Last night I went with a student to the labor ward. The students here have to deliver 23 babies before they are done with their OB/GYN rotations. My friend and exchange officer Pablo has 5 more to go, so I asked if I could join him. We started at the labor ward here at the hospital, but there was only one woman and she was at 2 cm. We decided to try a clinic about 10 minutes away which also allows students to come. We got there and there were about 5 women, all at 4 cm or less. We decided we would stay for about 2 hours and see if any new women came, or things changed.
The women are cramped in a little room on little cots wrapped in fabric. Their husbands aren’t really allowed in the room because there are other women there, so they are all alone. The midwives are pretty mean, telling the women to “man up”. I couldn’t understand most of what the nurses said to the patients because they normally speak Twi, but the other students were translating for me and it was pretty bad. They midwives seem to be burned out and so used to this they don’t care about the woman’s experience at all. While we sat there, the nurses were watching a Ghanean soap opera. OMG the acting is so bad that I cannot begin to describe it. It was almost humorous, but mostly just awful.
We were there from 8-10:30 and we were just changed and about to leave when all of a sudden out of nowhere a woman was about to burst. We changed and ran back only to find that the baby had already crowned and was fully out within 2 minutes. They gave the woman an episiotomy with no anesthetics, practically ripped out the placenta and then sewed her up still with no anesthetics. That isn’t normal here, but I believe they had run out of the meds… The poor woman was screaming and howling, and all this time they dind’t let her see the baby! After they were down stiching her up, they had her immediately get up and walk back to the ward. I got to carry the baby to her! She was so cute with a full head of hair and I was naming her in my head. I was tempted to steal her but I decided that would be bad and I gave her to her mom.
After the delivery, we were getting ready to leave when the nurses asked us to take a woman with us to the hospital. She had been at 4 cm for the past 6 hours or so and was not progressing. The poor woman couldn’t get in touch with her husband to tell him she would be moved and she really didn’t want to go but she had to. I couldn’t believe the midwives would just put her in a taxi with us but that is precisely what they did. We got her to the hospital at about midnight and made sure she was all set, and she was so nice she kept saying “god bless you” and asked us for our phone number. We told her we would go visit tomorrow so I am waiting for the other students and I will go see how she is doing today. I’m assuming she had a C section, so I am excited to see her baby. I hope everything went ok.
So that is the excitement of my day. I think I should post one more time before I come home.
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Firstly, I’m so glad everyone had fun at Liz’s shower and I’m really really sad I missed it. I just looked at the pictures my mom sent and everything looks beautiful and like it was so much fun!!!
So this weekend began Wednesday afternoon as we boarded an air conditioned bus to Tamale, a city in the north of Ghana. The northern part of Ghana is predominantly Muslim while the southern part is predominantly Christian. Also, the southern half of Ghana is predominantly rainforest, with a very tropical feel. The north has less of the tropical feel to it. The drive took about 12 hours, and so we arrived at our destination at 3 AM. Our guide book told us that to get to the reserve (Mole) you have to take a bus from Tamale, with basically 2 options. One at 6 AM and one at 4 PM. You cannot, so the guide book said, buy your tickets in advance and so people begin to buy tickets for the 6 AM bus at 4 AM. We wanted to get there early because apparently the motel dorms fill up and then you have to pay a lot of money for a real hotel room. So, knowing all of this, we decided we would wait an hour in the bus station to make sure we could buy tickets for the 6 AM bus.
BUT….apparently our guide is now outdated, because you in fact can buy tickets a day in advance for the 6 AM bus and everyone already had and it was full!!! Lucky for us, we met 2 other obrunis trying to do the same thing we were, both about our age. We decided to try our luck finding a taxi that would drive us inexpensively. Well, first things first. We were 5 people in a taxi made for 4 passengers. Every hour we would get out and switch the way were sitting in an effort to maximize comfort. NOTE: taxi’s made for 4 are NEVER comfortable with 5 people on a 4 hour drive!!!! Now, its also important to tell you that the road to Mole is mostly unpaved and therefore AWFUL! The taxi, which was old and decrepit to begin with, was literally falling apart. A hubcap fell off, we could smell burning rubber at one point, and all in all I never thought we would make it all the way to the park. It was a pretty crazy drive.
