Soccer game on the beach

Alas, our time has come to an end, however only three of us are actually heading back to Canada.  Some of us need to work ASAP!

It has been an amazing trip and there are soooo many stories that we haven’t shared yet.  I’m just putting up some photos from the past couple of days to share what we’ve been up to.

Cape Coast was beautiful- it reminded me of an old European City… poor city planning and quite dirty.  Vendors lined the streets and the market was yet another really interesting experience- again an experience that stimulates all senses and some in not such a positive way-

The Castle was a rather emotional experience- touring through the dungeons touches your soul and makes your skin crawl.  The guide mentions that only 1/3 of people lived to actually get on the boats and another 3rd died on the journey because of such poor living conditions.  Starvation, dehydration, infection and living in human waste.  It really makes you wonder how human beings could become such horrible, savage, immoral, and disgusting creatures to treat others so horribly.

Entrance to the male slave dungeon

Beach Side Slums

The last days were spent at the resort doing such activities as tanning, relaxing, and some school meetings.  It truly has been a fantastic experience and I am sad to be at the end however happy to come home to see everyone and share my stories.

Cape Coast Castle- very intense and horrible history. Largest Slave trading port in Cape Coast

Beach Side at our resortAnother Castle Shot

Mahaa from Rachel!

Thank you to Colette and Ang for all their hard work in keeping this blog so imformative and up-to-date, and for allowing me to be a ‘guest blogger’ .

Thank you for the music, the songs I’m singing

Thanks for all the joy they’re bringing

Who can live without it? I ask in all honesty.

What would life be?

Without a song or a dance what are we?

So, I say thank you for the music, for giving it to me.

Okay, I admit, I’m a bit of an ABBA fanatic, but these lyrics depict many of our experiences in Ghana thus far so well, I simply had to include them in this post.  In fact, some of our most memorable experiences here have been coloured with a song.

If You’re Happy and You Know It

I can speak for myself and at least a few of my colleagues when I say that I anticipated our visit to Korkor’s Medical Centre with some hesitation.  Images of sullen and malnourished children from World Vision commercials flashed in my mind and I questioned whether I was emotionally prepared for what I may experience at the Centre, knowing that many of the children we would meet at Korkor’s had lost their parents to disease and other tragic events, and now lived with a foster family.

Upon our arrival at Korkors, the team was warmly greeted by the children with big bright smiles and laughter (we get laughed at a lot) and we were quick to realize that our assumptions were incorrect. We observed that the children and the foster families were part of an incredibly caring and supportive community, and that in fact the children seemed very happy and content.  This was so very well demonstrated when the children sang “If you’re happy and you know it” in Twi.  At this point, they didn’t even need to clap their little hands to show us this.

Lean on Me

When the children at Hanuukah Children’s Home sang this song at the end of our visit, many of us were brought to tears.  The lyrics and the beautiful soft tones of the children’s voices reminded us of what is most important to them and also to us: the collective strength of community, friendship, and love.  We were all so touched in this moment, and I know I was very grateful to have the shoulder of one of my dear nursing friends to lean on.

Vasectomy

Our team had so much fun getting to know our Ghanaian community nursing partners.  Their youthful and positive energy is an absolute asset to the communities and clients that they serve, and also to the nursing profession in general.  They taught us about health promotion and prevention of disease, through both their knowledge and actions, as well as through song.  The following are lyrics to one of the most memorable songs they taught us:

Vasectomy, vasectomy, it is a good operation

Vasectomy, vasectomy, it is a good operation

So my brother, don’t be afraid

You can still stand erect

Vasectomy, vasectomy, it is a good operation!

Soo..on that note, I will close .  Ghana ~ thank you for the music! You have been blessed with the universal language of song, and we are so very grateful for that.

Meda ase,

Rachel

Drum-makers testing the drums

Traffic jam Ghana style - every man for himself!

Well, after 4 weeks, 5 different beds, 6 different roomies (all great!) and too many hours on the bus than I care to calculate; our time here in Ghana has come to a close.

Here we are on the bus...look how happy we are - I'm guessing Vincent is trying to teach us a song....

We are all healthy, happy and moderately more darker than we were before; and leave with a greater appreciation for the terms ‘poverty’, ‘community’, ‘welcome’ and ‘determinants of health.’

For those of you who might not think we actually do any work here - PROOF!

We are currently hidden away outside of Cape Coast, wrapping up PAFs and Recommendations for future field schools; and getting a little R and R before we depart for our various destinations tomorrow.

We got the royal treatment at one of the primary schools in Sunyani....and then proceeded to do handwashing demos for 500 students!

Our fearless cultural liaison Vincent and his mom - who happened to meet us on the road as we we're travelling through Kumasi on our way to Accra....only in Ghana!

I leave you with a few random shots that I had hoped to include but was not too sure how – my last flavour of and ode to Ghana and the expressive, welcoming and beautiful people that we have had the pleasure of working with the last 4 weeks.

