Our last week in Accra

7/24/17

Today we visited a fevers unit that primarily serves HIV patients— they also care for any patients who have been diagnosed with a communicable disease, I think. We brought a number of donations and then met with a number of different health care practitioners who work at the unit. The most interesting individual was one of the counseling staff. It is only the second (maybe third) time on the trip that we’ve met someone who is a counselor— and the first time that this was their primary role. It is ironic that a place that constantly talks of fighting stigma has so few counselors to help communities process and talk about why they are dealing with these types of issues. (Although, this is not exclusive to Ghana or any one culture it is still an major issue for many people in the US.)

After lunch we went to a herbal hospital where they only use natural and herbal based remedies to care for patients. It was fascinating to learn about the different ways they try to help their patients— some through teas and concoctions but often through general counseling. Many of the students seemed to struggle with the idea that a gym can be used to help improve the lives of the patients— they kept asking questions like, what would you prescribe the gym to cure? They weren’t always able to think outside a straight line. 

The local lawn mower at the Fever's Unit

After the herbal center we went to the UNFP (United Nations Population Fund— unclear why its not the UNPF…) where we had, what felt like, our third lecture on maternal health in Ghana. It sounded detailed and informative and I think the students were mostly interested… but it was a little too detailed for me.

The group meeting went fine, my group is struggling to work without wifi. They haven’t realized that they have everything they need to complete the project in their notes, heads and with the markers and paper I’ve provided. However, they made it work and have put together a decent power point presentation.

7/25/2017

Today we traveled to the Shai Osu-Doku district, an area about an hour outside of Accra. It’s the first time it has felt like we have truly been outside of the city sprawl (travel days excluded) and the dichotomy is stark. Surrounding the district hospital we’re visiting are long green ridges broken by red swaths of dirt bulldozed by farmers. Along the Ridgeline the horizon is broken by fantastic clumps of trees that rise above the greenery of the other trees. Today we are visiting the Shai Ousu-Doku district hospital which was built last year by a British company. The bright, clean construction stands in contrast to the local buildings we drive by on our way in. The students are in awe of the organization, the new beds, computers and medical equipment. All of the hospitals thus far have had similar patterns— each medical department a bungalow connected by outdoor walkways. The most interesting thing about this new building is that they’ve included housing for the medical team next door to the hospital. The primary staff can all live on campus which allows them to be ready for any emergency at the hospital. Additionally, next door to the pediatric ward is a hostel for any families who need to stay over night. It is the first hospital that we’ve seen that appears to truly cater to the needs of a rural community.

After our tour we head to a local area hotel for lunch. It feels like we’ve walked onto the set of a ghost village from a 1970’s movie. Opaque pink and orange walls clash with bright brass nobs on doorhandles; We walk into a dining room, dimly lit by hazy windows, seats filled only by the bright eyes of the customers and a stuffy hint of banku and plantains. The eery scene, made possible by a black out and the strange silence of the customers feels like a dream or a scene from Pirates of the Caribbean— where everything looks normal until the moonlight reveals the truth. We walk into another empty courtyard, filled with puddles from recent rain and old crescent shaped seats, gaudy in gold and pink before arriving at our tables. The food, as always slow to arrive, is delicious.

Before our day is done, we drive into the country side to interact with the community members with whom we will be helping to build a Child Health Clinic Shed. The red dirt road is pocked with pot holes and small lakes of murky mud— our bus lurches, winding around, over and through each obstacle shoving our stomachs left and right. The shed’s foundation has been laid and the cornerstones are ready for us. We meet with the chief of the village and his two cute children and learn that we will help them put up the roof. The recent wet weather has delayed the drying of the cement but the groundwork has been laid for a full afternoon tomorrow. 

The TA's tend to get a little wacky while waiting for the students...

7/26/17

We traveled back to the Shai Osu-Doku district hospital this morning. The T.A.’s spent the morning working in the hospital office while the students shadowed various offices; two students were able to shadow physicians going on home visits and the other students broke into several smaller offices to shadow different areas of the hospital, including public health, antenatal and postnatal care, psychiatry, family planning, and home visits. In the public health area, we sat with nurses who were in charge of follow-up visits for children aged 0-5. In addition to weighing and administering vaccines, they are responsible for registering newborns, and recording and tracking their growth. They showed the students record keeping methods, and explained the schedule of immunizations that all children in Ghana are supposed to receive. They were able to assist in weighing the babies, administering oral vitamins, and record-keeping. Under the supervision of the nurses, some of the students were able to counsel parents about proper diet, and weather-appropriate clothing.