We did, in fact, make it all the way to the park. We were so scared the taxi was going to break down, though, that we got out at the entrance and walked the 2 km to the motel. On our way, in the road in front of us, out walks a baboon with a baby on her back! It was like ***AHHHHHHHH*** you actually did make it. We quickly changed and made our way to the pool, which is on the top of a hill overlooking 2 watering holes and a slight clearing in the forest. We immediately saw elephants in the watering hole, and as we sat and watched, baboons and warthogs and other monkeys wondered around only a few feet from us.
That afternoon we went out on a safari walk, and saw antelope like creatures (bushbuck, kob), crocodiles, and more warthogs and monkeys. We didn’t get to see the elephants but our guide told us he would take us back the next morning just to see them. We were a little disappointed but excited that we had seen a lot of the other animals in the park. We spent the evening relaxing by the pool and enjoying the view. The sunset right over the hill and it was awesome.
The next morning our guide found us as promised and took us down to where the elephants were (we could see them from the top of the hill). We got extremely close and they were so cute! We saw 4 together eating and looking like adorable prehistoric aliens. We stood watching them for about half an hour, and had to leave because it started to rain.
We had some lunch, and then headed out in a cart attached to a motorcyle to a nearby village on the river where we could have a canoe safari. It was more of a nice canoe ride, as we saw no animals at all, but it was nice. We stopped on our way back in a village just outside of the park known for the oldest mosque in Ghana. It was supposedly built in 1421 but there is some controversy over that, and it was neat but we weren’t allowed inside and had to pay for a tour to walk around it. Pretty ridiculous!
We spent the rest of the night enjoying the pool, having dinner and discussing our plans for the rest of the weekend. We left on a bus at 4 AM the next morning, arrived in Tamale at 8:30 AM and bought tickets to drive home. The bus back to Accra didn’t leave until 4 PM so we had some time to kill. There really isn’t much to see or do in Tamale, and the things we did want to do turned out to be a bust. We did enjoy breakfast and lunch in the same restaurant and the food was pretty good. Finally, 4 PM arrived and we were driving. The journey to the park was long, (15-16 hours of driving, longer than my flight here) but theres no doubt it was worth it. Only a week left and I can't believe how fast the time has flown by!
So this weekend began Wednesday afternoon as we boarded an air conditioned bus to Tamale, a city in the north of Ghana. The northern part of Ghana is predominantly Muslim while the southern part is predominantly Christian. Also, the southern half of Ghana is predominantly rainforest, with a very tropical feel. The north has less of the tropical feel to it. The drive took about 12 hours, and so we arrived at our destination at 3 AM. Our guide book told us that to get to the reserve (Mole) you have to take a bus from Tamale, with basically 2 options. One at 6 AM and one at 4 PM. You cannot, so the guide book said, buy your tickets in advance and so people begin to buy tickets for the 6 AM bus at 4 AM. We wanted to get there early because apparently the motel dorms fill up and then you have to pay a lot of money for a real hotel room. So, knowing all of this, we decided we would wait an hour in the bus station to make sure we could buy tickets for the 6 AM bus.
BUT….apparently our guide is now outdated, because you in fact can buy tickets a day in advance for the 6 AM bus and everyone already had and it was full!!! Lucky for us, we met 2 other obrunis trying to do the same thing we were, both about our age. We decided to try our luck finding a taxi that would drive us inexpensively. Well, first things first. We were 5 people in a taxi made for 4 passengers. Every hour we would get out and switch the way were sitting in an effort to maximize comfort. NOTE: taxi’s made for 4 are NEVER comfortable with 5 people on a 4 hour drive!!!! Now, its also important to tell you that the road to Mole is mostly unpaved and therefore AWFUL! The taxi, which was old and decrepit to begin with, was literally falling apart. A hubcap fell off, we could smell burning rubber at one point, and all in all I never thought we would make it all the way to the park. It was a pretty crazy drive.
