A referral

As my daughter Erin, is doing such a great job of journaling about our trip, I am going to refer you her her blog. http://dullpost.blogspot.com/ for a more descriptive narrative of our ventures in Ghana. Enjoy!

Visiting another Village and Hospital

As usual, things get rather jumbled when you don't have access to a computer all the time, and what access you do have can get a little iffy at times. How lucky we are in this country! So, I will retrace in depth, some highlights of our journey and learning experiences.

First let me tell you about our trip to the village where Pastor Gabriel is. This is a village along the Sunyani Road, on the way to Kyekyewere, where Pastor Ben (in Kumasi) and Emmanuel Opoku (here in STL) are working on a sanitation project. Our first stop was at a home. It consisted of 3 rooms, one that was the 'kitchen' or primarily storage for cooking utensils and some food, a hallway that lead to the second room which contained the occupants clothing (a man and wife live here) and another room with mosquito netting and only large enough for a double sized mattress on the floor. The gentleman was kind enough to allow me to take pictures of his home. His home are the pictures you see above. The kitchen area, where the shelving is, is only for storage of cooking items and some food. Food preparation is done outdoors. Actually most living is done outdoors.

We then visited the village latrines, yes, that is village latrines. You see, the village is about 1/4 mile from the potties. In the women's side, there were about 6 small 'stalls' which inside were a hole in the floor, a basket for paper (like newspaper, magazine paper for wiping) and that was it. Now, being a nurse, I have seen and smelt things that are quite unique, but I about made it 2 stalls down before gagging. This type of set up is not uncommon there. While I purposly haven't gone into explicit detail, nor included the pictures I took, it is important for us to understand the lack of not only water, but clean sanitation facilities. These are the things that make diseases common areas like this, diseases we rarely see in the US. This spread of disease is why education, sanitation, clean water are important. Such simple tools to provide good health.

Pastor Gabriel then showed us the remainder of the village. I will insert here that during this tour, his little 3 year old girl had my hand and was following me along in her bare feet. She was proud when we reached her family and we were able to meet her Mom, brothers and sisters. A huge smile broke across her face as she looked at them, then at me. We were made very welcome and the children shyly practiced their English skills with us.

Later that day were visited a hospital in Dafura. It is about 50 beds consisting of a women's ward, men's ward, pediatric ward, labor/delivery/post delivery ward and 2 operating rooms. It is built in a square with a nice large open area in the center. All the windows are covered with mosquito netting and all the beds were full. In the lobby of the out patient department, there must have been 80 to 100 people waiting....waiting to see the ONE doctor on duty for the entire hospital. He not only sees the out patients, but makes rounds 3 times a day. Nursing staff is there to assist. We saw the laboratory, dispensory, medical records area and both OR's. Seeing this facility was good as I began to formulate in my mind what is needed in a health facility in Kyekyewere.

So, I think I will leave you with these thoughts now. Seeing for myself what I have only read about or seen pictures of, was a learning experience in itself. One cannot begin to envision the need for items and practices that, in the US are common and expected by patients in the health care system. When one doesn't have even clean water, how can one expect to raise a family to live to adulthood? See their children educated? See their grandchildren run and play? One may not see their child reach the age of 5 years and every day is a struggle against disease and potential death. My cold shower that night was a blessing....

Tomorrow I will post about our meetings with Nana and the customs involved in the discussions along with the outcomes of the discussions.

From GhanaWeb

http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/artikel.php?ID=152500

Wow...so much has happened the past few days. We were in Accra during the election process here in the US and Erin stayed up all night (day) and watched with our hosts in Accra. We took a lot of Obama buttons with us and everyone in Kyekyewere, Kumasi, and Accra wanted one.
It is good to be 'home', although we aren't in St. Louis yet. The cool weather feels wonderful and a hot shower....what luxury that was! So another flight home today and then my own bed.
Our trip was a huge success in more ways than one. We were able to establish some relationships there, got some estimated prices on buildings, and made many notes on what the WSF would like to accomplish.
This is a quick entry as another airport to conquer today. Will have a more extensive report in a few days.

