Kim Reaves’ Blog

Day 12 in Africa (only 18 or so to go)

Hello again,

We made it to Coco beach yesterday. Junior was nice enough to take us to the Ramada Inn on the beach so we could have dinner. I joked about it being our romantic dinner because we were able to eat at a table that overlooked the beach. I was very excited about dinner because we weren’t able to eat more than a snack for lunch. I ordered spicy chicken with jolof rice. I keep meaning to try more of the local cuisine but I was so hungry and didn’t want to take chances. The dinner was great. It was hard to see over the ocean because of the haze which I have been meaning to explain…Ghana is very dusty during this time of year because of the “Habatan” which is basically a dust storm that comes down from the sahara desert. It is very noticeable from in my pictures.  Yesterday it gave the illusion that it was going to rain but we aer not that lucky.  The rainy season happens around May so we will miss it completely.  After dinner, we took a taxi back to the mission hospital which was a very short drive. I was asleep by 8:15 and I am not completely sure why I was so exhausted. I am feeling a little better today. I hope that I am not getting sick because that would be very unfortunate.

Today was a good morning.  Ashley and I sat in with Dr. Akosua again and were able to do more physical exams and to chime in more on the differential diagnosis. We had several children which Ashley was very excited about (as am I). We also had a lady with Parkinson’s Disease and a man with a pretty significant Inguinal hernia.  We also had several people follow up from yesterday.  We finished early which means Ashley and I are going to find the beach again. I am very surprised at my ability to get a pretty good tan going while I am in Africa. The beach has been a nice surprise.

I have to say that I am adjusting much better to being in Africa. The biggest change has actually been not having trasportation and not having the internet at all times. Everyone is very nice and we feel very safe here. Dr. Akosua has reminded us not to trust people so no worries we will be constantly aware of our surroundings. Please send me any messages when you get time. I hope all is well.

Love,

Kim

Pictures

Greetings!

This is just a quick post to upload some pictures. I look forward to hearing from everyone. We are about to head out the door with Junior to go to Coco beach hotel for dinner. I will try to post again tomorrow.

-Kim

Starting Week 2 at Manna

Greetings all!

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend. To recap the events since Friday….

Friday afternoon we finished around 2 and then I typed a blog and checked my email. After finishing up at the hospital, I walked to the nearest MTN booth (the prepaid phone cards) to get more credit to call home with. I then walked back to the house where Ashley was hanging out. Shorly after returning to the mission house Emily and Kaitlyn came in and we sat and played UNO and phase 10 and ate dinner. I then finished Twilight (Great Book). I was asleep by midnight.

Saturday morning started around 7 am.  Ashley and I went to the hospital to look for Dr. Akosua. We waiting around for 30 minutes or so to let her know that we had transportation to Aburi (about 2 hours away). After not locating her, we told the lady at the front desk to let her know and then we walked back to the Mission house. Emily and Kaitlyn were up getting ready at about this time. We waiting patiently for David our driver for the day. David came to get us around 10 and then we were off for Aburi with a stop in the Volta River Region on the way. David’s family lived near the Volta River so he was nice enough to show us where he lived. The trip along the river was much more like what I had imagined Africa to be. There were rolling hills, green fields, monkeys along the side of the road and grass huts that could be spotted in the distance. The roads were a lot better for the drive compared to the roads in Teshie which are mostly dirt roads with lots of holes. Once we arrived at David’s father’s house, he greeted us all at the door with a handshake and then gave each of us a mineral (Fanta or coke from a bottle). We took several pictures and he talked about the traditions of the area. He was a very happy man with a constant smile on his face. He then took us down the road to the Volta River Authority where he worked. He was very proud of his workplace and I managed to get several pictures.  The four girls all piled into the back seat for this venture (pictures were made). We took David’s Dad back to his house and then loaded up again to head to Aburi.

Aburi is a set of botanical gardens in Ghana. They had the most amazing trees and plants. There was a sermon in progress on the grounds which I could only catch parts of. They have an old helicopter that we fearlessly climbed around on. It was an interesting place and worth seeing. We were able to grab dinner at the gardens. I had currie chicken with fried rice. It was very good and we hadn’t stopped for lunch.  I was pretty much exhausted by this point of the day.  We ventured back to Accra stopping at Koala (the grocery store) quickly on the way.  I was asleep very quickly after making it back to the mission house. 

Sunday morning started with the early church service. Emily and Kaitlyn sang and it was pretty amazing. Ashley and I performed the duty of photographers and got a few good shots. The church presented them with gifts for their help. We darted back to the mission house between services. I manged to compile a few things into my journal at the house. We went back for the second service were Emily and Kaitlyn had a smashing encore performance.

After church, we changed into our swimsuits and then the four girls climbed into a taxi and we headed to Labodi beach hotel. It was a wonderful place. Labodi beach hotel is one of two five star hotels in Accra. The other being La palm Resort. At Labodi, we ate lunch by the pool. I had an amazing veggie wrap and a salad plate. I was also very happy to discover they had “Coke Light” in the bottle there. It cost 10 cedis to enter the pool and my wrap was around 9 cedis (The conversation rate is about 1.28 cedis to the dollar).  I manged to get a pretty good tan from the pool which made me pretty happy. We took a taxi back to the mission house which was a small adventure because the cab driver wasn’t completely sure where it was. We did however discover it was very easy to find.

