull out the dead bodies. I’m not entirely sure what to make of the Castle. It’s an odd (I can’t think of another word) feeling to stand in the exact spot where so much suffering occurred. Even while considering the horrors though, it’s hard not to appreciate the spectacular view – green trees, blue water J.
For Nicole’s first night we went to the nearby STC (bus) station where they have a big screen TV and bar outside. I love the atmosphere there! They were playing the fourth Harry Potter movie, but you couldn’t hear any sound from the movie because the 80s/90s pop music was so loud. For 10 000 cedis (just over US $1) you can get an absurdly large beer from the bar. It’s definitely the coolest gas station/bus stop I’ve ever been to!
On Sunday we went to Coconut Grove Beach Resort in Elmina. Elmina was stunning. I definitely want to go back there and explore the town at some point. The 15 minute drive there was amazing too – on one side of the road you can see white sand beaches, crashing waves, and palm trees while, on the other side, people live in tiny huts of mud and straw. Elmina appears to be a smaller version of Cape Coast and, though founded 700 years ago, it still remains a fairly small fishing village. The Coconut Grove Beach Resort was really pretty and very resort-y. We quite easily could have been sitting on a beach in Mexico. It was nice to get away for a day though (and for a shower!!).
All in all it was a relaxing weekend and Nicole seems to love it here already.
Friday, May 18, 2007
Frustrations Mount
Today we had our second outing for the medical outreach program. We went to the Abura Literacy School again. Last week just two volunteers went (me and Brad) but with all of the new arrivals in the last while we had five volunteers there today. Kate and I took care of the kids with ringworm while the others dressed minor wounds. To welcome the volunteers the whole school (about 50 children) got together and sang several songs for us.
I can quite easily say that the most amazing thing about this place is the children. They are all so curious and so sweet. They have the most beautiful smiles and they give them so freely. It’s amazing to walk down a road and have a child from the other side of a busy street call out “hey obruni!” with a wave and a huge grin. You really can’t help but grin and wave back – which makes them really excited and they shriek and wave even more energetically as if some rare animal has just performed an extraordinary feat just for them.
Yesterday I asked Grant (the Cape Coast director of this organization) to speak with Nancy about having me start work there. I had thought that I would work at the hospital in the mornings and the orphanage in the afternoon or maybe, to really fill my days, get to the orphanage in the early morning to help the kids get ready for school, head to the hospital for a few hours and then return to the orphanage when the kids get home. It looks like none of that will happen now, thanks to Nancy. Grant told me today that Nancy doesn’t want me to work there. She provided the bullshit (excuse me) reason that she only wants volunteers who have come straight from home, not volunteers who have been in Ghana for a while already. Unbelievable. Just utterly unbelievable.
It doesn’t help that she and Grant are somewhat friends and that Grant was reluctant to push her on this. Apparently, I’m not even allowed to go in the afternoons to help out Laura (the new and only volunteer there right now). I was frustrated yesterday when I couldn’t think of a more significant way to help the children, and now I’m not even allowed to see them.
I cheered up after talking to Hugh and receiving a very welcome phone call from my Mom (sorry you two, I should stop having these phone conversations with you when I’m feeling really low). I then spent the rest of the afternoon wandering around town. The long walk calmed me down and I felt a certain sense of accomplishment in suddenly being able to find my way around a place that, not too long ago, was entirely foreign and overwhelming. Also, there’s nothing like being greeted by happy, grinning children to raise your spirits.
Next week I hope to start in Obstetrics.
I can quite easily say that the most amazing thing about this place is the children. They are all so curious and so sweet. They have the most beautiful smiles and they give them so freely. It’s amazing to walk down a road and have a child from the other side of a busy street call out “hey obruni!” with a wave and a huge grin. You really can’t help but grin and wave back – which makes them really excited and they shriek and wave even more energetically as if some rare animal has just performed an extraordinary feat just for them.
