Still Here!

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Still going strong

So it's been roughly over a week since i last wrote but the last attempt was a bit sarce so i thought id dedicate some time to it.
Starting with last weekend, Alli and I decided to get out of the house and out into Accra the big capital city. For refernce we looked at a 10 year old map in our lounge although not alot of help we tried to guesstimate where we should be heading. When we headed to the taxi rank however Accra wasn't an exact enough location apparently and the only town name that we could remember off the map happened to be Jamestown.
Jamestown however was not the modern city area we had hoped for, instead it was undeveloped back streets full of locals near the coastline. We were dropped by what seemed to be the biggest attraction in jamestown- a very worn down lighthouse. We decieded to head back the direction we came passing a prison, local fish market and getting stopped by much too friendly males and a small group of children that lead us by the hand down the road.
As we made our way towards a commerical bank we, by chance met Humphrey - an officer in the army. A secruity officer told us to follow him to an atm that was actually working. We kept our distance but in the end he turned out to be really lovely and bought us a drink and told us to 'watch out for the bad guys'-who i think we had already met.

Afterwards we were absorbed into the huge market that spans most of Accras streets selling clothes to bibles to pots and pans. I needed a long sleeved shirt for work and alli bought a gorgeous clutch bag -they seem to have really good taste in bags.

During the week it was back to work. I found it hard at times to be of assistance to anyone and i so badly wanted to do something. I was excited when i got the chance to observe ultrasound scans by Dr. Attoh. He was lovely and explained most of the images to me, the head, the heart beating and the spine and rig cage. The scanner looked over 20 years old and when i asked he said he didnt know the age but couldnt bare to think about it. There were wires coming out of it and the image didnt look quite that sharp although i guess his eyes were well adjusted to it, seeming as he performs around 50-100 a day somedays. He told me that he's looking to buy a new one with possibably a 3D image.
Not long after he got me to work, filling out forms and doing most of the paperwork for the pregnant women.

Ive made some good friends here in teh form of health assistants and students. They are all very curious about me and most of the time i hear from them that they want to come home with me. Eunis, a very energetic, cheeky and tiny 21 year old tells me that shes going to either marry my 'boyfriend'(you have to say this to avoid marriages and crazy men that grab hold of you) or my brother (who i also said was married, she then replied with "ill be his 2nd wife") or get my rich mum and dad to fly her to England. Shes lovely though, and they all seem to want to talk and help me and being with them, i'm treated like a student so i get to observe more things.

On the Thursday, i was left with the students to fill out the paperwork for regeristing the new pregnant women. They had not done this before where as i have worked with the nurses may times filling this out so it appeared that i would have to teach them about it. They didnt take to it well, well being a group of males they didnt think that i knew what i was talking about and i soon got annoyed but sat back to watch them figure it out. I just smiled sweetly to the patient pregnant women and wrote the lab forms.
My day got so much better when, after the antenatal clinic i met with some of the students on the maternity ward. I discovered my timing was perfect - 3 women had gone into labour, all at the same time.
This was a whle new experience full of different smells, noises(well screams) and a whole lot of images that will stay with me forever.
One lady managed to make it look relatively easy- if birth can be easy, and poped a baby girl out in a matter of minutes.
The lady in the bed next to her was having a more difficult time, she was exhausted and angry nurses shouting at her to push was the most encouraging thing. In the end she was helped by being cut, pushed and pulled. A baby boy was born (albeit with a funny alien shaped head, no wonder she had trouble). The other women still showed no sign of advancement. When I was watching the nurses wash and bath these little alien creatures the women in the same room had a cathiter inserted and prepared for c- section in the theatre. I was unfortunate not to be able to see it, but so fortunate that i saw 2 babies on their first day of living.
I was a little shocked at the time the baby was taken away from its mother for. The boy was left all cleaned and wrapped up in a cot in a seperate room for well longer than i would have liked. I stood there watching him, feeling enormously proud having done nothing, but wanting so much for him to be reunited to his mum. I mean i was spending longer with him than she was! I told myself though, that these women are popping them out left right and centre and well i suppose are used to it, and it maybe not the momentous occasion it is back in England.

At the weekend we were planning to visit the beach in Labodi as it was Graeham's, (another madventurer weirdly from Woodley)last day. However he turned out to be feeling really unwell and we didnt want to leave him so we stayed in the house only venturing out to use the internet for an hour. I was really wound up by the internet connection out here as i was trying to talk live to my mum on facebook chat. I was over the moon though, that i got to speak to her and find out all about the goings on. In the evening we had planned to go to a beach party for valentines (its big out here) however looks like plans werent to be fulfiled as a storm came in. We all dance in the rain and lightening like loonies and relished in the cool breeze. We said our goodbyes to graeham and took a taxi to get pizza! yes real pizza - amazing. It really could have been a saturday night at home, pizza infront of Bruce Almighty.

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