Saturday Novemberr 1

Hi All! Happy Halloween a day late and I do hope you are all well. These past few days have just flown by. We have visited with 2 Chiefs now, and another was interested in a health clinic. My priority though is with Chief Nana at Kyekyewere. We have had a number of visits with him and his elders and he has even come to the hotel to 'chat' on his way back to his palace after filling in for the Ashanti King (the King was in South Korea). Yesterday we met Chief Nana's family and discussed the clinic. An architect has drawn up plans and hopefully Chief Nana and I can discuss those before we depart Kumasi in Tuesday.

We have visited a health clinic and hospital (or did I tell you that already?). These were interesting and gave great examples of the standard of care along with how business is run. We also visited another village where sanitation facilities are in dire need. One little girl, about 3 or 4, took my hand and walked with me as we toured. I understand now why the people in the middle ages carried a pomander with them...fortunately a cold, kleenex and some patchouli helped in this visit.

Today we saw about 50+ patients at the Chief's palace in Kyekyewere. We could have seen more but between the heat, no lunch and being very tired...well, we had to stop. I was quite surprised to find the numbers of hypertensive adults is very low. But, they do exercise (walk everywhere) and have a low sodium diet for the most part. We gave out a lot of vitamins to adults and children who were with their parents. Some skin disorders were seen, actually one very interesting child with two sores about the size of a quarter on his left leg. Both sores had good granulation tissue although one did have some pus. Dr. Erin cleaned them up and referred him to the local clinic as she thought they may be due to an internal infection of sorts.

Thursday night we had a wonderful dinner with Sisters Irene, Jackie and Lorraine at their house which isn't too far from our hotel. They are lovely ladies and the evening flew by. As for food we have had a good mix of the local and pizza. Breakfasts can consist of omlet or sausage (wonderful but I won't ask what is in it!), toast (sometimes with mystery meat inside) and canned baked beans! Most days we don't get lunch as we are visiting or traveling. Then dinners may be of the local variety, chicken, vegetable rice, a salad with beans and mayo (no thank you there, the mayo sits out all day), baku ( a corn-like dumpling), talapia, or fufu. Thankfully, non dried fish...yet!

We have seen all kinds of sites in and around Kumasi and will get some pictures posted probably when we get back to the US. It is a little difficult to do that here. We did get to the cultural center for about an hour a few days ago and such beautiful hand work from jewlery, to prints, baskets, batiks....carvings.

And....I must share this with you all before I leave for the evening..yesterday I was made a Queen Mother! This is quite an honor...I even got to sit on the 'stool' used for Chief's and Kings! I was presented with my own Kuente cloth 'outfit" at Madame at the hotel has provided me with dress jewlery (necklace and bracelet ) and everyday bracelet that signifies a Queen Mother.

Edward, our driver, is great. He takes such good care of us, translates and keeps us in the know!

So, while we have along way to go, Life is going well here in Ghana and I am pleased with the progress we are making in discussions. That is very important in the clinic establishment. Each day is a new adventure...and each night I collapse into bed and awaken to the Muslem Mosque across the street (that is at 4AM! then 5AM)! Truly a cultural melting pot on our little block.

So...we will go to a celebration at Pastor Ben's church tomorrow afternoon. And in the morning take a little side trip to visit the local lake. We are in need of a break and relaxation.

If it's Tuesday it must be Kyekyewere

Akwaaba from Kumsasi! For family and friends, we are here and arrived safetly, all be it, a long day and long flights. The flight from JFK to Accra wasn't that crowded so I was able to sleep somewhat laying down. We arrived on time and breezed through customs. Emmanuel was there waiting for us so we collected bags and boxes, and out to the care. Edward is our driver and we have a nice 4WD. All the luggage was able to fit in the car so off to Kumasi. That was a long ride as there was road construction....now for those of you from St. Louis, this construction makes the Highway 40 project look like child's play. They rip up the whole road, re-route you along side a dirt road along the side of the construction site. And traffic...well, I won't comment on that.

