hospitals in ghana. terrifying.
i was forced to go my first week, for mild nausea and inability to stand on my own two feet. it wasn't so bad, i thought, just a little chaotic, and rustic. however, my second experience proved much much more terrifying.
on monday we arrived at the orphanage at 8 am, and were asked to take 3 boys to the hospital. two had problems with their feet, and one was very sick. my roommate piled the three boys into an already crowded taxi, and trekked back across town to the hospital. we got dropped off on the main road, and then walked the rest of the way. the walk was painful, due to the extreme heat, the dust, the lack of water, and the foot injuries which caused the boys to limp in an exaggerated degree the entire way there.
we finally arrived, got the boys signed in, and sad on the bench in the open air waiting area. there were about 5 people waiting in line before us. as we waited, more and more people kept arriving, and cutting in line because their illness was deemed more severe than ours. we waited for over an hour to be seen, but they put "Cool Runnings" on the tv, so it wasn't so bad.
once we got into see the doctor, he quickly assessed the foot issues, and diagnosed them both with what they call "cellulitus" which is not equivalent to ours. it is an infection in the skin on the foot, and causes swelling and extreme pain. both boys were given a prescription for antibiotics. the third boy was sick, and needed a blood test to determine if it was malaria. the woman who handles lab work was the scariest woman i have ever encountered. she was huge and stern, and did not smile. ever. she took the boy, richmond, into the "lab" room, which was a small room behind a curtain, and sat him down. i went in too, because the boy is only about 7, and i thought he might be scared. he was. i was scared. the woman abruptly whipped out a needle, and prepped his vein with a scowl look across her face. richmond got scared when he saw the needle, and started to whimper. she gave him a horrible look of i told him not to look, and to look at me instead. she went to draw the blood, and he tried to stop her with his hand. this made her angry, and she yelled at him again. he cried more, and i told him again to look at me. he finally did, and i held his hand while she took the blood. it was absolutely awful.
as we waited for the results (another hot hour), the other two boys had to get a shot of to prevent infection. this was similar to the blood draw, only they took each boy to the back of a different room, and sat them in a chair, and told them not to cry. they actually said "you are pathetic if you cry. you are a bad bad boy. you are not strong, you are weak". how you do you sit through that, and not say anything. this was an extremely challenging experience; trying to understand the cultural differences, but being so frustrated that this is really how it is, here.
after 4 and a half hours, we got the two boys with "cellulitus" taken care of, and meds to take back to the orphanage, and the other boy was diagnosed with malaria, and most likely hep b. we were told he has to be tested an another hospital for hep b, because they can't test for that there.
overall, i am extremely frustrated by the health system here, and with the treatment of children. i just have to keep reminding myself that this is probably a vast improvement to what is was, years ago, and that there is always room for improvement.
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Friday, January 23, 2009
first impressions.
greetings from ghana! i have arrived. safely. it was a long trek to africa, but everything went fine and i am so happy to be here.
my first few days have been a complete whirlwind of excitement, exhaustion, sweat and sunshine. and i am smiling because i love it so much already. i arrived in kumasi after a bumpy 5 hour bus ride from accra (during which we watched a ghanian film about a little boy impersonating an adult... really strange)and was immediately hit by the hot hot heat. my organization took me to my host family, and told me that my host mom's father had just passed away, so the whole family is at my house. as we pulled up i saw a large house, with about a dozen teenage boys out on the front porch, staring at me. a bit intimidating, but i grabbed my pack, and walked up to say hello. my host mom, felicia, came and greeted me with a huge hug and smile, and ushered me into the sitting room to relax and talk. she called me her daughter, and told me that she is my mother. that i am to be free in ghana, and make this my home. it was so welcoming, and i felt very at ease right away. she showed me to my room, which is very simple; two cots and a plastic chair and table.
i learned that my roommate had already arrived a few days earlier, and is from canada. after i settle in, i was whisked off for "orientation" which basically consisted of taking us out to lunch and showing us where the ATM is. lunch was... interesting... but i ate it, because i refuse to wilt in africa (that's for you family!). after orientation i went home and was immediately shoved in a taxi with my host mom and brother to go to the market to get my dress made for the funeral. they asked if i wanted to come, and i said yes... but i had no idea what i was in for. i had to buy the fabric, pay the seamstress, pick out my design, buy a head-dress and shoes, and give an offering at the service. very expensive. but totally worth it for the cultural experience. after running around town to get everything ready, we came back to the house to meet erin, my roommate, who is just 18. she showed me around the house and took me to the internet cafe before bed.
