Harmattan

Harmattan arrived a couple of weeks ago, signaling the end of rainy season and the beginning of the dry season. One morning everyone started talking about this thing called “Harmattan” and how it wouldn't rain anymore because the winds had changed directions. Harmattan is the dry and dusty West African trade wind. There are good things about the rainy season being over – no more middle of the night thunderstorms, walking in the mud or carrying my umbrella around everywhere. And the weather is actually better... the humidity is lower and it's cooler at night. The Ghanaians actually say it's “cold” and show up to clinic in the morning in sweaters and parkas! The downside of the dry season is the dust. Everything, including me, always seems to be covered in a thin layer of dust and the air is always hazy. I was told the haze actually gets worse later in December. In a way, you kinda get used to the dirt everywhere and never being completely clean for long. Many days I look down at my feet and think they look really tan... until I take a shower and they turn white again! I try to scrub my feet and paint my toes pink so they won't look so bad, but I am definitely looking forward to getting a pedicure in a few weeks! :)

Thoughts on the funeral

Alando's funeral has been the past few days- yes, it lasts for days. Everything seems to be a big event here, especially birth and death. Usually babies don't receive a name until a week after they are born, at their naming ceremony. Christians usually have their naming ceremony at church and then have a big party afterwards. I was told me that it really important to be accepted in the society by having a naming ceremony. Families borrow money and make preparations that could seem elaborate to us considering their means. Funerals, I have learned, are also very important. Alando's started on Thursday when they brought the body from Tamale. They usually have funerals within a few days and don't embalm but because of the murder his body was sent to Tamale for an autopsy and they had to bring it back in the hospital van... I haven't seen any hearses around here.

On Thursday night they had a wake and although we didn't go to that, it usually lasts all night. On Friday they had the burial service, which lasted for hours and then they buried him in a room they had built onto his compound. Apparently they usually bury people inside the courtyard of the house, but Alando's courtyard was concrete so maybe that's why they built a room. We went to his house for the visitation last week. His house was one of the nicest around here and yet it was still set up like the mud hut compounds – individual rooms all around an open courtyard. He has 2 wives and they each have a room in the house. It's mostly non-Christians that have multiple wives but I've seen some Christian men, like Alando, that have more than one wife. I was told that Alando's father had 5 wives. There's so many aspects of the culture that I still don't understand and wonder how the church really should approach these things.

Ok, so back to the funeral. Yesterday they had the memorial service with tributes, sermon, music and even dancing... interesting to see dancing at a funeral. Many letters and tributes to Alando were read and everyone talked about what a great man he was. They even had T shirts that many people wore with his picture and name on the front and “May he rest in perfect peace” on the back. Another interesting thing is that the family has to prepare food for everyone, instead of everyone bringing the family dishes as we do in the States. On Friday and Saturday, they made food and distributed it out to all of us, which is a huge task and expense, considering there were probably close to a thousand people at the burial and hundreds at the memorial service the next day.

Today there was a Thanksgiving service at church, with the purpose of thanking God for all that He has done for us in these past few weeks. I thought it was both interesting and wonderful to have a service to thank God as part of the funeral. Please continue to pray for the family and friends during this time, because no matter what culture or funeral practices, death is never easy. And pray for peace in this community, for love to replace hate, and for comfort to fill the hearts of the people.

Thankful

I'll admit it, I woke up this morning feeling a little sad, that it was Thanksgiving and I was far away from my family and not really gonna have a fun and exciting day to make up for what I am missing today. I did hospital rounds this morning and we are going to have a Thanksgiving dinner tonight with the missionaries, but other than that it's just been a pretty boring, hot day here in Ghana. And before you ask how people in Ghana celebrate Thanksgiving, remember that this American holiday isn't celebrated here. :) After feeling sad for a while, God started to speak to my heart and show me all I really do have to be thankful for. Every Thanksgiving, my Aunt Joan always has everyone pick out 3 corn kernels and say 3 things we are thankful for. And although I'm not with them and don't have any kernels, I still want to think about all the things I have to be thankful for today. What am I most thankful for this Thanksgiving here in Africa? First of all, I am thankful to be alive – to have life, to be able to experience both joy and pain. How often I take my life for granted and how much I have been reminded here that life is merely a vapor. I am also thankful to know God and to be His child. I can't imagine how my life would be if I didn't know Him and the Life He has given me. I am thankful that God exists and that He doesn't just exist, but that He sent His only Son, Jesus, to the world to live and die, so that I might be able to know Him and have a relationship with Him. What a gift! I am also thankful for my family and friends, that love me and continue to encourage me and support me on all my adventures, even though they miss me when I am gone. I love you guys and am so blessed! I am thankful for the experiences that God has given me, to see so much of the world, to be able to make a small difference and to be forever changed by what I have seen and done. I am thankful that this journey is one I do not travel alone, but that God is with me every step of the way and that He leads me and fills me with His peace and presence. I will still miss being with my family today & hanging out with people I love at Thanksgiving dinner and wish that I could eat Nanny's dressing, Mom's pumpkin pie and Aunt Joan's Strawberry Pretzel Salad, but today I feel thankful for all that God has blessed me with! I pray that each of you has a blessed and “thankful” Thanksgiving! Happy Thanksgiving!!