Yesterday I asked Grant (the Cape Coast director of this organization) to speak with Nancy about having me start work there. I had thought that I would work at the hospital in the mornings and the orphanage in the afternoon or maybe, to really fill my days, get to the orphanage in the early morning to help the kids get ready for school, head to the hospital for a few hours and then return to the orphanage when the kids get home. It looks like none of that will happen now, thanks to Nancy. Grant told me today that Nancy doesn’t want me to work there. She provided the bullshit (excuse me) reason that she only wants volunteers who have come straight from home, not volunteers who have been in Ghana for a while already. Unbelievable. Just utterly unbelievable.
It doesn’t help that she and Grant are somewhat friends and that Grant was reluctant to push her on this. Apparently, I’m not even allowed to go in the afternoons to help out Laura (the new and only volunteer there right now). I was frustrated yesterday when I couldn’t think of a more significant way to help the children, and now I’m not even allowed to see them.
I cheered up after talking to Hugh and receiving a very welcome phone call from my Mom (sorry you two, I should stop having these phone conversations with you when I’m feeling really low). I then spent the rest of the afternoon wandering around town. The long walk calmed me down and I felt a certain sense of accomplishment in suddenly being able to find my way around a place that, not too long ago, was entirely foreign and overwhelming. Also, there’s nothing like being greeted by happy, grinning children to raise your spirits.
Next week I hope to start in Obstetrics.
Thursday, May 17, 2007
Week in Radiology and Human Service Trust Orphanage
The rest of the week in Radiology went well and was really interesting. It’s odd to have the work in the department come to a stand still as the power goes out several times a day and all the machines turn off. The hospital doesn’t have any running water at the moment either. I watched one of the X-ray technicians prepare a barium sulfate solution with an old rusty spoon and a cup that he rubbed “clean” with his grubby hands. I think the solution is probably gross enough as it is, without considering the unsanitary conditions in which it was prepared.
Dr. Sahid continued to be fantastic throughout the week. He was really pleased to hear that my dad is a Radiologist and proceeded to call me his “daughter in Radiology” for the rest of the week. He really was keen to sit around and “shoot the breeze” (more than most, and often with a patient sitting in the room waiting for an ultrasound) and we had several discussions with him about religion, feminism, politics, and the customs in Egypt as compared to Canada and the UK.
Maira has been back in Cape Coast this week after picking up her fiancé, Brendan, at the airport last weekend. Brendan and his friends were the main contributors of the money that Stefanie and Maira have been spending on things for these kids. It’s nice that Brendan has been able to see the orphanage and he has been just as amazing as Maira in interacting with the children. On Wednesday I was around as Maira and Brendan brought tupperware containers stuffed with goodies for the kids. Everyone got one container with a toothbrush, toothpaste, soap, washcloth, underwear, T-shirt, and some candy. Maira and Brendan also mentioned that they have money left over and they’d like to pass it onto me in case there’s anything the kids need.
I really wish there was something more I could do for the kids. Stefanie and Maira have done so much already. Nancy (the woman who runs the orphanage) is a truly awful person and makes it hard to give the children possessions as she just stores them away in a locked room. Maira and Brendan have theorized (correctly, I think) that she keeps new donations of things locked away so that the orphanage looks like it’s in a poor state and visitors will sympathetically hand over cash which she can use on herself. It’s a terrible thing to think of anybody, but I believe this is true for Nancy.
On Wednesday she verbally lashed out at the kids: threatening to kill one of them and calling all of them ungrateful. And this was in English! Who knows what she says to them in Fante – a language none of the volunteers speak. Stefanie witnessed Nancy’s husband drinking all the time and saw him threaten the children with a stick while Veronica says she saw Nancy’s son hitting some of the boys. The orphanage is equipped to run really well. There is plenty of rice and meat that should be fed to the children but it just sits there. The six-year-olds are the same size as Philo’s youngest daughter, two-year-old Kookwa. There is a whole second floor of the orphanage that the children never go up to and that is, according to other volunteers, filled with toys and books that have never been used. Someone said that they saw a bike and many brand new board games hidden up there. It baffles me that anyone could have all these supplies and deliberately deprive children.