on sunday, we got ready for the funeral around 10 am, but didn't end up leaving until 1:30. the three other volunteers and i wore traditional ghanian dresses and headdresses, and looked SO white. we all piled into a brothers van and sweat the entire 20 minutes to the funeral. when we arrived, we were told to sit down with felicia's family. everyone was interested in us, especially the camera boys. they held the camera on us for 5 minutes straight, multiple times. a little awkward. felica made an announcement, and had us walk around and greet all the families. later, we were asked to carry presents on our heads, the way africans do, and parade around the crowd. i'm pretty sure we looked ridiculous, but it was really fun. after that, all of the moms came and made us dance, two of the other volunteers were shy about it, but i jumped right in. it was amazing. they showed us how to dance the traditional way, and we showed them some of our moves... and we compromised somewhere in the middle. later, my host dad, nicholas, told us that we stole the show, and that everyone was so happy to see us dance.
the funeral lasted until 10 at night... and then our host brother made us go out to the club, at midnight... until 5 in the morning. it was a very very very long day/night. but it was great. an amazing introduction into ghanian culture.
on monday we started at the orphanage, just learning how to get there (its about a half hour away, and a dollar each way for the taxis), and where everything is. the kids go to school until 2 in the afternoon, so we didn't meet them until tuesday. i fell in love immediately with about half of them. they ran up to me, and the other volunteers, and gave us huge hugs and asked our names, where we are from and then they grabbed our hands and led us around the orphanage. they are so adorable. most are under 10, many under 5, and only a few older ones. on wednesday we spent more time with them, in the afternoon, and brought some coloring supplies and had an impromptu art session, which they loved. it was great, and i am so excited to spend three months with these children.
yesterday i woke up not feeling so great, so my family made me stay home and rest. in the afternoon i was feeling better, so my host parents drove me to the site of the new orphanage (they just bought land to start building a new orphanage with a school attached), i was doing fine until all the sudden, i wasn't. i started to get crazy overheated, and dizzy. i told nicholas that i wasn't feeling well, and that i needed to go back to the car. this would have been fine, except everyone is ghana walks SO slow... so, i didn't make it. i had to squat (i'm so embarrassed, i promised not to squat anymore... but i had to), in order not to faint. finally, my host brother kobie had to carry me, very embarrassing, to the car. my mom told me that i had to go to the hospital, and i said no. she told me that i had to because when you are dizzy it can be maleria. so then i said ok, i'll go. we got to the hospital, and i was barely pulling it together, my mom forced me ahead of everyone else, i felt terrible for cutting, but i think they took pity on the poor weak obruni (white girl), so they let me go first. the doctor just asked me what was wrong, took my blood pressure, and wrote me a prescription for dehydration salts, diarrhea (which i didn't have), and vitamins (which i am taking every day on my own). it was kind of silly, but the dehydration salts made me feel much better. they think i ate something bad, or was just overheated. i'm not sure... but it was a fun little experience, that has kept me from going to work today as well. i have been house-bound, and my family is taking good care of me.
unfortunately, this also meant i couldn't go to the cape coast this weekend with the other volunteers, instead i have to stay home by myself. but i'm sure i'll find something fun to do in kumasi, as there is lots and lots to do.
i am working on uploading pictures, but the internet is incredibly slow here... so i am told you have to do one at a time. i will figure this out as soon as i can, and upload pictures from my first week.
i miss you all, but am SO happy to be where i am.
love,
ashley
my first few days have been a complete whirlwind of excitement, exhaustion, sweat and sunshine. and i am smiling because i love it so much already. i arrived in kumasi after a bumpy 5 hour bus ride from accra (during which we watched a ghanian film about a little boy impersonating an adult... really strange)and was immediately hit by the hot hot heat. my organization took me to my host family, and told me that my host mom's father had just passed away, so the whole family is at my house. as we pulled up i saw a large house, with about a dozen teenage boys out on the front porch, staring at me. a bit intimidating, but i grabbed my pack, and walked up to say hello. my host mom, felicia, came and greeted me with a huge hug and smile, and ushered me into the sitting room to relax and talk. she called me her daughter, and told me that she is my mother. that i am to be free in ghana, and make this my home. it was so welcoming, and i felt very at ease right away. she showed me to my room, which is very simple; two cots and a plastic chair and table.
i learned that my roommate had already arrived a few days earlier, and is from canada. after i settle in, i was whisked off for "orientation" which basically consisted of taking us out to lunch and showing us where the ATM is. lunch was... interesting... but i ate it, because i refuse to wilt in africa (that's for you family!). after orientation i went home and was immediately shoved in a taxi with my host mom and brother to go to the market to get my dress made for the funeral. they asked if i wanted to come, and i said yes... but i had no idea what i was in for. i had to buy the fabric, pay the seamstress, pick out my design, buy a head-dress and shoes, and give an offering at the service. very expensive. but totally worth it for the cultural experience. after running around town to get everything ready, we came back to the house to meet erin, my roommate, who is just 18. she showed me around the house and took me to the internet cafe before bed.