Thanks so much for following our adventures – we had a great time regaling you with our goings on and truly appreciated all your feedback and comments!

Every day is market day in Sunyani – but Wednesday is when all the vendors

One of the many colourful colonial style buildings in Sunyani - Red and Yellow seem to predominate (Yellow for MTN and Red for Vodophone; the predominate cell phone carriers in the country)

from all over the region (and even those from outside the region) come into town to flog their wares.  Unfortunately – our schedule did not permit us to spend a Wednesday in town for the market – BUT I did spend yesterday morning in the market area, and I think I managed to capture a bit of the flavour.

Key soap is the most widely used and produced soap in Ghana (and what we used for handwashing demos). Its content is suspect - but it does have a delightfully lemony fresh scent!

Really – you can get anything you need in the market area – from snails (we are talking BIG snails) to machetes and every type of clothing you can possibly imagine (though football gear and fabric seem to dominate) .

Cassava - a staple used in a variety of Ghanaian dishes

Getting pictures of these things is a different matter though……pictures cost money, and I’m way too cheap to pay for photos!  So what you have here for your viewing pleasure is the ‘freeware’ version of my day at the market (missing from blog….snails and machetes….).

Jackie checking out the hand made soap I almost traded the camera for....

I personally loved the soap lady – she was a card.  She wanted me to trade her my camera (allow me to rephrase -  my VIU loaner camera) for some soap. I was seriously tempted – because as many of you know, I am crazy about homemade soap; but rest assured, calmer heads prevailed and the camera is still in my possession.

HOT, seriously HOT peppers! Peel the skin off the inside of your mouth hot....

All of the students have availed themselves of many treasures from the market, which I’m sure will make their way to their friends and family once they return home.

This past weekend Vincent, our cultural guide, invited us all to his home for a true Ghanaian cooking class.

Prep-cooking in the kitchen

On the menu- fufu, a traditional Ghanaian dish.  I’m not entirely sure how to describe it- basically itis a dough ball with some kind of soup or stew.  We had three different types of soup all of which were delicious- fish, chicken and grasscutter.  The fish was a combination of Tilapia and mackerel, chicken- straight forward and for the grasscutter we don’t have a Canadian equivalent- basically think over sized rat- a delicacy here in Ghana.

More prep cooking in the kitchen

Grasscutter

Fufu is made by boiling cassava or yam and some plantains then pounding them together to pulp basically.  For those who have over-mashed potatoes it is a similar consistency.

The dough ball is placed in the soup and everyone digs in- no utensils allowed.  Using the right hand only- we all dug in.  Fantastic.

Pounding the FufuClash of Technology- note the traditional pounding vs. cellphone

Dig InFufu- Canadian Style

It’s been some time since my last entry due to unreliable Internet and a general laziness on my behalf… we’ve been extremely busy with nursing related events, presentations, and goodbyes.

Our last couple of days with the Community Nursing Training School gave us the opportunity to teach Ghanaian nurses about Canadian Nursing and Health care.  We talked about the Canadian Health Act and Canadian Nursing Association Ethics.  There are many similarities and perhaps a few differences.  Unlike Canada, Ghanaian health care is country wide- and there are no concerns about transferability between the different regions.

Circle discussion group

Our time with the community nurses has been so incredibly thought-provoking and has really made me reflect on how Canada really does have a lot to learn from the culture of Ghanaian Communities.  A truly unparalleled experience.  I’m adding in a bit of a random photo which I forgot to add into the Child Welfare Clinic photos.  This woman was demonstrating the correct way to breastfeed her baby in front of the crowd.

She agreed to have her picture taking if it was used in a positive way to promote breastfeeding.  She has had a number of children and believes breastfeeding is the best way to provide for a child- which it is.  Many husbands discourage their wives from breastfeeding and I am not sure what their rationale is but, I’d be curious to hear what it is.

Our time in Sunyani has been incredible- currently I’m sitting in the BAREC office, where I could finally get a decent connection.  We’ve just had our final meeting where we shared our best learning experiences and a way forward.  All of us are so humbled by this experience and have engaged in the best learning experiences of our lives.  Thank you to all of you at home who supported us and helped to make this wonderful experience possible as well as to those reading the blog! Thank you

Here are a few more photos from the past week…

Our Nursing Leaders

The Community Nursing Group- VIU and Community Nursing Training School

I think we would be remiss in the relaying of our experiences if we did not devote at least one blog entry to our amazing cook Teresa. Teresa is a full time student AND she has been cooking dinners for us 6 nights a week.  We are currently lamenting the fact that we have only one more night with her…… Let me tell you – this woman can cook! She has a repertoire that includes everything from groundnut soup (my absolute favourite…well

Some of us racing to the table for dinner!

maybe tied with red-red and plantains) to cinnamon rolls.  I had this vision of actually losing a few pounds while I was here; but mostly due to her cooking, that has not materialised.