I really wish there was something else I could do but I am at a loss as to what, specifically, could make a difference for these kids. Obviously, what they need most is to be taken far away from Nancy and her family. An orphanage like this has the potential to do so much good. It would require relatively little effort to establish a routine and keep these children healthy and happy.
As Brendan and Maira left the orphanage for the last time yesterday they gave Nancy a crucifix as a reminder of them and told her that “God is watching you, and so are we.” I know they’ll both be back here.
Dr. Sahid continued to be fantastic throughout the week. He was really pleased to hear that my dad is a Radiologist and proceeded to call me his “daughter in Radiology” for the rest of the week. He really was keen to sit around and “shoot the breeze” (more than most, and often with a patient sitting in the room waiting for an ultrasound) and we had several discussions with him about religion, feminism, politics, and the customs in Egypt as compared to Canada and the UK.
Maira has been back in Cape Coast this week after picking up her fiancé, Brendan, at the airport last weekend. Brendan and his friends were the main contributors of the money that Stefanie and Maira have been spending on things for these kids. It’s nice that Brendan has been able to see the orphanage and he has been just as amazing as Maira in interacting with the children. On Wednesday I was around as Maira and Brendan brought tupperware containers stuffed with goodies for the kids. Everyone got one container with a toothbrush, toothpaste, soap, washcloth, underwear, T-shirt, and some candy. Maira and Brendan also mentioned that they have money left over and they’d like to pass it onto me in case there’s anything the kids need.
I really wish there was something more I could do for the kids. Stefanie and Maira have done so much already. Nancy (the woman who runs the orphanage) is a truly awful person and makes it hard to give the children possessions as she just stores them away in a locked room. Maira and Brendan have theorized (correctly, I think) that she keeps new donations of things locked away so that the orphanage looks like it’s in a poor state and visitors will sympathetically hand over cash which she can use on herself. It’s a terrible thing to think of anybody, but I believe this is true for Nancy.
On Wednesday she verbally lashed out at the kids: threatening to kill one of them and calling all of them ungrateful. And this was in English! Who knows what she says to them in Fante – a language none of the volunteers speak. Stefanie witnessed Nancy’s husband drinking all the time and saw him threaten the children with a stick while Veronica says she saw Nancy’s son hitting some of the boys. The orphanage is equipped to run really well. There is plenty of rice and meat that should be fed to the children but it just sits there. The six-year-olds are the same size as Philo’s youngest daughter, two-year-old Kookwa. There is a whole second floor of the orphanage that the children never go up to and that is, according to other volunteers, filled with toys and books that have never been used. Someone said that they saw a bike and many brand new board games hidden up there. It baffles me that anyone could have all these supplies and deliberately deprive children.
I really wish there was something else I could do but I am at a loss as to what, specifically, could make a difference for these kids. Obviously, what they need most is to be taken far away from Nancy and her family. An orphanage like this has the potential to do so much good. It would require relatively little effort to establish a routine and keep these children healthy and happy.
As Brendan and Maira left the orphanage for the last time yesterday they gave Nancy a crucifix as a reminder of them and told her that “God is watching you, and so are we.” I know they’ll both be back here.
Monday, May 14, 2007
Radiology Rules!
As I mentioned in the last entry, I will be spending this week in Radiology. Today was great! I find it amazing that an Egyptian Radiologist working in Ghana has so much in common with most Radiologists that I know back at home. Dr. Sahid clearly loves his work, loves the variety in his work, is more than happy to have students around so he can share his wealth of knowledge, and he seems to like nothing more than to sit around and “shoot the breeze.”
The Radiology department obviously isn’t much like the ones at home. They have one ultrasound machine, a few X-ray machines, and a room for fluoroscopy. I spent the day in the ultrasound room with Dr. Sahid. With a few exceptions, the people who come into Radiology here are really sick. Most people can’t afford health care (they’ve just recently introduced health insurance but require people to pay for a year’s insurance in one lump sum so few can actually afford it) so they let the disease progress way too far. Today we saw a lot of tumors and malignancies that are way too far gone to do anything about. One woman came in with a mass on the side of her neck/face that was the size of a small soccer ball.
