When it Rains, it Pours

For volunteering today, I spent the better part of the morning in the Antenatal Clinic, interacting with pregnant women and observing the many ways that these women are cared for. Since it is Wednesday, the Antenatal Clinic began the day with a brief "church service". Besides just on Sundays, most Ghanians attend a church service every Wednesday at some point during the day. The service in the ANC this morning was mostly singing in chorus, with a few testimonies. It was all in Ewe, but I was able to clap alongside them and enjoy their beautiful singing voices. 

After the service, I visited different consulting rooms, in which nurses took vitals of their patients and palpated them for any abnormalities with their pregnancy. It is obvious to anyone from more developed countries that these departments are severely lacking in what the doctors call "gadgets", that we in the states posses in our health care system. Women's blood pressures were taken with manual BP devices and their heights were recorded from centimeter scales that were written on the wall with sharpie marker. It was also clear that they have different standards for physical examinations. The nurse just told the woman in my room to undress and lay on the bed, without giving her a gown or leaving the room for privacy. This was completely normal for the the patient and nurse, but it still left me taken aback and had me wondering if I should leave the room for fear of embarrassing the patient. She did not seem to be bothered by it though - just another example of the different social norms that I am experiencing. 

After the ANC, I moved onto the Out Patient Departments where I was of much more assistance. The nurses were extremely friendly and taught me how they take temperature and pulse rate of their patients and recored this info in their Patient Folders. I was able to record patient information and assist with taking their vitals, leaving some other nurses free for other work that was needed. This made me feel much more useful and gave me some skills that I can transfer between wards to make myself as beneficial to the hospital staff as possible.  

In the afternoon, we took the most beautiful 45 minutes hike through the rainforest to the Wli Waterfall. I have never seen a more amazing piece of natural beauty in my life! The waterfall is the highest in all of West Africa and were fortunate enough to spend the afternoon cooling off in its refreshing waters. I'm having trouble uploading pictures, but I will get them up as soon as possible because it was the most incredible sight to see. It was amazing too, because as you get closer and closer to the base of the fall, the wind from the cascading water is enough to knock you right off your feet. We all held hand and walked with our backs to the waterfall until we were able to touch the rock behind the fall. It was an afternoon full of swimming, laughter and fun.




I'm not sure if I've mentioned this already, but we are in Ghana during what they call the "rainy season".  Now this doesn't  just mean that they have scattered showers here and there. It means that when it rains, it pours. Tonight we had the most incredible storm I have ever heard. The electricity went out and it honestly sounded like the roof was going to cave in right where we were sitting. Normally I am not a fan of thunderstorms, but being out in the wild like this made the storm seem all the more powerful and incredible. The rain also helped cool things off immensely, so I believe that it will be extremely easy for me to sleep tonight and dream about all the wonderful things that this country has already done for me. 

That's all that I can say right now! Until tomorrow! 

Akpe kakakaka! (Thank you so much!)

~ Sarah