We did, in fact, make it all the way to the park. We were so scared the taxi was going to break down, though, that we got out at the entrance and walked the 2 km to the motel. On our way, in the road in front of us, out walks a baboon with a baby on her back! It was like ***AHHHHHHHH*** you actually did make it. We quickly changed and made our way to the pool, which is on the top of a hill overlooking 2 watering holes and a slight clearing in the forest. We immediately saw elephants in the watering hole, and as we sat and watched, baboons and warthogs and other monkeys wondered around only a few feet from us.
That afternoon we went out on a safari walk, and saw antelope like creatures (bushbuck, kob), crocodiles, and more warthogs and monkeys. We didn’t get to see the elephants but our guide told us he would take us back the next morning just to see them. We were a little disappointed but excited that we had seen a lot of the other animals in the park. We spent the evening relaxing by the pool and enjoying the view. The sunset right over the hill and it was awesome.
The next morning our guide found us as promised and took us down to where the elephants were (we could see them from the top of the hill). We got extremely close and they were so cute! We saw 4 together eating and looking like adorable prehistoric aliens. We stood watching them for about half an hour, and had to leave because it started to rain.
We had some lunch, and then headed out in a cart attached to a motorcyle to a nearby village on the river where we could have a canoe safari. It was more of a nice canoe ride, as we saw no animals at all, but it was nice. We stopped on our way back in a village just outside of the park known for the oldest mosque in Ghana. It was supposedly built in 1421 but there is some controversy over that, and it was neat but we weren’t allowed inside and had to pay for a tour to walk around it. Pretty ridiculous!
We spent the rest of the night enjoying the pool, having dinner and discussing our plans for the rest of the weekend. We left on a bus at 4 AM the next morning, arrived in Tamale at 8:30 AM and bought tickets to drive home. The bus back to Accra didn’t leave until 4 PM so we had some time to kill. There really isn’t much to see or do in Tamale, and the things we did want to do turned out to be a bust. We did enjoy breakfast and lunch in the same restaurant and the food was pretty good. Finally, 4 PM arrived and we were driving. The journey to the park was long, (15-16 hours of driving, longer than my flight here) but theres no doubt it was worth it. Only a week left and I can't believe how fast the time has flown by!
Monday, June 15, 2009
Krobo, Kpong, and Botti Falls
On Friday night our exchange officer took us out to a karaoke bar frequented by Europeans (we weren't the only obrunis!!!). It was so much fun! Me and Myrthe sang summer of 69 (which was awful), and was recorded but thankfully not on my camera.
On Saturday morning we headed out early and took a drive through the jungle. It was a really nice ride, and we got off of the tro-tro in front of Krobo mountain community reserve. We were going to hike it, but the pouring rain decided for us that it was a bad idea. Instead, we made our
way into Kpong, a town known for its bead making.
We first went to the bead market, where we found ourselves in front of stalls of beautiful beads. A lot of the stalls sell very similar stuff, but some stalls sell antique beads, which can be hundreds of years old (if not more).
After the bead market, we went to Cedi Bead Factory, where
they gave us a tour of how they make their beads. There are numerous methods they use. One method is to recycle glass bottles and make beads out of them. Another is to take broken antique beads and recycle them. The place was very neat, but in the middle of nowhere. We were driven down a crazy unpaved road for 5 minutes and kept looking at eachother thinking “this can’t be the right place!!” but it was and it was really nice.The rain stopped, and we had arranged with other exchange students in another city that we would meet them, so we headed back to Krobo. It took us about half an hour just to walk down the muddy path to get to the base of the mountain, and
just as we arrived the other students were coming off the mountain. They said it was a pretty hard hike, and we decided maybe we would come back and do it another day when it wasn’t so wet.The next day we went to Boti Falls, which again, were in the middle of nowhere. The drives were so scenic and beautiful. It is just hills and mountains of rainforest everywhere you look.