Dr. Sahid is great and takes the time to explain each case and draw diagrams of the anatomy. The bits and pieces of vocabulary that I’ve remembered from anatomy and physiology are proving to be very useful. Maira gave me a pile of anatomy flash cards (450 of them…wait till you see these Katie! We can use them if either of us become anatomy LAs next year) that I have been reviewing and that have been helpful.
I had a good weekend with some of the volunteers. We went to Kakum National Park and did the canopy walk on Saturday. The canopy walk consists of a bunch of walkways suspended in the trees about 30 m above ground. It was quite cool and I got some good photos. On Sunday we went to Anamabo Beach and lazed around reading books.
Well, I think that’s it for an update for now. I hope everyone at home is well. I miss you guys!
The Radiology department obviously isn’t much like the ones at home. They have one ultrasound machine, a few X-ray machines, and a room for fluoroscopy. I spent the day in the ultrasound room with Dr. Sahid. With a few exceptions, the people who come into Radiology here are really sick. Most people can’t afford health care (they’ve just recently introduced health insurance but require people to pay for a year’s insurance in one lump sum so few can actually afford it) so they let the disease progress way too far. Today we saw a lot of tumors and malignancies that are way too far gone to do anything about. One woman came in with a mass on the side of her neck/face that was the size of a small soccer ball.
Dr. Sahid is great and takes the time to explain each case and draw diagrams of the anatomy. The bits and pieces of vocabulary that I’ve remembered from anatomy and physiology are proving to be very useful. Maira gave me a pile of anatomy flash cards (450 of them…wait till you see these Katie! We can use them if either of us become anatomy LAs next year) that I have been reviewing and that have been helpful.
I had a good weekend with some of the volunteers. We went to Kakum National Park and did the canopy walk on Saturday. The canopy walk consists of a bunch of walkways suspended in the trees about 30 m above ground. It was quite cool and I got some good photos. On Sunday we went to Anamabo Beach and lazed around reading books.
Well, I think that’s it for an update for now. I hope everyone at home is well. I miss you guys!
Friday, May 11, 2007
End of my first week!
Today we began a public health outreach program to the schools. We went to one school in a poor community and dressed minor (though infected) wounds, and treated many of the kids for ringworm. It was interesting and, though the work was very simple, it was nice to get some hands-on experience. Before I left the hospital this morning I introduced myself to the Egyptian Radiologist, Dr. Ahmed Sahid. He seems great and is keen to talk to students so that’s where I will be next week.
Yesterday two kids died at the hospital – one child who really hadn’t seemed that sick on rounds and another little baby who was very ill. It’s sad to see children dying of such unnecessary causes. The baby must have died sometime in the night; by the time they realized that she had passed she was already cold.
Yesterday evening I went with Stefanie and Maira to the orphanage again so that Stefanie could say good-bye to the children. Maira has had them rehearsing “Lean on Me” and they all sang that to Stefanie yesterday, along with some other songs, to say good-bye. The kids are amazing. Stefanie and Maira were both crying and even I (who, admittedly, can be a bit of a suck – but I’ve only been here one week) was choking back the tears. Stefanie has done so much for them and is determined to do all she can from home as well. She left early this morning with Maira – the two of them will spend a night in a hotel in Accra before Stefanie flies home Saturday night.
Tonight we got an impressive storm – tons of rain and the sky flashed bright pink with lightning. It was quite cool and I’m hoping that this does something to improve the power outages and lack of running water.
Yesterday two kids died at the hospital – one child who really hadn’t seemed that sick on rounds and another little baby who was very ill. It’s sad to see children dying of such unnecessary causes. The baby must have died sometime in the night; by the time they realized that she had passed she was already cold.