Back to 3 Day Clinic Week

The hospital administration made a decision to go back to 3 day clinic week. I think the decision was made mostly because with Alando's death, the pharmacy cannot handle the number of patients we were seeing with 5 day clinics but I feel that it was the best decision for everyone. I have been worried about how Dr. Hewitt and Dr. Dickens were going to see all the patients after Matt (the surgical resident who's been here for 6 months) and I both leave in a few weeks. Even the clinic workers and interpreters were exhausted and talking about how there were too many patients. In the month of October, we saw 16,000 patients!! Before that, the highest record in a month was 9,000! Part of it was due to the extra volunteers and being at the worst of malaria season, but it's still crazy!
Yesterday wasn't as busy as normal Mondays, but the patients are slowly coming back (I saw over 100 kids). It's been encouraging these past 2 days to see kids get better, especially after the tough weekend. Two of the kids I admitted yesterday (one who was dehydrated and one who needed blood), I was able to discharge home today because they were so much better. I walked into the wards this morning and both of them were sitting up, alert and happy. The little girl was actually asking to go to school and when I said she could go home, she got out of the bed and started walking to the door! Patients do get better and sometimes it's the seemingly “simple” but vital things such as IV fluids or a blood transfusion that is the difference of life or death. On most days I still feel like there's so much I don't know about medicine, but then there are days like today that I realize that there are children alive today because I used the gifts God has given me. Thanks for all the continued prayers and encouragement! Only 3 weeks left... pray I will finish strong!

Tears

How can I ever fully describe the suffering here or even the things I have seen? Tonight on my peds rounds, I took care of a 1 day old baby whose mother died after childbirth. She hadn't had any milk in 24 hours and the pharmacy was closed, but thankfully I was able to get some formula from Hollie (a missionary wife who has a 3 month old). As I was leaving, they called me over to see a 12 day old who I had admitted yesterday for neonatal sepsis. When Dr. Jones and I examined her we realized that the baby was already dead. I don't know how long this mother had been holding her dead child, but she started sobbing when we told her. It is times like these I feel so helpless and the only thing I know to do is pray for God's comfort. I came back to the house with a heavy heart and tears streaming down my face. I have only cried a few times since I've been here. Maybe it's because I haven't allowed myself to cry, afraid that I won't stop. Or maybe it's because I've seen so much during my time here that I haven't begun to process it all. But tonight I cry, for this woman who lost her child, for this baby that will grow up without a mother, for all those that are suffering because of sickness and death. I pray and thank God for His peace and ask Him to comfort these people. And may I be an instrument of His love here at this hospital and wherever I go.  

Hospital Reopened

The hospital is now back open as of today. It seems that Alando's funeral won't be until next Friday but his family, the Nayiri (the chief) and the workers all decided that they should come back to work. Even with the hospital open again, I think things will be slow around here for a while. I only saw 10 patients today (After the numbers I was used to, it seemed like I didn't even work!). We expect to see more patients tomorrow as the word gets around that we're open again, but many people are still afraid. Tonight in Station Meeting, we had a special prayer time, for Alando's family, for the hospital and for this community. Please continue to pray for God's presence and peace in the hearts of the people here. 

African Farming

Since I am a city girl, I never claimed to know a lot about farming but I received quite an education yesterday during my time with Tommy. In addition to preaching in the villages, he has a farm here. After our village visit he took us by his farm. I learned that farming is a lot harder in Africa because they don't have many of the machines that American farmers have. They have to do it all by hand - the sowing, the reaping, everything. We saw his workers pounding the soybean and Tommy explained that after they harvest it and let it dry, they “pound” it (hitting the crops with big sticks) to separate the beans and then collect it. It's a long process. I offered to help them for a few minutes – it's hard work! Many of the people here make their living by farming and I was once again shocked at what a hard life they have. It's not been easy living in an African village these last few months, but I live in a palace compared to what most of these people live in. And these people work so hard. Both the men and the women work long hours on the farm, and the children as well. I have seen many children carrying buckets of water from the well (Don't take for granted that you can turn on the faucet and water magically appears). I have tried to put into words what it's like here, but to fully understand you have to see it for yourself. All I know is that life is hard here. But as I shared with the people at the village yesterday, the same God I know is the same God that loves them. And this God never promises an easy life, but He promises to always be with us and to fill us with His peace and joy no matter what our circumstances!        