After another prolonged lunch we worked on the Children Health Shed— primarily by handing the carpenter support beams and the tin roof while other students patched the edges of the concrete. Unfortunately, there were really too many hands to be involved in todays work but everyone had an opportunity to lend a hand and a number of students really got into the work. 

Victoria works on adding rubber washers to each nail for the shed

Bailey passes tin shingles to the carpenter

Ready to hit some nails! (Although we never did get to hammer anything...)

Learning the proper technique for patching the cement

My personal favorite...

7/27/17

It was another early day and long drive to the Shai Osu-Doku district to visit a CHIPS compound (local area clinic), where we donated medical supplies and one group spend most of the day running basic health screening appointments. The other two groups (including mine) returned to the child welfare site to continue work on the shed. After about an hour of mixing cement we started the screening process— basically laying down a fine top layer of concrete for the floor. Shortly after this we spilt up in to two groups and my team headed to a near by church to run malaria tests for the local community. They seemed to really enjoy the process— it’s a fairly basic test— and they were able to get to know the locals and talk to them about basic improvements that can help them avoid being bitten by mosquitoes; stay inside at dawn and dusk etc… We spent the entire morning and most of the early afternoon working on the shed and running the screenings. 

Taking inventory

View from the CHIPS compound

Early morning progress on the shed

Mixing cement...

"Screeding?"

Prepping the test kits

Waiting for a client

The bus ride home felt exceptionally long but we were home earlier than usual which the students utilized to make some gauacamole while working on their group presentations. The T.A. had a short discussion with the director of academic affairs at the University of Ghana which was interesting. I tried to catch up on some writing, explored the local shopping area and dreamed of ice coffee. After dinner my group came to my room to rehearse for their big presentation tomorrow. They were a little nervous but they did well.

Thursday-Sunday: Final Days in Kumasi and onward to Accra again!

7/20/17 

Today was a more relaxed Thursday, followed by a full evening! It started with DeAnna’s lecture on emotional and social wellness. It was quiet well done, alas the students showcased their college level STEM centric ability to read closely and (mostly) missed the key points of social wellness; it is better to live in harmony with your community and to consider the needs of others rather than ONLY oneself. However, given their development it is unsurprising that they would dislike something that challenges them to consider the symbolic relationships we have with our social communities. They have done well in their previous discussions and I have faith that in the years to come most of them will recognize the need to consider the wellbeing of others and their impact on that wellbeing as well as their own.

After the lecture we explored a local market and church. The church was lovely, filled with stained glass and opaque shades of red and brown. The market was overwhelming for many of the students. I took a group in search of ice cream and after two blocks of meandering they were over it. After dropping them off I ventured back into the crowds and found a vender selling ice cream out of a blue cooler, carried of course on his head. I throughly enjoyed the van-ice.  Vanilla ice cream in a bag. It’s quiet fun to eat. You bite a corner off the bag and then squish the ice cream through the corner into your mouth— or onto a cookie which is also delightful.

We had lunch at the guest house and in the afternoon most of the students shadowed various departments at the local area hospital. A few students stayed back with the TA’s and got work done. I was hoping to get a lot of writing done for some of the projects we have here. Alas, it took over an hour and most of my energy to write up my references for two projects. Luckily, I was able to catch up on journaling and edit most of my recent photos so it was a well spent afternoon.

After dinner we went to the Golden Tulip which is a high-class hotel next two a casino with a lovely poolside view. Most of the students spent the evening chatting by the pool and enjoying summer cocktails. However, a few discovered the attraction of the casino, primarily its free drinks. I was thrilled to discover that the inside bar made Iced-Latte’s! This beauty was made with thick, creamy foam and rich milk and came with a delightful, buttery biscuit (cookie).