Yesterday evening I went with Stefanie and Maira to the orphanage again so that Stefanie could say good-bye to the children. Maira has had them rehearsing “Lean on Me” and they all sang that to Stefanie yesterday, along with some other songs, to say good-bye. The kids are amazing. Stefanie and Maira were both crying and even I (who, admittedly, can be a bit of a suck – but I’ve only been here one week) was choking back the tears. Stefanie has done so much for them and is determined to do all she can from home as well. She left early this morning with Maira – the two of them will spend a night in a hotel in Accra before Stefanie flies home Saturday night.
Tonight we got an impressive storm – tons of rain and the sky flashed bright pink with lightning. It was quite cool and I’m hoping that this does something to improve the power outages and lack of running water.
Wednesday, May 9, 2007
General update
Today and yesterday I spent the morning in the Pediatrics ward of the hospital. We followed the doctors around on their rounds and then sat in on their clinic. The doctors are two women from Cuba who have a limited grasp of English. This language barrier makes it a little hard to understand what’s going on. Though English is the official language of Ghana, it is really only spoken by those who have been educated. The people who do speak English have a wide range of abilities with the language and all have very thick accents, which also makes it hard to understand. Most of the kids come in with malaria or anemia, or both.
In the afternoons, I have followed Stefanie and Maira to Hans cottage (a pool and restaurant) where we have taken the children at the orphanage. They had a great time in the pool and then they were treated to a big meal of spaghetti and fries in the restaurant – that’s some food that I would have loved to eat.
The food hasn’t really been agreeing with me. I think it’s partly due to the heat but also to the fact that the food is so foreign. We have been eating Ghanaian versions of Western dishes, but it’s really not the same. I couldn’t possibly eat a real Ghanaian dish. With the heat and the smells of open sewers and urine everywhere, it is really hard to choke down food.
It is so unbelievably dirty everywhere. I don’t think I’ve seen a proper garbage can since I’ve been here. The garbage is just strewn about everywhere and sometimes in huge piles on a street corner. The sewers are all open and reek really badly. In town you can see chickens and goats walking and eating in the sewers – sort of removes the mystery of why people get sick eating meat…ugh. The beaches have the potential to be stunning – they are all white sand beaches with great crashing waves and a blissful breeze – but they are covered in garbage and feces from people who use them as their toilet. One of the other volunteers was trying to get a scenic picture and afterwards realized that she’d also captured a man having his early morning bowel movement, toilet paper roll and magazine in hand…gross.
Having said all this though, I’ve been amazed at how quickly I’ve felt more comfortable here. The Sampson family have done all they can to make me feel at home and Stefanie and Maira have been great with immersing me in Ghanaian culture. I’ve been quite lucky and am surprised at how quickly you can become used to the heat, lack of running water, intermittent electricity, and being covered in a constant layer of filth and sweat. The mosquitoes are not nearly as bad as I expected. They are supposed to get worse when the rainy season picks up, but still, I think that these people don’t know what Ontario mosquitoes are like.
In the afternoons, I have followed Stefanie and Maira to Hans cottage (a pool and restaurant) where we have taken the children at the orphanage. They had a great time in the pool and then they were treated to a big meal of spaghetti and fries in the restaurant – that’s some food that I would have loved to eat.
The food hasn’t really been agreeing with me. I think it’s partly due to the heat but also to the fact that the food is so foreign. We have been eating Ghanaian versions of Western dishes, but it’s really not the same. I couldn’t possibly eat a real Ghanaian dish. With the heat and the smells of open sewers and urine everywhere, it is really hard to choke down food.
It is so unbelievably dirty everywhere. I don’t think I’ve seen a proper garbage can since I’ve been here. The garbage is just strewn about everywhere and sometimes in huge piles on a street corner. The sewers are all open and reek really badly. In town you can see chickens and goats walking and eating in the sewers – sort of removes the mystery of why people get sick eating meat…ugh. The beaches have the potential to be stunning – they are all white sand beaches with great crashing waves and a blissful breeze – but they are covered in garbage and feces from people who use them as their toilet. One of the other volunteers was trying to get a scenic picture and afterwards realized that she’d also captured a man having his early morning bowel movement, toilet paper roll and magazine in hand…gross.