Day in the Village

Since the hospital still wasn't open today, I was able to go out to one of the villages with Tommy. He's a missionary who has been here for over 10 years and does a lot of evangelism in the surrounding villages. We went to a village about an hour away from Nalerigu to take part in their weekly “Church Service”. Such a simple and awesome time! We met on benches under a tree and had a time of singing – a bongo drum and women dancing around in a circle and singing. I posted a video for you to see the singing and dancing circle that I later joined in. Tommy shared a Bible message with them and then asked if any of us would share. I got up and was able to talk to them about God's love and His work in our lives. Tommy has been going to this village for the past few years and besides his visits, they have no other church service or Bible teaching. And there are many other villages like this one, so isolated that healthcare, schooling and Bible teaching are hard to come by. Just to get to this village, we had to drive for over an hour on this bumpy dirt road (this was probably the worst one of all I've been on). We stopped along the way and let people jump in the back of the truck... there is no public transportation on these roads so most of them have to walk long distances just to get anywhere. As Megan put it, we thought we came to the end of the earth in Nalerigu only to discover there are many more remote places. The simplicity of their lives is astounding. Most of the people can't speak English, but they warmly welcomed us and served us food – fresh black-eye peas and corn, mixed together and cooked. It definitely tasted more exotic sitting on a bench in the farmlands of Africa. :) Since I mostly have been inside the hospital during my time here, it was great to see more of where and how many of the patients live.  

Here's the video... this is the first time I'm uploading a video on my blog so hopefully it will work.

African Birthday

It's not every day that you can celebrate your birthday in Africa and yesterday was my special day. I originally thought I would spend most of it busy in clinic, but because of the recent events, it turned out to be a relaxing day. Although I didn't do anything really “African”, I had fun! I did get up to do hospital rounds and then we went to the visitation with Alando's family, but after that we chilled and watched a girly movie. My roommates cooked me a delicious dinner of Italian Chicken, Macaroni and Cheese, Lima Beans and Garlic Bread – an interesting choice for a birthday dinner but I had to choose from what we had. :) And no ice cream but I actually had 2 cakes! The girls made me Red Velvet Cake cupcakes and wrote “Happy Birthday Amy” in icing and then lit 29 candles and sang to me! It was great! And after we finished up at the house, we went down to House 6, where Bawa, our cook had made me a coconut cream pie (with fresh coconut!) and we ate my second birthday dessert! Wish you all could have been here to celebrate with me! I realized that I have now celebrated my birthday in 3 different continents and was thinking today that I should add something to my “List” - celebrate my birthday in every continent. So next year I'm thinking I need to celebrate it in Europe... anybody want to come? :)  

                          Annie & me at dinner
                       29 candles on my birthday "cake"

Thank you for the prayers

Thanks for all your prayers regarding the situation here at BMC.  The hospital workers meeting this morning apparently went well, but it looks like it's still going to be a while before we will start back clinic. I still don't understand everything that is going on, especially as it relates to culture practices and beliefs, and there is a lot that doesn't make sense to us as Americans, but it's their culture. We question how you can close a hospital because of one man's death, but one of the missionaries told me he stopped trying to understand or interfere with cultural things years ago. I think that the workers will come back after the funeral, but there's a hold up on that because the body was sent to Tamale for an autopsy. Hopefully that will be sometime this week. Things remain clam here in Nalerigu. We will continue being open on an emergency basis only until then. There were only 9 patients in the peds ward this morning (there are 36 beds that are usually filled and I've seen as many as 58!). It's weird seeing the hospital this empty and going from working nonstop to having nothing to do. We all went and greeted Alando's family this afternoon at a type of visitation. Please continue to pray for comfort for his family and friends during this time. Thank you!

Tragedy in Nalerigu

I just wanted to share about what is going on here and ask you all for your continued prayers. On Thursday night, Alando, the hospital's pharmacist and respected political leader in the community, was shot and killed while he was walking home from work. This man has worked at BMC for 20 years and his death came as a shock to all here. It is thought that his murder is connected with a longtime tribal conflict between the Mamprusi and Kusasi tribes. 