Her dinners have been the medium within which we have our evening

Roasted tilapia - one of Teresa's amazing dishes!

debriefs – and they create a sense of community for us.  No matter what kind of day we have had, we all look forward to that time in our day.  When she comes out and announces that dinner is ready – it’s a stampede to the table where the food is laid out, which I think says it all about her culinary abilities. She just has this beautiful way of being which comes through in her food.

So Teresa – Thank you for your patience and your wonderful cuisine; we love you and will miss you very much!

This was one of the best days I have had so far!  I loved the chaotic and social atmosphere of the clinic.  It was so different from what we are accustomed to at home.

Mothers bring their children once a month to have them weighed, checked out, get the children any immunisations they may need, participate in a variety of maternal/child teaching and learning, socialise extensively, and if you are so inclined – a photographer is also there to take pics!

The weighing station at the Child Welfare Clinic

I personally had the experience of weighing babes as described by Collette (I must say, I loved the sacks!); and a few of the other nursing students participated in the registration of moms and babes….

Registration for the Child Welfare Clinic

And we also got to observe the immunisation process. This was really interesting. For any of you who have participated in an influenza clinic at the Community Centre – it is a lot like that – extremely efficient. Our Community Health Nursing Training School partners used this opportunity to practice their skills at giving immunisations as part of their practicum requirements.

Student nurse performing immunisations at CWC

One of the highlights of my day though was definitely my Ghanaian nursing partner, Irene, extolling (sp?) the virtues of breestfeeding to all the moms….

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rHzJzQTlREU

In English:
Exclusive breast milk for 6 months
Breast milk will provide intelligence
Breast milk will make the baby strong
Breast milk is for the baby….
Not for the father  (I think something gets lost in translation here….but I think you get the idea!)
And on that note….I think I’ll head off to the Guest House for a wonderful meal prepared by our FABULOUS cook Teresa…..I think I have to make her the subject of my next blog!

This is just going to be a little short post to update you on something really interesting Lindsay and I did this morning.

We were asked to go to the Sunyani Polytechnic University and set up a booth to distribute free condoms and STI information.   Ghana has done a lot of work on educating their people about HIV/AIDS and have come a long way in terms of disease prevention compared to some other countries in Africa.  That being said I feel it has created a gap in information about other STIs including Hep B and C among others.  Because all of the focus has been put on HIV- most Ghanaian people do not know about Hepatitis, which is also a very disabling disease and is transmitted in the same ways.  It has been brought to our attention that Hepatitis has become an issue here and the need for education is HUGE.

Condom Booth- before shot- note the calm look on our faces

The crowd gets bigger

This was an extremely interesting and rewarding experience for us both. The distribution of free condoms creates pandemonium however our rule was they had to ask a question first.  This way we were able to clarify some interesting misconceptions and were asked some very hmmmm peculiar questions.  A condom here in Ghana apparently costs 50 pasewas which is around 30 cents Canadian however minimum wage here is 2.20 dollars a DAY!!!!  Relatively speaking condoms are completely over priced therefore making them inaccessible to many.

Well it has been an extremely interesting week full of rich and eye-opening experiences.  I feel extremely blessed to have had the opportunity to truly experience a country and immerse myself in the culture and really see how health care is delivered to Ghanaian people.

Since our return to Sunyani we’ve been working our little butts off.  Community Health Care has been our existence for the last week.  We have joined our Ghanaian partners from the Community Nurses Training School in Tanoso and gone out to small rural villages.  The first couple of days we went out to these villages and provided health promotion education.  Like most things we’ve done in Ghana so far there is a specific protocol that we must follow… First we must seek the chief’s approval for our visit into his community.  This involves a meeting where all individuals exchange handshakes from right to left and a quick blurb about our intentions.  The chief blesses us and we’re off in search of community members who may benefit from a health talk.

The Chief and I- he would only agree to a photo if I could send him a copy of it.

Some of the students at the local school- we gave a lecture on TB and Tetanus

On Wednesday we attended a mum and baby health session.  This happens once a month until the child is the age of five and it is a weigh in, immunization and basic check up.  There is a breastfeeding talk and mothers are free to ask the nurses about any concerns they may have.  I really enjoyed this- it felt like such a natural experience.  Unlike in Canada where everything is so private and sterile this clinic took place under a huge shade tree.   The children were weighed on -what we would call a fish scale- from a cloth sack.  The mothers get dressed up to the nines- it is apparently a big day.  A time to show off your baby, create community, and share how truly awesome it is to be a mother.

Monthly Mum & Baby Clinic under the shade tree

I find something so beautiful in the simplicity of it all.  These moments have caused me to reflect on a number of different things but especially human connection, culture and what is truly important in this crazy world.   And with that I leave you until the next time.