After a stop for lunch at the famed Linda Dor rest stop, back in the car. We all slept almost all the way into Kumasi. We arrived at the Beauty Queen abour 3PM and were shown to our rooms. Amy and Lizzy, if you are following, Erin has your room. I am fortunate to have the Fred Garvey Memorial Room! We contacted Daniel, Pastor Ben and Bea. After a dinner of some pretty good pizza, along visit with Daniel and Lydia (who was quite sick) it was good to get a shower and literally crawl into bed about 8:30. The staff at the Beauty Queen sends their greeting for those of you on the Habitat trip last year. The Madam, Quamie, Hobie....

This morning we had a great breakfast of scambled eggs, baked beans and sausage (that would be hot dogs to all of you) and some great instant coffee. Edward picked us up at about 9AM after Daniel arrived. We were off to Kyekyewere. This was the informal meeting with the Chief (no Schnapps this time Ken, that is the formal meeting on Thursday). We were seated in his Palace in a semi circle. The Tribal Elders entered and Chief Nana last. We were officially greeted and welcomed. Part of this custom includes sharing a beverage and the Chief kindly provided sodas for us. Then I was asked to speak. After thanking Chief Nana and the Elders for their kind hospitality, I explained our visit and briefly what we came to accomplish on this trip. Erin to see some patients, discuss land and building and medical legal issues and Chris to explore water, electricity and sanitation.

Chief Nana arranged for an architect from the University/Habitat office to be there so that we might explain what we will be needind. The village is in need of a 'maternity' hospital. In order to actually see this, we went to a CHPS facility clost by where there was a birthing facility. The nurse there was more than kind and showed us the small compound which included a labor room, delivery room, ante-natal room, and 2 general exam rooms. There was also a dorm facility on the property. Toilet facilities were outside. Pictures of this will be posted later as the computer servers are slow here tonite.

Daniel took us back to the village and we were able to see the existing wells, and, the houses that were built by the group last year. This was a long day, so back to the hotel for a nice late lunch and nap.

Pastor Ben and his wife, Pricilla, came by in the morning to greet us. Then Pastor Ben also stopped by late this afternoon. We will go see his sanitation facilities tomorrow afternoon after we visit another hospital. These visits to various hosptials and clinics are wonderful as we are able to take pictures and visually see how the medical facilities are set up. Same with the water and sanitation.

The people here are most interested in the US Elections. The weather is hot, partly cloudy..and the people are wonderful as ever.

The server here in Ghana is running slow this evening. So I will close and pray that this message gets posted. Hopefully, tomorrow we will be able to post some pictures and write more.

All our bags are packed....

And am I exhausted! It was a busy day getting the dogs to the kennel, more sorting and packing, listing, laundry...well, you know how it goes when you are leaving for overseas. But we are ready to go. Dr. Erin has called a couple of times and she is all ready to go too. We meet at JFK tomorrow around noon and get to spend the afternoon there before our flight to Accra in the evening. It was such a beautiful day outside today and when driving back from taking the dogs to the kennel, I enjoyed the trees and colors against a clear blue sky. They will probably be gone by the time we return. It is hot in Ghana and looks like rain most of the time we will be there. So, it is early here, only about 6PM but 3AM will come all too soon and there are some last minute things to accomplish before bed. More from Ghana!

A week and counting

It hardly seems like it will be a week until we will be winging our way to Ghana. This picture is from the plane last year as we flew over the Sahara. Couldn't see the desert but the clouds were beautiful. This time we will be flying at night though, so hopefully we will be asleep. Today was such a busy day, it just flew by. We got our clothes together and Chris hung a line outside and sprayed them all with long lasting (through 4 washings) mosquito repellent. Of course in the middle of that project one of the dogs got into some mouse poison that was in the garage so off to the vets to induce vomiting and a 3 week round of vitamin K for Thumper.

