Kim Reaves’ Blog

Friday (last one in Ghana)

Hi all,

Well it is the last Friday for us to spend in Ghana. Today we went to the devotional in the main lobby of the hospital and it was given by Dr. Ablorh. At the end he had Ashley and I come to the front to give us a gift and allow us to speak to the group. We said “thank you” to everyone then people came by to shake our hands and give us hugs. It was very nice. Vida continues to look like she might cry because we are leaving on Sunday. It has been very nice to meet everyone and I am very glad I came. I hope that one day I can come back to Ghana and visit the mission. Perhaps I can come back and work when I have the M.D. to back it up.

To recap the last few days:

Wednesday: Well I felt horrible from the combination of malaria and the medicine we were taking for the medicine. It was Dr. Ablorh’s birthday and the staff threw him a surprise party with pizza, cake and soda. They had music playing in the back ground and told him how much they appreciated him. Dr. Ablorh founded Manna Mission and there is a lot of respect for what he has done and for his devotion to the gospel. There is a great deal of respect for him and how much work he has done for the community. It was very nice that we could be a party of his birthday celebration. I never got a chance to ask him how old he was however.

Ashley gave a presentation on malaria and then I gave a presentation on Typhoid. They were both around 20 minutes a piece and we were told they were good. After the presentation, we had a discussion about what was safe to eat in Africa. Dr. Ablorh gave us some of his wisdom. It was obvious we had already broken a lot of the rules during our stay. Well we already had malaria so much more than that would probably just require more treatment so we didn’t really panic that much.

After the presentations the group of students took a taxi to Coco beach for dinner and relaxation.  It was nice to sit under the hut on the beach and relax. We also tossed the football (American Football) around for a while. It was a nice evening.

Thursday: It was Dr. Akosua’s day off so several of the students also took the day off. We started the day by going to the trade fair and then to the artist alliance. There were a few more things Ashley and I wanted to get before heading home. Ashley, Mike, Chi-chi, Andrew, Leigh-Ann and I then went to Osu and had lunch at Frankie’s. I had probably the best hamburger in a long time. We walked along the road for a brief time after before heading back to the mission house to meet up with Chad and Julie, whom we had met several weeks earlier at La Palm. They took us to the “Hands of Mercy” Orphanage where they were working so we could play with the kids. There were probably close to 60 children ranging from 2 years old up to the teenage years. I chatted with a 15 year old girl named Edna who wants to go to medical school. She was very knowledgeable about how much school and what classes she needed to take. She asked me a lot of questions about the U.S. and told me a lot about her school. It was very nice to chat with her. I gave her my email address so hopefully I will hear from her. She had been in the orphanage since she was 10 years old. I can’t even imagine.

After the orphanage, we went back to Coco beach for dinner. I had a great chicken pizza and enjoyed chatting with Chad and Julie about the adoption process. Julie works for an adoption agency out of Canada. They are here in Ghana to try to bring the orphanage up to a higher standard. There is not really a routine for the children. They run around and play. They don’t have any games or activities for them and diapers and basic necessities are in short supply. There is no running water and there are not enough beds for all the children. There hopes are to bring the orphanage to a higher standard and it sounds like they are making small steps. They are in the process of purchasing a van for the orphanage to help with transportation. It was interesting to learn about and made me want to help. I am sure this is not the last time you will hear me mention the “Hands of Mercy” orphanage in Ghana.

We went back to the house after dinner and I started packing. I am almost done now. I am hoping one of my suitcases is not too heavy. Tomorrow we are going to go to the beach to the see the sunrise and then hanging out til around lunch time. There is a wedding here at the mission tomorrow and we have been invited. Everyone has told us we need to see a Ghanaian wedding before we go so hopefully we will make it. Also we had dresses made a couple weeks ago and they should be ready to pick up to wear to the event. It should be a good day. We take off at 10:20 am Sunday morning to head back home. It has been a great trip and I will cherish the time I have spent here. I hope to one day come back to Ghana and work again.

Thank you for reading!

Kim

P.S. Our swabs are still positive for Malaria so it seems we will be taking another medicine on our way home. No worries though…we will be treated and everything will be fine.