on sunday, we got ready for the funeral around 10 am, but didn't end up leaving until 1:30. the three other volunteers and i wore traditional ghanian dresses and headdresses, and looked SO white. we all piled into a brothers van and sweat the entire 20 minutes to the funeral. when we arrived, we were told to sit down with felicia's family. everyone was interested in us, especially the camera boys. they held the camera on us for 5 minutes straight, multiple times. a little awkward. felica made an announcement, and had us walk around and greet all the families. later, we were asked to carry presents on our heads, the way africans do, and parade around the crowd. i'm pretty sure we looked ridiculous, but it was really fun. after that, all of the moms came and made us dance, two of the other volunteers were shy about it, but i jumped right in. it was amazing. they showed us how to dance the traditional way, and we showed them some of our moves... and we compromised somewhere in the middle. later, my host dad, nicholas, told us that we stole the show, and that everyone was so happy to see us dance.
the funeral lasted until 10 at night... and then our host brother made us go out to the club, at midnight... until 5 in the morning. it was a very very very long day/night. but it was great. an amazing introduction into ghanian culture.
on monday we started at the orphanage, just learning how to get there (its about a half hour away, and a dollar each way for the taxis), and where everything is. the kids go to school until 2 in the afternoon, so we didn't meet them until tuesday. i fell in love immediately with about half of them. they ran up to me, and the other volunteers, and gave us huge hugs and asked our names, where we are from and then they grabbed our hands and led us around the orphanage. they are so adorable. most are under 10, many under 5, and only a few older ones. on wednesday we spent more time with them, in the afternoon, and brought some coloring supplies and had an impromptu art session, which they loved. it was great, and i am so excited to spend three months with these children.
yesterday i woke up not feeling so great, so my family made me stay home and rest. in the afternoon i was feeling better, so my host parents drove me to the site of the new orphanage (they just bought land to start building a new orphanage with a school attached), i was doing fine until all the sudden, i wasn't. i started to get crazy overheated, and dizzy. i told nicholas that i wasn't feeling well, and that i needed to go back to the car. this would have been fine, except everyone is ghana walks SO slow... so, i didn't make it. i had to squat (i'm so embarrassed, i promised not to squat anymore... but i had to), in order not to faint. finally, my host brother kobie had to carry me, very embarrassing, to the car. my mom told me that i had to go to the hospital, and i said no. she told me that i had to because when you are dizzy it can be maleria. so then i said ok, i'll go. we got to the hospital, and i was barely pulling it together, my mom forced me ahead of everyone else, i felt terrible for cutting, but i think they took pity on the poor weak obruni (white girl), so they let me go first. the doctor just asked me what was wrong, took my blood pressure, and wrote me a prescription for dehydration salts, diarrhea (which i didn't have), and vitamins (which i am taking every day on my own). it was kind of silly, but the dehydration salts made me feel much better. they think i ate something bad, or was just overheated. i'm not sure... but it was a fun little experience, that has kept me from going to work today as well. i have been house-bound, and my family is taking good care of me.
unfortunately, this also meant i couldn't go to the cape coast this weekend with the other volunteers, instead i have to stay home by myself. but i'm sure i'll find something fun to do in kumasi, as there is lots and lots to do.
i am working on uploading pictures, but the internet is incredibly slow here... so i am told you have to do one at a time. i will figure this out as soon as i can, and upload pictures from my first week.
i miss you all, but am SO happy to be where i am.
love,
ashley
Monday, January 12, 2009
Going, Going, Ghana!!!
to begin my blog, i'd like to post a few pictures from my send-off party, in hopes that i get the hang of this "blog" business. i'm not too sure how i feel about this business of "blog", but i think it will be the easiest way to share my stories and pictures with you from overseas. and we begin.
most of you probably attended my cleverly named "going, going, ghana!" party (thank you christopher for your witty puns), and even if you didn't, it's fairly self-explanatory... so i'll just recap some of the highlights.
most everyone came dressed in "african" garb, which meant different things to everyone.
there were african treats, and african beats... and even a mosquito net to set the stage. planet earth was showcasing some amazing african photography, and there was an intimate musical performance by my brothers, as promised. 
and although their acoustic-thrown-together-last-minute version of "circle of life" and "the lion sleeps tonight" was pretty awesome, the apes parading through the jungles in the background, on the big-screen tv, definitely stole the show. we had an authentic djembe african drum, thanks to my dad, that was mostly explored by my nephew henry. 
the delicious "we're GHANA miss you!" cake was created by rachel, who came dressed as the ghana flag. this was awesome, and reminded me of my italian flag costume i made extremely last-minute for an olympics party, circa 2006. 
all in all, it was a great party! i had a blast, and i hope you all did too. thanks again for coming to help celebrate with me, and for all of your love and support along the way.
talk to you all from GHANA! peace out for now!!
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