While Chris was off doing that, I spent 2 hours in the basement organizing and making an inventory of supplies, one for inside the box and another for the notebook. People have been so generous and we are doing well. One box is ready to go and we will probably have two more of medical supplies. I have picked up most of Sister Irene's wants and those are ready to be packed. We also got some crayons and construction paper for the children to draw us pictures that will then be made into cards to sell! My notebook of information is getting full of the don't forget information, phone numbers while we are there, and discussion points for the various people we will be meeting and talking with.

Friday Harriet and I had lunch. She was kind enough to fill me in on the appropriate manners when meeting with Chief Nana Yaw. Emmanuel's father will go with us for the initial meeting as we need an 'elder' to go along. I must remember to get a bottle of Schnapps for him once we get there. That is a tradition in Ghana. We then share a cup of the Schnapps.

This week I will call the hotel again to double check on reservations, contact the driver, and try to contact Chief Nana Yaw. Plus do some shopping for the fill in items still needed.

Erin is working this week, all week, so it quite busy at the hospital. When we spoke yesterday, she is getting her clothes packed and getting her donations organized too.

Postings will get more interesting once we get there. I just thought you all might like to know how much is being done here at home! And I am off to bed!

Two weeks and counting

This has been a busy week with a lot of paperwork to do. Dr. Erin and I have been working on a H&P form (for you non-medical types, that is history and physical) in order to capture the data we are looking for, keep it simple, and hopefully get it on a computer. Of course, electricity is always at a premium there, so that can be a problem. The village has none and the hotel...well if someone trips over the extension cord from the Volta River Dam...everyone down stream is out of luck! We will get that figured out. Also, another issue is to tag pictures (possible skin infections etc) with the chart. Hummm...any ideas?

A neighbor brought down about 3 large trash bags of items for us. My basement is begining to look like a warehouse. These were mostly gauze pads, PVP iodine in great handy to carry packets and gloves, lots of gloves! Part of yesterday was spent organizing that. I will also be taking items over for Sr. Irene and Emmanuel..then bringing things back for them. Now, looks like I am down to two changes of clothes! :) That is fine tho.

As you can see, our web site went live this week too. I hope you like it. Brian did an awesome job with pictures and getting it set up. Thanks Brian and Vintage Turtle (his company). I also spent some time at REI yesterday, got some really cool bug spray that you treat your clothes with and it stays in for a few washings. Then I thought a nice collapsable 5 gallon water jug with some purifier tablets would be a great addition, if nothing else for Dr. Erin to wash her hands in between patients.

This was just a little check in, to let you know we are getting organized for the trip. Monday I will call the Chief again, and my friend Daniel to let them know we will still be there.

Thanks for following our project. If any of your are on Facebook, look under Walbridge Settlement Foundation...there are some great pics (Thanks Terry Shaw from White Plains, New York!) of the people and homes. And almost time to start taking the anti-malarial!

October 1, 2008- Pre-Trip

Only 25 more days until we leave St. Louis for Ghana. There is so much to do in preparation I sometimes wonder if it will all get done. My list of things to take for friends there is longer than my list of clothes to take! Plans have been made for the driver to pick us up at the airport. The Beauty Queen has our reservations for staying in Kumasi and I have asked Sister Irene's assistance in contacting Chief Nana Yaw explaining our plans. I called last week, but don't think he understood all I was saying! There are certainly challenges. Neighbors are begining to bring over the counter medications down and nursing friends are packing boxes. Dr. Erin is gathering supplies from Temple University Hospital from her friends. She even has asked that she be given no birthday presents this year, but donations for the Villagers of Kyekyewere! Happy Birthday Erin! Today I organized all my papers and am begining the list making for discussions with the Chief, the Representative from the Ministry of Health, supplies, and of couse what room there will be for personal articles. Someone send me some peanut butter and Pepto Bismol! Vintage Turtle is helping get the web site up too...so we are making headway. I am excited to see old friends and meet new ones, like Sister Irene who has been a tremendous help in communications. Pastor Ben too...he has made 2 or 3 trips to Kyekyewere to personally visit with Chief Nana Yaw on my behalf. Tomorrow will be another day comprised mainly of computer work for Vintage Turtle...wait till you see the web site. It is beautiful!