7/21/17

This morning we got a brief tour of Garden City University College  (GCUC), a private college that trains health care professionals. They primarily train nurses, pharmacy technicians and physicians assistants. (The PA’s are a relatively new type of medical professional in Ghana. They hope that by training PA’s with more specialized skills that they will be able to help provide more coverage by reducing the number of medical staff who leave for higher paying jobs. Many of the students who end up earning their MD’s in Ghana do not stay in Ghana. The PA’s can serve under a doctor but are able to fill most of the need. After three years of serves as a PA they can either specialize in an area or continue on to earn their MD). 

We met with a number of administrators and professors and toured their lab space.  I was a little disappointed we didn’t get to meet with any students. However, it was still an excellent morning. The school was founded recently and they have just graduated their first year of students— 8 students who came in with an International Baccalaureate High School Degrees and were able to skip year one of the core science classes that make up the curriculum.

Michaela is super excited about this lab

The students and two of our hosts at GCUC

For lunch we explored a local area mall. I was happy to discover the local ice cream shop had an  “Cream Ice” cappuccino which reminded me vaguely of a frappachino. I enjoyed it throughly after weeks of “Nescafe” for breakfast. Most of the students had light snacks for lunch because we are going to a Chinese restaurant for dinner. 

This afternoon was quiet enjoyable. We explored the Centre for National Culture which reminded me of a small artisan fair. There were tents filled with carvings, paintings, leather bags and drums. After exploring the various shops we got lessons in beading and painting. The painting group got gourds that we covered in indikra symbols. I attempted to paint the moon and a star. However, the paint did not entirely cooperate. It was a lot of fun and a number of the students are quiet talented.

Tonights dinner was fantastic— some of the best Chinese food I’ve had. There were platters of fried rice, spring rolls, chicken wings, seafood lomein, fried shrimp, steamed vegetables, orange pork… you name it they fed it to us and the students gorged them selves.

7/22/17

Saturday’s thus far have been fairly relaxed. However, due to the usual weekday rigamarole rescheduling we’ve managed to cram a fair amount of activity into a day of relaxation. Our first order of business was the usual morning workout (winnowed down to 3-4 students and two TA’s regularly) followed by breakfast. At which point I then had to wrangle the guest house staff to get them to give me my laundry. 

Our first stop of the day was the Ashanti King’s Palace. It was built by the British to replace the original palace (now the Ghana Armed Forces Museum) which the British had competed into their local fort and imprisoned various Ashanti royals. This Palace primarily serves as a museum to showcase the history of this ancient kingdom, it’s matrilineal line of succession and various artifacts. The building it self was used by three different kings during the 20th century before being turned into this museum. Kings typically do not rule under their own name— they have a naming ceremony using a stool room. In the room are stools with the old kings names. You enter the room in the dark, select the stool and the name that is written on the stool is the name you rule under. There have been 15 kings and as such their are now 15 stools in the room, including a golden stool. If you select the golden stool, you get to use your own name to rule and a new name is added to the linage of Kings.

One of the many peacocks outside the place.

For lunch we went back to the mall and I enjoyed my first Ghanian Pizza— it was much like any other pizza but they added corn to the cheese for a little extra sweetness.

This afternoon we went to the Kumasi Children’s Home. This orphanage is home to over 150 children. They were so excited to see us, hang on us and take pictures with our cameras. After a quick tour, which was often sidelined by children running into our arms, we presented our donations of books and then proceeded to read and play with them for a few hours. I spent most of the time with Charles teaching him how to use my camera and reading a folk tale about the Tortious and the Eagle. The Tortuous wanted to learn to fly and offered half his gold to the Eagle for lessons. The eagle flew high in the sky and dropped the tortuous who was thrilled until he realized he didn’t know how to land. The eagle promptly responded, landing lessons cost the rest your gold— be careful what you wish for. Charles is probably 10 years old and wears a faded red and black checked button down shirt. He’s eager, earnest and walks next to me often holding my hand or wrapping his arms around my side. It is an afternoon that few students will forget, each holding at least one child for the majority of the afternoon.

Charles is on the right along with his stalwart friend who took many photos with us

The following are a few of the many photos taken by the boys who sat with me.

Caroline from the vantage of Charles

Wearing Vishals leather hat and Adrians sun glasses

It is difficult to look back at this photos want to do more for them. They share and love so freely.