At
the falls you walk down 250 steps, and arrive at 
a little pool of water at the bottom of the falls. We walked around, went swimming (see us on the rock?), and enjoyed a nice afternoon there. There were numerous signs warning us not to swim, but we realized that is because the Ghanians do not know how to swim at all! Also, when the falls become stronger farther in the rainy season I think it is probably pretty dangerous, but it wasn’t rough while we were there.
All in all it was a very beautiful and scenic weekend. This weekend (actually we will leave Wednesday) we are heading up north to the city of Tamale and Mole, the game reserve here. It is pretty far, but I am so excited! The motel in Mole apparently has a pool and overlooks 2 watering holes so you can watch animals while you swim! Can’t believe I am over the halfway mark of my trip.
Friday, June 12, 2009
On My Rotation:
So, I’ve now been in the hospital 2 weeks and have spent 1 week with the medical students. The students are all really nice. They are doing their senior clerkship in OB/GYN and are in their sixth and final year of medical school. They therefore know a lot more than me. The good news for me is that the doctors and profs know that I don’t have any clinical experience, and so they let me answer questions if I want to and don’t make a fuss if I don’t answer them. I am soaking up a lot of information just being with the students, so It has been very worthwhile.
A lot of the students have traveled to the US, so they are aware of the major differences between their system and ours, and they enjoy discussing them with me. Mostly, it is a matter of money and availability. They especially like to point out that the things that we so heavily rely on to make diagnoses (scans/machines) they are using their clinical skills for since those scans are simply not available to the average Ghanian. Of course, many things they do not catch as early as we do, especially because their ability to screen people is very limited.
Some of the more common things I have seen here are fibroids, incomplete abortions, more fibroids, and more fibroids. I’ve seen a ton of babies. They are SOOO cute!!!!!! Today we were in Gyn clinic, so I took a couple of pictures of the exam room and the patient waiti
ng area.
On my time outside of the hospital:
Every morning I wake up at 5:30 A
M to the sound of roosters. I HATE ROOSTERS!!! I took some pictures of them on my morning walk into the hospital. The chickens and roosters just wander around wherever they please, and if that place happens to be next to my hostel at 5:30 in the morning they are waking me up!!! AHHHH I never ever want to see another rooster again in my life. This morning, I woke up to an even greater surprise than roosters-2 large cockroaches. I stepped on one and threw it out the door and my roommate did the same with the other.
The city of Accra itself is very dirty. Open sewers line the streets like trenches, and the smell on a hot day is quite nauseating. Moreove
r, people throw their garbage wherever they please. A major problem is that many people are extremely uneducated, and very poor. They therefore do as they please, a
nd if they would like to throw their trash into the road or into the ocean that is simply what they do.
Everyone, though, is extremely nice. The kids are so adorable. They all stare or give me weird looks, though, because white people are simply not around here!. The kids will play soccer ANYWHERE there is room. The game is extremely popular (as it is everywhere in the world) and people talk about it constantly. I of course know nothing about soccer, but I smile and nod.
The city also has extremely bad traffic and the scariest drivers I have ever seen. It seems that there are no rules when it comes to driving. The only “rule” I have seen is that if someone honks it means they are going and you better get out of their way. I don’t know if you can see in the picture but there were cars at an intersection pretty much all going in different directions within a 10 foot radius. Every
day it amazes me that I have yet to see a single accident.
Tonight we will be going out to Karaoke and maybe salsa dancing (the person who set up the exchange has planned out the evening for us). Tomorrow we are heading on a small weekend trip to see some waterfalls, watch people make beads, and go on a hike. Hopefully I will have lots of pictures from my trip for a post next week.
So, I’ve now been in the hospital 2 weeks and have spent 1 week with the medical students. The students are all really nice. They are doing their senior clerkship in OB/GYN and are in their sixth and final year of medical school. They therefore know a lot more than me. The good news for me is that the doctors and profs know that I don’t have any clinical experience, and so they let me answer questions if I want to and don’t make a fuss if I don’t answer them. I am soaking up a lot of information just being with the students, so It has been very worthwhile.
