Problem-Free Philosophy

Hello! Sorry for the lengthy absence, the care-free Ghanian time has gotten the best of me. To recap the past few days:

Friday:
This morning I was back in the Children's Ward. To be honest, I've realized the Children's Ward may not be the place for me. As much as I absolutely love being with kids, when they're sick/confined to their beds, and overseen by a busy nursing staff it is not easy to interact with them and make yourself feel useful. I spent this morning folding a few towels then I sat and watched the nurses discharge their patients. Though I wasn't able to do much to help, I did get to spend quite a bit of time hanging out with this 2-year-old boy named Peter. He was really enjoying a game of "open the door and slam it shut till mommy runs and grabs me". He was absolutely precious though and I was able to hang out with him  and exchange talk of Ewe-gibberish and my own English, with neither of us understanding the other. I think we were having a very great conversation though :) That afternoon I went into town with some other volunteers to do some more souvenir shopping. While we were shopping at this store called "Akuna Matata", a HUGE storm rolled in in the blink of an eye. But that is how the rainy season works here: one minute the sky is a beautiful blue, the next it is covered by dark storm clouds. We were stranded at the shop, but it was surprisingly wonderful because we were able to chat with the shop owner and get a further feel for the intense culture that Ghanians so richly posses. He shared with us the importance of their strong Christian religion and gave us the Ghanaian view of how politics should be run. He was saying that what makes the most sense is for people to "spread the wealth". He argued that there is no sense in letting the rich get richer and the poor get poorer, and he cannot understand how so many Americans feel so entitled to their paycheck that they cannot fathom donating portions of it to those people who are really in need. "Crazy Americans", he was calling us with a laugh. In my mind, the words he was saying were the most clear and easily understood of most things that I have heard in my lifetime. Ghanians are the happiest, most laid back people I have ever met, and they live with so much less then we do. Why is that so? These people get it. They get what the simplicity of life should truly feel like and appreciate its wonderfulness...why don't we?

Saturday/Sunday:
I decided to stay in town this weekend, as opposed to traveling, because 4 of our 8 total volunteers were heading back to the US. We spent Saturday hanging out at the home base and said goodbye to the people we have spent the last 2 weeks with. After saying goodbye, we killed some more time around town until the new volunteers came. At about 6:30, right after dinner, we heard 2 vans pull up and we rushed outside to greet the newcomers. 15 people emerged from the vans, (13 girls and 2 guys) and we were so excited to meet everyone. We spent the night meeting and greeting, and then let the newcomers settle in for the night. Sunday was further hanging out and getting acquainted, and we ended Sunday night by going out for my roommate's 21st birthday :)

Monday:
Today I was back in the Diabetics Ward! This is definitely my hot spot. Today was incredible for 2 reasons: 1) I finally learned how to manually take blood pressure! Now I can be so much for useful in other parts of the hospital. 2) I was able to actually counsel a diabetic patient and put my dietetics skills to the test! This man's blood glucose levels have been high the past few weeks and he was frustrated because he had not been able to get them to go down. He expressed how worried he was because he knew the terrible effects that diabetes can have on one's body, and he feared for his overall health and wellbeing. Carl, the nutritionist on staff, and myself sat with this man, ran through his usual diet and developed a better dietary plan for him. He was so excited to learn from us and understand why we recommend certain things and not others. One thing that I found extremely interesting was how Carl was referring to an American slice of bread vs. a Ghanaian slice of bread. At first I thought he meant that Americans take huge slices of bread compared to Ghanaians, because of how notorious we are for being so unhealthy and overweight. It was actually the complete opposite. Apparently Ghanians love to take huge slices of bread when they eat it for a snack or for breakfast, and Carl recommends taking an "American slice" which is just a thin, normal slice of bread. The patient we were counseling was a bread fiend, so he and Carl were chuckling when discussing how he must resist the urge to eat so much of a loaf of bread when hungry. Overall it was an incredible experience. I really felt like this man was so eager to hear what I had to say because he was so worried about his disease and wanted to make sure he was doing everything he could to avoid future complications. Patients like that remind of the importance of my future career path.

Tuesday:
Tuesday was another observational day for myself and the 3 new hospital volunteers. We were all together in the HIV testing/counseling unit. It was a very interesting day, as always, but not much to tell besides the observing that we did. Yet there was one incident that has been engrained in my mind: There was a women with her baby there who was being counseled by one of the nurses. It was all in Ewe, so I did not understand what was being said, but the women was crying and clearly distraught. Later the nurse informed us of what had happened: apparently both this women and child have been found to be HIV+. When her husband found this out, he immediately abandoned the two of them. She has not been able to make enough money as a single mother and couldn't pay her taxes so the government took her seamstress shop. She is so distraught because she is terrified that she will not be able to provide for both herself and her child, especially considering their health status. It was heartbreaking to see, and just an inkling of the terrible sadness that so many of these HIV people experience every single day.
This afternoon we went back to the monkey sanctuary and the drumming/dancing lesson. It was just as good the second time around :)

Wednesday: 
This morning I spent time volunteering in the Out Patient Department. Today was incredible, because it was the most hands-on that I have been. Right when I got there, the nurse pulled up a chair for me at the main check-in table and left me in charge of taking the vitals of all the children who were waiting for the doctor. I took temperatures and weights of the children and logged the information in their patient folders. Those it was simple and repetitive, it was so rewarding because I was able to help out the extremely busy department and relieve a nurse to go about other important duties for the day. All in all, an awesome morning.
This afternoon we went back to Wli Waterfall, and like the monkeys, it was just as amazing as the first time.

Tomorrow I am back in the Diabetics Clinic, and I am thrilled to see what the day will bring me. Until then!

Akpe kakaka! (Thank you so much!),

~Sarah