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!