A lot of the students have traveled to the US, so they are aware of the major differences between their system and ours, and they enjoy discussing them with me. Mostly, it is a matter of money and availability. They especially like to point out that the things that we so heavily rely on to make diagnoses (scans/machines) they are using their clinical skills for since those scans are simply not available to the average Ghanian. Of course, many things they do not catch as early as we do, especially because their ability to screen people is very limited.
Some of the more common things I have seen here are fibroids, incomplete abortions, more fibroids, and more fibroids. I’ve seen a ton of babies. They are SOOO cute!!!!!! Today we were in Gyn clinic, so I took a couple of pictures of the exam room and the patient waiti
ng area.On my time outside of the hospital:
Every morning I wake up at 5:30 A
M to the sound of roosters. I HATE ROOSTERS!!! I took some pictures of them on my morning walk into the hospital. The chickens and roosters just wander around wherever they please, and if that place happens to be next to my hostel at 5:30 in the morning they are waking me up!!! AHHHH I never ever want to see another rooster again in my life. This morning, I woke up to an even greater surprise than roosters-2 large cockroaches. I stepped on one and threw it out the door and my roommate did the same with the other.
The city of Accra itself is very dirty. Open sewers line the streets like trenches, and the smell on a hot day is quite nauseating. Moreove
r, people throw their garbage wherever they please. A major problem is that many people are extremely uneducated, and very poor. They therefore do as they please, a
nd if they would like to throw their trash into the road or into the ocean that is simply what they do.Everyone, though, is extremely nice. The kids are so adorable. They all stare or give me weird looks, though, because white people are simply not around here!. The kids will play soccer ANYWHERE there is room. The game is extremely popular (as it is everywhere in the world) and people talk about it constantly. I of course know nothing about soccer, but I smile and nod.
The city also has extremely bad traffic and the scariest drivers I have ever seen. It seems that there are no rules when it comes to driving. The only “rule” I have seen is that if someone honks it means they are going and you better get out of their way. I don’t know if you can see in the picture but there were cars at an intersection pretty much all going in different directions within a 10 foot radius. Every
day it amazes me that I have yet to see a single accident.Tonight we will be going out to Karaoke and maybe salsa dancing (the person who set up the exchange has planned out the evening for us). Tomorrow we are heading on a small weekend trip to see some waterfalls, watch people make beads, and go on a hike. Hopefully I will have lots of pictures from my trip for a post next week.
Sunday, June 7, 2009
Cape Coast and Kakum National Park
So I just got back from my weekend trip down the coast. We started in a tro-tro(which had a little tv in it!). We were all ready to go, and then the police came over and started yelling at the tro-tro driver! we didn't know what was going on, but another friendly passenger told us we had better get off and take a bus. The bus cost 2.50 (about 2 US dollars) and it was about a 3 hour drive. When we arrived in
Cape Coast, it became apparent that a lot of the women there smoked their own fish as a source of income. We wandered around and made it down to the Cape Coast Castle, where we had lunch in the restaurant there overlooking the ocean. It was beautiful, and we walked down to the beach to have a better look.
After lunch, we took a tour of the castle. it was built in the 1700's (I think) and held by many different European powers. It became a place to hold slaves who were
to be sold to the Americas. It was especially bizarre because it was us 3 white people on the tour, and a class full of young African boys. Everytime the tour guide talked about the Europeans doing mean things, he seemed to look directly at me (as i was standing right next to him). I felt like saying "I wasn't even alive then! I am sorry though. But anyway, the slaves were kept in very tight quarters with barely any light. Above the slave holdings was a Church! How ridiculous?
After the tour, we made it up to our hostel. It was called Hans Cottage Botel, and boasts a swamp with crocodiles and a restaurant on stilts on the water. Also, it had a pool!!!! We went for an afternoon swim, watched the crocodiles, and enjoyed some french fries (our attempt at comfort food). The crocodiles were pretty neat, and you are allowed to touch them. I went up to one and was about to touch it but just a
s I reached down it moved and I freaked out! So I guess touching crocodiles isnt for m
e. In picture on the left the white things are birds all in a tree at night.
