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Published: April 11th 2010
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I’ve now arrived safely back at home, making this the final entry on my Ghana travel blog.
Week 9 was spent in the village of Apemanim, working with the village chief (Nana) to establish health priorities. The community has a population of about 300, of which at least half is composed of children. We were divided into 3 groups to explore different sectors of the population - maternal health, pediatrics, and geriatrics. I was assigned to the maternal group, and had the chance to speak with local mothers and traditional birth attendants. One obvious problem was that the nearest clinic was 8km away, with very few vehicles available. As a result, many women were not receiving prenatal care and most were delivering at home with a birth attendant.
While the major goal of our time in the village was to gather information to pass on to the group going to Ghana in May from the University of Alberta, it quickly became apparent that this community was in dire need of a working clinic. This became our new goal, and through assessment, establishing priorities, and a bit of impromptu fundraising we were able to gather everything we needed and find
a local community nurse to staff it. The last day of our undergraduate degrees was spent setting up the clinic - a pretty amazing way to finish our final practicum. We are planning a fundraiser in May to purchase more equipment and expand the clinic, which will be delivered by the next group of students.
After the village we took a night to celebrate in Kumasi before most of us headed north for the Easter long weekend to go on safari. Mole National Park is located in the Northern region of Ghana, about 4 hours from the city of Tamale. Our trip involved a bus from Kumasi to Tamale, and a hired tro-tro from Tamale to Larabanga, where we would be staying. Due to some mechanical problems we didn’t arrive in Larabanga until 12:30am, and were surprised to find out that our reservations were not for rooms, but rather for a small shared piece of foam on the roof of the guesthouse. Upon arrival the local nightclub was going strong, and we dozed off under the stars to the sounds of booming bass. After a couple of hours of blissful silence, our wake-up call was a combination of bleating
goats and the local mosques call to prayer at 4am. No matter - it was time to go on safari!
We were transported to the park by locals on motorcycles (sorry Mom!), and began a walking tour of the park with a guide at about 8am. We quickly spotted warthogs bathing in the mud to stay cool, and several species of antelope. Down at the watering hole we saw crocodiles, soldier ants and plenty of elephant tracks. A tip from one of the other guides pointed us towards a large bluff, and that was were we saw the elephants themselves, slowly making their way to the watering hole for a morning drink and swim. We watched 3 elephants in the watering hole for half and hour before returning to the viewing area above the park. At our lunch break, we were introduced to the deviant baboons, which are fond of snatching food from the tables while guests are eating. One baboon carrying her baby managed to steal all of our sugar cubes.
The following morning, Sarah and I said our goodbyes to the rest of the group and caught a bus back to Accra, as we were the
first 2 scheduled to leave Ghana. We spent out last day packing, and had a final Ghanaian lunch with Bev. On Tuesday evening we boarded our plane for Amsterdam for our “decompression” prior to our return home.
Amsterdam turned out to be a great stopover. We booked beds at the famous Bulldog hostel, located on the edge of the red light district. Our day was spent on an extensive walking tour, where we learned the history of Amsterdam and saw sights such as the Anne Frank museum. The weather was sunny and cool - a pleasant change from the 40°C of Ghana. In the evening we wandered the red light district, drank Heineken and gorged ourselves on all the foods we’d been missing for the past 2 ½ months. Our trip back to Edmonton was long but uneventful, besides arriving in the middle of a snowstorm. Welcome home indeed!
Adjusting to being back home has been interesting. It feels strange to drink from the tap, feel cold, and I can’t stop staring at all the white people. I couldn’t believe how much I appreciated being able to go to the grocery store and buy milk, or have a
hot shower. One difficult aspect is being away from “Team Ghana”. We’d barely left each others sides for months, and I think we’ve all been experiencing a bit of separation anxiety.
At this point it seems too early to say how this experience has affected us. I hope that my time in Africa will give me a greater appreciation for how lucky we are in Canada. I doubt you’ll hear me complaining about our health care system any time soon! I’ve gained a bit of understanding of the challenges of keeping a population healthy against serious odds. I’ve seen people make neck braces out of cardboard, deliver 2 babies simultaneously, and deal with 1/50 patient ratios. With any luck I’ve taken a bit of this resourcefulness home with me. More than anything, I’ve learned the importance of providing “culturally competent care”; a term that nurses use a lot but is difficult to understand without experiencing it. Following our adventure, I’m looking forward to beginning my career with this experience fresh in my mind, and I hope that I will be a better nurse for it.
Thank you all for reading and for your words of support and encouragement.
It made my time away from home infinitely easier. I’ll look forward to catching up with all of you soon.
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Well Done!!
Congratulations, Kate!!! Yikes! An outstanding practicum, a shiny new degree and if that's not enough, your very own clinic. I must say, it's very good to have you back home. We hope you'll rest up some and then begin working on a well-deserved summer break. ciao