Blogs from Volta, Ghana, Africa - page 2

After general rounds, my assignment was to go to the male ward. Once there Dr. Emmanuel was doing rounds and I observed patients with subarachnoid hemmorhage, chronic renal failure, alcoholic cirrhosis, etc. I observed several dressing changes and removed a foley catheter. Rosalind joined me and got me to begin teaching a head to toe assessment to the nursing students on the ward, while she observed to see what I actually remembered. We went through all the systems and taught them our assessment style while they took notes. The head to toe took a while and then we breaked for lunch. After lunch we hired a tro-tro to take us back to Akatsi market. Once we arrived we checked the garments section because the coming weekend we had a wedding to attend. I bought some wicked ... read more

Rachel and I were assigned to the operating room on this day. Upon our arrival we were given a brief tour of the place. They seemed to have all the essential facilities such as operating tables, vital sign operators, coagulation devices, suctioning devices, etc. Sterility was still questionable at times yet they did their best to maintain as clean and environment as possible. The first minor surgery we got to see involved in EOU (Evacuation of Uterus), the contents of which needed to be removed after an aborted fetus' remains still lingered within. Following this was a cervical biopsy, albeit under no anasthesia, and the woman bellowed out continuous moans as the doctor worked. The main major surgery of the day was a total hysterectomy. The woman was presenting with uterine fibroids and had had a ... read more

Some of us (Rachel, Held, Hartropp, and myself) were selected to go on our first outreach mission to a small village about an hour east called Hatogodo. A few nurses were going along, one named Noel was able to give me interesting bits of info regarding nursing in Ghana, and I in turn explained how health care in Canada was. We arrived in the village square where several nurses were already set up and a scale was hanging from a branch. Women brought their babies to hang on the weight, while several other stations updated childhood vaccinations. I had the opportunity to walk around the village and truly experience rural West Africa. The girls gave out stickers and blew bubbles, which frightened the children extensively. Once they warmed up to it though they began to enjoy ... read more

I have been in Klikor, Ghana for one week now. I must say from day 1 I have been made to feel very welcome by all the staff at the children’s home and the school where I will be working, at the Guest House where I am lodging and by the children and community themselves. Klikor is a rural area where most of the population are farmers. The roads are dirt roads and can become quite difficult to manage during the rainy season as it is now – especially when you’re donning flip flops when wellies might be more useful! Still, the weather is quite bearable as there is cloud cover and a gentle breeze. When it rains, it hammers it down, drumming down on the tin roofs and churning up the mud on the roads. ... read more

I have been here for just over a week and I am loving it. I have been to Accra, Ho (including the colony of cured lepers), and been to a community that was one and a half hours drive away from where I am staying (in Ho). I have spent 3 days in the hospital and have worked in the O.P.D (out-patient department) and Pediatrics. Tomorrow we are doing an outreach to a place near Hohoe and we will be taking blood pressures and temperatures. On Thursday I am back in the hospital and will be going to the lepers colony on Friday again. This weekend we are going to go and hike Mount Afadjado and go to Wli Falls. I hope my next 2 weeks are as good.... read more