Our next stop was a return to the leather shop for the students to pick up the shoes they had ordered. They all returned wearing the shoes— they were proud of the new sandals. We then returned to the guest house for a short break and dinner before an evening of live music and dancing at Plus Two. The music was loud and the dancing full of sweat and laughter. Of course there were the occasional frantic gesture and rescue from the various individuals who wanted to dance with the students. They were not ready for the pursuit by many of the patrons of the dance hall— but that did not deter them and a few students found their way up on the stage and danced with the band. It was an eventful night, not entirely surprisingly, a phone was lost and there were some tears. With a group of this size it is unfortunately inevitable that someone would lose something— but it should be a learning experience for many of them as they reflect on this evening in the weeks to come. 

7/23/17

Today we drove from Kumasi to Accra. Yesterday was such a full day it was nice to have some time to recharge our energy for the final week in Ghana! We had a minor breakdown, an extended lunch where my food never appeared and a lovely rain storm. Alas, traveling is always more exhausting than one anticipates. Despite having a late morning breakfast and a long bus ride to read and write, I’m still ready for bed!

The restroom at the rest stop... Paradise washroom!

Kumasi Leather and Herbs

7/19/17

During morning workout this morning we had a lovely rain shower that continued until mid morning. It was a light rain that occasionally turned into a short deluge before the sun burned away the clouds. Our first activity was a brief overview and lecture of the traditional health care system in Ghana. Nearly 70 percent of Ghanaians continue to relay on traditional, herb based medicine and Ghana has spent the past 30 years working to integrate this system in to the western system to help increase reliability. The biggest challenge is that some of the practitioners do not want to share their healing recipes because some of them have been stolen by international corporations. Sadly this is true of many Ghanian (and African) intellectual property from artisans designs, ranging clothing, shoes or bags and of course physical resources. Ghana is a country rich in oil, gold and diamonds and yet the companies that export these items are not Ghanian. 

After the lecture we explored the universities herbal garden and ventured into town to explore a traditional health care store which looked like warehouse tucked into the second floor of a building. The first floor seemed to be a print shop of some short. I believe they were printing order sheets for the herbal company and shipping facility in the area.

I found this little big man in the herbal garden

After lunch we explored two leather shops. The first shop had cow tails drying in the sun and you could smell the drying leather. The artisans showcased their wares ranging from knives sheathed in leather to hand sticked wallets and sandals. It was a challenging experience for some of the students to see a fraction of where the leather came from— but I’m glad we went. The second shop was incredible. It was a cobbler’s workshop complete with sowing machines, cobblers benches, hammers, leather cutouts, and random pieces of shoes strewn about. As we chatted with the cobblers, various workers scuttled back and forth between shoeing machines— handing each other materials, scissors and nails. They were intent in their work but you could see the satisfaction in their eyes as they appraised their handy work. They made some beautiful shoes and a number of students made purchases or placed orders for handset shoes and sandals.

We had a relaxing evening after a couple of full days. A few folks gathered for a movie night with Dr. Johnson’s projector and others met to work on their group projects.

Closing out Cape Coast and onward to Kumasi

7/16/17

(Due to user error my photos from these three days were deleted. Fortuently, there are a number of photographers on the trip and I was able to steal a few of their shots. All photos on this post were taken by Adrienne Peng). 

(Adrienne's photo of me, Leonna and Claire during the treetop walk)

This morning we had a short run to the gym. It felt good to really stretch the legs out and move. The exercise classes this week have not been very rigorous— or even much work sometimes. However, it’s still a good way to start the day. After the gym some of the students went to a local non-denominational church service. It was a ruckus good time— and the sermon seemed to resonate with a number of students. The preacher’s thesis was find your purpose and you will find peace. If you can find your purpose, an occupation that means something to you, God will provide the means to live a good life.  

We had a fair amount of free time around lunch which I used to write, edit photos and prepare for the upcoming week. At 2:00 we departed for Elmina Castle— formerly known as St. John’s Castle— another of the infamous slave castles. The original purpose of the castle was as a trading base so the rooms that the captives lived were built as storage cellars. With both Cape Coast and Elmina their were multiple churches— each one built as new owners took ownership from a Protestant to Catholic or the Church of England. In Cape Coast they were built on top of the slave quarters— heaven above and hell below. In Elmina that Female Salve Quarters were near the Governor’s Quarters. There was an open courtyard surrounded by a walk way where the Governor could look down to pick out whom he would rape that evening. At both castles we walked from the dungeons along dark hallways until we came to the door of no return. These door opened out onto the shoreline where smaller boats would take the captives onto the middle passage.