Today (Sunday) we traveled from our hostel a few miles to Kakum National Park. It is a rainforest reserve with a rope bridge Canopy walk. It was
AWESOME!!!! I took tons of pictures
. We were at most 50 meters
high, and the walk is bridges linked by treetop viewing stations. The pictures speak for the place. It was really really cool.
After our time at Kakum, we traveled back to town to catch a bus back to Accra. Now, I want to preface this statement by saying most people we have met in Ghana has been EXTREMELY nice!!! They are helpful, wonderful, and very friendly people. BUT the taxi drivers and merchants are the most annoying people I have ever met. They don't just ask you if you want a ride, they pester you and do not leave you alone! Because we are white, everything is 20x more annoying for us. They try to charge us exorbitant prices, and in general do not leave you alone. It is very frustrating and very very annoying.
We just took a bus back today, and it had AC!!! (and only cost 3.50). The other problem, though, is that Ghana time is not like time in the states. Even in the hospital, people show up when they want. Doctors are never ontime, and they move at whatever pace they like. It is the same with buses and other things that are normally scheduled. Even eating in a restaurant, you need to be prepared to wait an hour, maybe longer. As a very punctual person it irritates me. I am trying to be more laid back and relaxed about it, but when I am the first person at the hospital in the morning and I am 5 minutes late, it is really very strange.
Cape Coast, it became apparent that a lot of the women there smoked their own fish as a source of income. We wandered around and made it down to the Cape Coast Castle, where we had lunch in the restaurant there overlooking the ocean. It was beautiful, and we walked down to the beach to have a better look.
After lunch, we took a tour of the castle. it was built in the 1700's (I think) and held by many different European powers. It became a place to hold slaves who were
to be sold to the Americas. It was especially bizarre because it was us 3 white people on the tour, and a class full of young African boys. Everytime the tour guide talked about the Europeans doing mean things, he seemed to look directly at me (as i was standing right next to him). I felt like saying "I wasn't even alive then! I am sorry though. But anyway, the slaves were kept in very tight quarters with barely any light. Above the slave holdings was a Church! How ridiculous?After the tour, we made it up to our hostel. It was called Hans Cottage Botel, and boasts a swamp with crocodiles and a restaurant on stilts on the water. Also, it had a pool!!!! We went for an afternoon swim, watched the crocodiles, and enjoyed some french fries (our attempt at comfort food). The crocodiles were pretty neat, and you are allowed to touch them. I went up to one and was about to touch it but just a
s I reached down it moved and I freaked out! So I guess touching crocodiles isnt for m
e. In picture on the left the white things are birds all in a tree at night.Today (Sunday) we traveled from our hostel a few miles to Kakum National Park. It is a rainforest reserve with a rope bridge Canopy walk. It was
AWESOME!!!! I took tons of pictures
. We were at most 50 meters
high, and the walk is bridges linked by treetop viewing stations. The pictures speak for the place. It was really really cool.After our time at Kakum, we traveled back to town to catch a bus back to Accra. Now, I want to preface this statement by saying most people we have met in Ghana has been EXTREMELY nice!!! They are helpful, wonderful, and very friendly people. BUT the taxi drivers and merchants are the most annoying people I have ever met. They don't just ask you if you want a ride, they pester you and do not leave you alone! Because we are white, everything is 20x more annoying for us. They try to charge us exorbitant prices, and in general do not leave you alone. It is very frustrating and very very annoying.
We just took a bus back today, and it had AC!!! (and only cost 3.50). The other problem, though, is that Ghana time is not like time in the states. Even in the hospital, people show up when they want. Doctors are never ontime, and they move at whatever pace they like. It is the same with buses and other things that are normally scheduled. Even eating in a restaurant, you need to be prepared to wait an hour, maybe longer. As a very punctual person it irritates me. I am trying to be more laid back and relaxed about it, but when I am the first person at the hospital in the morning and I am 5 minutes late, it is really very strange.
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