Having said all this though, I’ve been amazed at how quickly I’ve felt more comfortable here. The Sampson family have done all they can to make me feel at home and Stefanie and Maira have been great with immersing me in Ghanaian culture. I’ve been quite lucky and am surprised at how quickly you can become used to the heat, lack of running water, intermittent electricity, and being covered in a constant layer of filth and sweat. The mosquitoes are not nearly as bad as I expected. They are supposed to get worse when the rainy season picks up, but still, I think that these people don’t know what Ontario mosquitoes are like.
Monday, May 7, 2007
Start of work
Yesterday, Sunday, was a fairly lazy day. In the morning, Paakow showed me how to do the washing. In the afternoon, Stefanie and Maira organized some painting with the neighbourhood kids. We painted thank-you cards for their friends back home who donated money (more on Stefanie and Maira later in this entry).
Central Regional Hospital: I had my first day of work today. My first impression of the hospital was that it really is fairly modern; the buildings actually look newer than some hospitals at home. But, they just don’t have the equipment to do much. On our tour of the hospital today we were shown the mortuary. I have never seen a morgue in Canada, so a Ghanaian morgue was probably not the best example to start with. Like many things here, it was filthy with a sickly number of flies milling about. Our tour guide gladly showed us the room for the autopsies and the room where the bodies are brought in, both were covered with dried blood. The freezer room is definitely a sight I could have done without. The bodies were piled on top of each other on their freezer drawers, with three “fresh” bodies in the middle of the room. The first thing I saw as we walked in was a fat black arm sticking out from under a metal box. Our guide lifted the box to reveal a large, naked, dead black woman and then asked Brad (another volunteer who started at the hospital today too) if he fancied her. The lack of respect for the dead is amazing in this situation, especially given how religious and respectful the Ghanaian people usually are. We were extended an invitation to watch an autopsy tomorrow, but there is no way I could stomach it; the smell of the bodies today in the heat was more than enough. Tomorrow we start in the Pediatrics department and meet the doctors for rounds.
Human Service Trust Orphanage: The orphanage that Stefanie has been working at is very poorly run and the kids have very little. So, Stefanie and Maira have raised a bunch of money from their friends in Austria and New Zealand and have bought the kids bunk beds, sheets, towels, bowls and cups, and food. Of even greater value though, they have spent hours with them every afternoon working on homework, playing, and teaching basic social skills. These kids are so far behind where they should be; a good comparison can be made with the neighborhood kids who come by to hang out with the “obrunis” (white people). We finished at the hospital early today so I went along for the afternoon and helped deliver rice, chicken, and fish to the orphanage. Tomorrow and the next day we hope to take the kids to a pool. The kids are gorgeous and really respond well to the presence of volunteers. Today we had them writing thank-you letters to the people who donated money. The notes will go into the cards that we painted yesterday. Stefanie and Maira have really done amazing things with these kids and they certainly bring a different level of experience and maturity in handling these placements. It’s too bad that they’re both leaving so soon and I won’t get to spend more time with them.
Last night I went out for a drink with Veronica (the other volunteer at our house; there are four of us right now) and got to meet the other volunteers with Projects Abroad. They all seem really nice. I was mildly surprised to find out that most of them are British and are here as part of a gap year before University. It is odd to be one of the older volunteers here. They were very friendly though and I like the way Projects Abroad has arranged things so that the people here are always changing. Almost every week someone leaves and someone new arrives.