Center Building is an old Church inside the castle

The wall here was built in the 1900's for police and military training. The two doors to the right are cells. The door with the skull was for condemned captives, those who resisted or caused trouble. The door on the far right was a room for misbehaving soldiers.

What has stood out to me most about these castles is not the grim fact that for hundreds of years these were bastions of evil, stripping humans of their freedom, but that after the abolition of slavery these buildings continued to be power conductors. The castle had two, fairly large rooms for two royal prisoners, a tribal King and a warrior Queen who had both, separately, fought against the colonizing powers. Elmina also served as a training post for local colonial troops— some of which fought in World War Two in Burma and near Singapore. After the war the castle was used as a police training facility and barracks until in the 1960’s the castle was recognized as a world heritage site. 

Climbing the police training wall

After another tasty dinner at the New Life restaurant (the vegetarian spot) we headed back to campus for Jessie’s lecture on Intellectual and Spiritual Wellness.

7/17/17

Today we depart of Kumasi, approximately six hours north of Cape Coast. Before our departure we spent the morning at Aboom school for special needs. When we arrived we were greeted by smiling children holding signs that said “Welcome to Aboom School for Special Needs.”  Before hearing a brief history of the school, the students sang a song of welcome— they sang with gusto and grins. We had a brief tour of the four different class rooms; pre-school, vocational, speech and language and a cerebral palsy. Many of the students are talented seamsters making colorful bags and others make brightly colored bracelets. After the tour we spent an hour making bracelets and playing with the children outside. It was a refreshing morning full of laughter.

Our final meal in Cape Coast was at my favorite restaurant thus far— the vegetarian New Life Cafe. Then we swung by a grocery store for our six hour trek north. The bus sped along, swaying as it picked up speed with little regard for lanes. At times I felt like I was Harry Potter riding the Knight Bus for the first time. On this drive, for the first time we left behind urban sprawl for green trees, mountain valleys and empty jungle… before being thrust back into the thick Kumasi crowds. We arrived to the Engineering Guest House at KNUST (Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology) in a downpour. It was the first sign of constant rain we’ve seen since we arrived. We had a quick dinner, and then called it a night after an exhausting day of traveling.

7/18/17

Our first day in any city has followed a predictable pattern, greetings by our local university with a brief history of that university, lunch and a tour of the local area- either a hospital or the university itself. This time this pattern was interrupted by a quick tour of the Ghana Military Museum— and then we proceeded to the usual greetings and tour of a medical facility. These of quickly become somewhat routine and while each hospital has slightly different waiting rooms, these intro days are a bit of a drag for me. 

The Military Museum was fascinating and frustrating. Learning about the various ways that Ghana has contributed to the world militarily was really interesting. The Museum was in the former Fort— and only “castle” built inland of the gold coast. As such it was a hub of colonial abuse. We spent a minute in one of the condemned cells. A space no larger than most closets with a stone pillar in the center to force those in the cell to stand or seat until they died. The cell fit 10 of us standing upright, shoulder to shoulder.  After our brief stint in the cell, we learned about Ghanian contributions in various African campaigns during World War 1 and 2 — their role in Burma against the Japanese and against the Italians in eastern Africa. We also talked a bit about their role as UN Peace Keepers across the globe from Rwanda to Kosovo and Afghanistan. Through this history I was disappointed in the way the museum displayed and casually handled the artifacts. As a lover of history, I want to see the stories and ensure that future generations will be able to appreciate those stories.

We had lunch at a bizarre restaurant that claimed to serve a variety of foods but only seemed to do Chinese Food well. I had a tasty meal of cooked vegetables and limp greens with some sort of sauce. It was not the traditional vegetable sauce found at many other restaurants which was surprising but still tasty. Luckily, my Pear Alvaro was refreshing in the cramped space.

This evening we have a small group meeting over dinner before our large group debrief with Dr. Johnson. Many of the students reflected on their behaviors over the past week— thinking about how they are interacting with the culture and recognizing moments of personal growth. It was a good moment.