I share this with you not for you to be afraid for us, but so that you will pray more specifically during this time. I do not feel there is any danger and have been told that even if more fighting were to occur, that no one would hurt the “white people”. So please, don't worry about me. The people in the community, however, are living in fear. Crime doesn't happen in Nalerigu and everyone is freaked out. We couldn't have clinic on Friday and had to cancel surgeries because many of the workers refused to come to work. We've had to discharge as many people as we can because we only have a skeleton staff in the wards. We don't even know if we'll be able to have clinic this week. How do you convince people who are consumed by fear, even if it's mostly an unfounded fear, to go on with life as usual? And like someone said, yes, it was a tragedy that Alando died, but it would be cruel to allow other people to die. I have shared how much physical need there is and how much this hospital helps the people of this country. 

I ask you to pray most of all for peace, that God's peace and comfort would replace the fear and anger. I ask you to pray for wisdom for Dr. Hewitt and the other leaders as they have many decisions to make. There will be a staff meeting on Monday morning to determine if and when the BMC workers will be willing to return to work (why they have the power to say whether or not they will work I don't understand, but that's how it is). So please pray especially for this meeting tomorrow. And pray for those of us here, that we would know how to minister, to show God's love and peace in a time and place that so desperately needs it.              

Attempted Trip to the Escarpment

I definitely have had some interesting adventures here in Africa... but at least I have stories to share. :) On Sunday afternoon we decided to go to the Escarpment, one of the only fun activities close by. It's an overlook about 45 minutes away from Nalerigu that you can hike up to and see all over Northern Ghana and even to Togo and Burkina Faso. It is supposed to be beautiful but I actually have yet to see the view... cause we never made it there! No, our hike to the overlook consisted of an hour of hiking in tall grass and trying to find the trail there! We supposedly started out on the right path, but the more we walked, the narrower the path and the taller the grass. Angela was our guide but she has never been there after rainy season (apparently there isn't any grass to walk through in dry season) so she was as lost as those of us who had never been before. At one point we saw some rocks and thought if we could go over to them, then maybe on the other side we would see the escarpment. But after making our way through more grass and climbing up the huge rocks, we were at a dead end. We just kept praying that we wouldn't run into any snakes and thinking how the anti-venom is 45 minutes away! Thankfully, there were no snakes and we at least found our way back to the car before dark. Our 4 hour trip to walk through tall African grass! Hopefully I will get to see the Escarpment before I leave, but next time I will make sure it's with Dr. Hewitt, who is usually the one to take groups there.

With the Escarpment behind me... where we were headed
Us at the dead end.... yea, not such a pretty view.

Coffee days are better days

I had coffee today!! It was my first cup of decent coffee in almost 3 months and it was amazing! Some of you know that I didn't drink coffee before Brasil, but now I love strong coffee! So here's my African coffee adventure... The first week I was here I went through major caffeine withdraw from my daily coffee and/or energy drinks. I started having one coke a week – partly from lack of coffee and coke and partly because I thought it would be good to give my body a caffeine break. But then Angela got me some coffee and a coffee maker from the Failes when they left. I decided to make coffee one morning in September, but didn't have much luck with it. I got sick from the coffee and the thing is that I'm not sure why... whether it was because the coffee expired in 2007 or because I made it really strong and my stomach wasn't used to such strong coffee or maybe it was because the milk was sour.... so after that I was afraid to make coffee again. :) I miss Starbucks and the people that make coffee for me! I was going to buy coffee when we went to Ouaga and was so excited cause I saw “Brazilian coffee” on one of the coffee bags at the supermarket... until I noticed the rest of the package was in Arabic! And I didn't recognize any of the coffee brands (I kept searching for Melita) and didn't want to spend a lot of money of coffee that wasn't even gonna taste good. So I had decided that I would just wait another month to drink coffee. But then someone gave me some Cinnabon-flavored coffee. :) So Annie & I made some this morning... I decided that after seeing over 280 patients in 2 days, I could use a little caffeine to keep going. And let me tell you, it was amazing and today was the best day!! Today was a lighter day because I saw only 98 patients (why do I consider that a light day?) but I still have so much energy. Today I am thankful that God made coffee and for fun African coffee adventures. :)      

Breaking the record... yet again!

158 – that's the number of patients I saw today! It's funny to remember back to my first day here, when I was so amazed that Dr. Miller & I saw 96 patients! Those days are long gone and it seems that as the help has decreased, the number of patients have increased. Thank you for all your prayers and please continue to pray for me and the other workers here. God continues to give me strength and joy for each day, and I know that is in part because of so many people praying for me. You are a part of this ministry and you are here with me as I treat each patient. Please pray for continued strength and endurance this week. Tomorrow is market day so it will be busy and we also had to send some of the patients home to come back tomorrow. Thanks so much! Love you guys!