Central Regional Hospital: I had my first day of work today. My first impression of the hospital was that it really is fairly modern; the buildings actually look newer than some hospitals at home. But, they just don’t have the equipment to do much. On our tour of the hospital today we were shown the mortuary. I have never seen a morgue in Canada, so a Ghanaian morgue was probably not the best example to start with. Like many things here, it was filthy with a sickly number of flies milling about. Our tour guide gladly showed us the room for the autopsies and the room where the bodies are brought in, both were covered with dried blood. The freezer room is definitely a sight I could have done without. The bodies were piled on top of each other on their freezer drawers, with three “fresh” bodies in the middle of the room. The first thing I saw as we walked in was a fat black arm sticking out from under a metal box. Our guide lifted the box to reveal a large, naked, dead black woman and then asked Brad (another volunteer who started at the hospital today too) if he fancied her. The lack of respect for the dead is amazing in this situation, especially given how religious and respectful the Ghanaian people usually are. We were extended an invitation to watch an autopsy tomorrow, but there is no way I could stomach it; the smell of the bodies today in the heat was more than enough. Tomorrow we start in the Pediatrics department and meet the doctors for rounds.
Human Service Trust Orphanage: The orphanage that Stefanie has been working at is very poorly run and the kids have very little. So, Stefanie and Maira have raised a bunch of money from their friends in Austria and New Zealand and have bought the kids bunk beds, sheets, towels, bowls and cups, and food. Of even greater value though, they have spent hours with them every afternoon working on homework, playing, and teaching basic social skills. These kids are so far behind where they should be; a good comparison can be made with the neighborhood kids who come by to hang out with the “obrunis” (white people). We finished at the hospital early today so I went along for the afternoon and helped deliver rice, chicken, and fish to the orphanage. Tomorrow and the next day we hope to take the kids to a pool. The kids are gorgeous and really respond well to the presence of volunteers. Today we had them writing thank-you letters to the people who donated money. The notes will go into the cards that we painted yesterday. Stefanie and Maira have really done amazing things with these kids and they certainly bring a different level of experience and maturity in handling these placements. It’s too bad that they’re both leaving so soon and I won’t get to spend more time with them.
Last night I went out for a drink with Veronica (the other volunteer at our house; there are four of us right now) and got to meet the other volunteers with Projects Abroad. They all seem really nice. I was mildly surprised to find out that most of them are British and are here as part of a gap year before University. It is odd to be one of the older volunteers here. They were very friendly though and I like the way Projects Abroad has arranged things so that the people here are always changing. Almost every week someone leaves and someone new arrives.
Sunday, May 6, 2007
Introduction
First night & trip to Cape Coast: I was picked up at the airport by a very cheerful Ghanaian man, Kwame Nyamero (Nyame). Projects Abroad have chosen well for their representative to meet volunteers at the airport; Nyame is outgoing, loves his country, and could not be any friendlier. He makes a very good first impression for Ghanaian people. He took me to the Projects Abroad office in Accra where I spent my first night. Thankfully, the power was on that night so the fan was working and I was able to get some sleep. Early the next morning (5 am; so, 10 pm Victoria time…I’ve never had so much trouble adjusting to a new time zone), Nyame picked me up and we went to the bus station to get a ride to Cape Coast. And, oh luxury (!!!), the bus was air-conditioned. It was lovely. As we drove through Accra, I was quite glad I wasn’t staying. The city is huge and crowded, and I really have no idea where I would begin in trying to find my way around. The busy markets eventually gave way to green countryside and a remarkably nice highway (in far better condition than most at home). The sight and smell of the sea were welcome and relatively familiar senses.
Cape Coast Induction: Grant (the regional director) picked me up from the bus station and took me on a whirlwind tour of Cape Coast. He showed me the bank, a café, the internet place (which was closed), and how to get around with their taxis. We ended with lunch in a Ghanaian café; I had chicken (really good!!) and jollof rice (orange/yellow coloured rice – cooked in tomato sauce or something, I think). The tour was pretty overwhelming and I don’t think I’ll be doing it by myself for quite some time.
Host Family and House: The Sampson family has been really friendly and really welcoming. Philo is the mom. Her brother, Paakow (20+ ish), also lives with them. Jaja (17) is Philo’s daughter and she does all of our cooking. Jojo (9 ish) is Philo’s son and Kookwa (2) is Philo’s adorable little daughter. The family lives in the back apartment of a house with four apartments. Our room is actually quite large with two good size beds, a chest of drawers, and a closet. The bathroom has been the only “shocking” thing to get used to. It is not terribly clean and it is hard to control the bugs in this heat. Also, the frequent absence of running water means that we take bucket showers and the toilet rarely gets flushed. We do get a bit of running water every day so we take the chance to fill a large bucket that we have beside the tub. Bucket showers are actually not bad at all but I have to admit that the lack of toilet flushing grosses me out a bit. The power goes out frequently (one of the reasons the internet may not be working) so eating in the dark has been another thing to get used to.
There was a party at my host family’s house last night – an early going-away party for Stefanie and Maira (two other volunteers here) who will both be leaving within the next two weeks. There were a lot of Ghanaian people there and I was introduced to a lot of people and names that I won’t remember or recognize (meeting people was made more difficult because the lights were out for a lot of the party). I met the volunteers staying next door as well: Will and Hannah. They seem really nice but will also both be gone within the next two weeks. It’s scary to think that in two weeks I’ll be the oldest volunteer in this little area.
Cape Coast Induction: Grant (the regional director) picked me up from the bus station and took me on a whirlwind tour of Cape Coast. He showed me the bank, a café, the internet place (which was closed), and how to get around with their taxis. We ended with lunch in a Ghanaian café; I had chicken (really good!!) and jollof rice (orange/yellow coloured rice – cooked in tomato sauce or something, I think). The tour was pretty overwhelming and I don’t think I’ll be doing it by myself for quite some time.
Host Family and House: The Sampson family has been really friendly and really welcoming. Philo is the mom. Her brother, Paakow (20+ ish), also lives with them. Jaja (17) is Philo’s daughter and she does all of our cooking. Jojo (9 ish) is Philo’s son and Kookwa (2) is Philo’s adorable little daughter. The family lives in the back apartment of a house with four apartments. Our room is actually quite large with two good size beds, a chest of drawers, and a closet. The bathroom has been the only “shocking” thing to get used to. It is not terribly clean and it is hard to control the bugs in this heat. Also, the frequent absence of running water means that we take bucket showers and the toilet rarely gets flushed. We do get a bit of running water every day so we take the chance to fill a large bucket that we have beside the tub. Bucket showers are actually not bad at all but I have to admit that the lack of toilet flushing grosses me out a bit. The power goes out frequently (one of the reasons the internet may not be working) so eating in the dark has been another thing to get used to.
There was a party at my host family’s house last night – an early going-away party for Stefanie and Maira (two other volunteers here) who will both be leaving within the next two weeks. There were a lot of Ghanaian people there and I was introduced to a lot of people and names that I won’t remember or recognize (meeting people was made more difficult because the lights were out for a lot of the party). I met the volunteers staying next door as well: Will and Hannah. They seem really nice but will also both be gone within the next two weeks. It’s scary to think that in two weeks I’ll be the oldest volunteer in this little area.
Friday, May 4, 2007
Departure Day
May 3rd came up quickly! I am writing from the Amsterdam airport where I have another four hours until my flight leaves for Accra. It is 9 am here in Amsterdam (midnight at home). I left Victoria at 7 am yesterday morning, had a brief lay-over in Toronto, and just got off the 7+ hour flight to Amsterdam. The flight to Accra is about six and a half hours and I'll go back a few time zones again. Amsterdam is 9 hours ahead of Victoria time; Accra is 7 hours ahead (I think). I'll be in Accra at 6 pm tonight (that'll be 11 am Victoria time).
I think I spend one night in Accra before taking a 3 hour bus ride west along the coast to Cape Coast. In Cape Coast, I'll meet the Sampson family and Maira (the other volunteer staying with them). By the end of the weekend, I will be officially introduced to my home for the next two months!
I think I spend one night in Accra before taking a 3 hour bus ride west along the coast to Cape Coast. In Cape Coast, I'll meet the Sampson family and Maira (the other volunteer staying with them). By the end of the weekend, I will be officially introduced to my home for the next two months!
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