Cute kids

Just thought I would share some cute pictures of some of my patients today. It's always funny to take pictures of kids here because most of them don't know how to pose (although everyone loves looking at the picture after I take it). I try to get them to smile but it doesn't always work. I took picture of a cute little boy yesterday at the nutrition center and as soon as I took it he broke out in tears. I felt so bad! Everyone around the boy, including his mom, was laughing so I guess it was ok! :)  Enjoy and hope y'all are having a good weekend!

 

A typical day

Just thought I would share a typical weekday for me here at BMC - I get up and head to the pediatric ward at the hospital at 7:30 am. In the morning we round on the inpatients. For the kids, it's mostly deciding who can go home and who can be changed from IV to PO meds. After I finish rounding, which is usually about 8:30 or 9:00, I go to clinic and see patients until break. The clinic closes from 9:30-10:00, when they have a devotion in Mampruli for the patients. I usually go home to eat breakfast and have my own devotion time. After break, it's back to clinic to see patients. There are 7 exam rooms at OPD (Outpatient Department) that are filled with Ghanaian Medical Officers, the missionary doctors and volunteers. When there were a lot of volunteers, we would have 2 and sometimes 3 people to a room, but now I'm in a room by myself. Since there are so many kids, I decided to keep seeing just kids until they finish for the day. With kids, the flow is faster because it's mostly just malaria. I calculated the other day that at times, I see 1 child ever 3-4 minutes! I stop for an hour for lunch and then go back to clinic until all the patients have been seen. Once the children are finished, I start helping them see adults. We usually finish up between 4 and 6 pm, although occasionally it is earlier or later. Mondays are always busy and Market Days (every 3^rd day) as well. Thankfully today was light and we finished around 3 pm (The last 2 days weren't as bad as Monday, but I still saw almost 100 patients each day.).

Thank you all for your prayers! After Monday I was so exhausted and wondering how I was gonna make it until next month, but God has filled with me with His strength and joy these last few days. I got an email with some encouraging verses today - “ My presence will go with you and I will give you rest.” Exodus 33:14. “The Lord gives strength to His people; the Lord blesses His people with peace.” Psalm 29:11. “Your strength will equal your days.” Deuteronomy 33:25 God reminded me that He is with me and the one that gives me strength and peace. He will give me just the right amount of strength for the days He has me here in Ghana, even when I think I won't make it another day. He is the one who called me here, knowing exactly what I would encounter, and I can trust that He is in control. I pray that you all have a day filled with His presence and peace!

An exhausting day

Busy Monday in clinic... After a somewhat relaxing weekend, it's back to life at the hospital. Mondays are always busy but today seemed worse, mostly because almost all of the other volunteers have left. It was an exhausting day! I was in an exam room by myself (usually there's another volunteer) and saw mostly kids all day. The thing about seeing kids is that you don't have to talk a lot to the parents because you diagnose them mainly based on examination (and 90% of them have malaria). Over half of the words I've said all day are “He has malaria” and “Go to the pharmacy” in Mampruli. I saw 132 patients today– just me! That's crazy! I have to admit, after today, I am even more worried about how I will survive the next month and a half. Please pray for me, for strength, endurance, encouragement and peace. Thanks!!

Third World Country Vacation

We're here in Ouagadougou for the rest of our mini vacation. There's been no more African mud baths and our accommodations are far better here than at the game park, but it still strikes me as funny that this is where we come for vacation. Ouagadougou, or “Ouaga” as everyone calls it, is a city of 1 million and the capital of Burkina Faso. Someone told me that Burkina Faso is one of the poorest countries in the world. We were talking today about how any Westerner would come to Ouaga and talk about the poverty and the dirtiness of the city. And yet, here we are, coming here because it is so much “nicer” than the village we live in. They actually have paved roads, traffic lights, real supermarkets & restaurants!

Most of what we've done has been eating and shopping... and it's been wonderful! Yesterday's lunch was pizza and today we went to the restaurant at the American Embassy – hamburgers, fries and milkshakes! This is no big deal until you haven't eaten food like this in 2 months. :) Last night we went to a Lebanese restaurant and had pita bread, hummus and amazing fresh vegetables. There aren't that many fresh vegetables in Nalerigu so it was definitely a treat! We had chocolate croissants for breakfast and went to a French restaurant for dinner. The shopping was fun, especially since the Nalerigu market only has fabric and food, but it was quite the experience. Imagine trying to bargain in French (I know like 5 phrases and kept trying to speak Portuguese to them!) and calculating the prices in my head (It's 440 CFA for 1 dollar). But it's definitely been nice to be in a city for a few days and to have a break from the hospital.