Back at the house, Ashley and I had soup, rice and peas for dinner. Emily and Kaitlyn quickly finished packing and joined us for a few last rounds of UNO before leaving to head back to the states. We wished them goodbye and then when they left we moved all of our stuff into their old room because it was easier to move to the first floor and because the shower in the other bathroom is much better.

I was happy to hear from Christopher back home and would like to say congrats on his new marriage. I am very happy for him and Tiffany. I talked to my mom and dad briefly which was nice. I also enjoyed chatting with Peyton (as he is fixing the closet back home). That pretty much finished up the day.

This morning we saw patients with Dr. Akosua til 2. There was a slight interuption from the regular clinic schedule when an emergency came in. The man had been hit by a car and had a pretty large laceration on his head. The docs put sutures in and he may or may not be staying for the night to watch how he does. We didn’t take a lunch break but were able to eat a couple of the snacks that I brought with me to the hospital. The morning went very well. We are hoping to squeeze something fun into the afternoon but are not sure how much time we will have.

To answer a few questions I have received: 

1. The food: for the most part the food is spicy and there seems to be a lot of rice and chicken dishes. Also, Teshie and Accra are on the coast so fish is a big part of the diet. They do have some fast food restaurants with pizza or burgers although we have not found the burger yet. I did enjoy the jolof rice I ate the other day but this is not really considered a dish of Ghana.

2. Living conditions: the houses are tightly packed in Teshie and each seems to have a business in front of it selling something.  There are lots of clothes lines hanging and there seems to be several fruit trees along the road.  People carry what they are selling in baskets on top of their heads and they bombard the car trying to sell anything from fruit, to sticks that they use to clean their teeth, to T-shirts. I have been surprised by the number of internet cafes available and how many satellite dishes I have noted on the drive.

3. The hospital: the hospital is inside of a stone wall and has a church and school attached. There are several rooms that doctors see patients in. There is a delivery room, operating room (called the theater) and wards for children, women and men.  We obviously have internet access at the hospital and I was surprised to notice a TV in the waiting room playing “American Idol”.

That is all I have time to answer right now. Keep your questions coming and I will try to post more pictures. I miss everyone back home and would love to hear from you. Have a great day.

-Kim

TGIF

Hello again,

Well it is Friday afternoon at the Manna Mission hospital and we (Ashley and I) just finished a morning of sitting in with Dr. Akosua and seeing patients.  There was a wide age range and complaints. We saw everything from Malaria to Hypertension to a 6 week checkup for a baby. We conversed about the patients and Dr. Akosua pimped us on various things.  We didn’t take a lunch break today. I just had a small snack between patients. After seeing patients for the morning, Dr. Akosua had us do a presentation on Diabetic Ketoacidosis…which we researched yesterday. We finished the day around 2 which gave me the opportunity to write a this blog before the weekend.

As a follow up to yesterday, I did get a chance to eat lunch at the canteen which consisted of Jolof rice. I worked a few more hours in the lab and then the four girls loaded up in the van to go to Labodie beach. It was 3 cedis to enter the beach area. We sat in a group of yellow chairs attached to a restaurant and I had a mineral (fanta) and Kaitlyn and I shared a fruit plate. We were constantly bombarded with people trying to sell us various items. I found a fun surprise for Peyton and various other gifts. I am really hoping there is room in my suitcase for all my purchases. After returning back to the mission house, Kaitlyn cooked pancakes and we played several rounds of UNO and phase 10 dice. Emily sadly never won a hand so I am sure there will be a rematch tonight.

I am not sure what the remainder of the day holds today.  We did not make any formal plans. I am really hoping to finish the book I brought and I am sure there will be a couple rounds of cards. Tomorrow we have clinic in the morning and I am not sure what the plans are for the remainder of the day. Kaitlyn and Emily leave on Sunday which is sad since Emily has been such a great help showing us various places in Accra and throughout the area.

On another note, the internet is now working to my phone when we are at the mission house so emails are welcomed. Please update me on what is happening back home if you get a chance.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

Thursday (Day 7 in Africa)

Greetings!

It is currently Thursday in Ghana. We have been gone for an entire week if you count the time it took us to travel here. We have managed to stay occupied for the most part. Yesterday morning was off to an interesting start when we realized there was not any water to shower with. After calling Vida and then Joseph to help prime the pump I was able to take a cold shower. The morning in the hospital consisted of spending some time in the labor and delivery department then I ventured back to the lab to ask questions about various tests.  I showed the lab techs pictures from home and we discussed the differences in America vs Africa.  They continue to encourage me to try more Ghanaian foods with the most popular suggestion being “FuFu”.  After a few hours in the lab we went back to the mission house to change before heading to La Palm Resort for lunch. Izzy and Andrew (from Virginia) along with myself, Ashley, Kaitlyn and Emily all loaded into the van with the driver to head down the road to La Palm.  Traffic was heavy as usual. It took us around an hour to make to the resort. La Palm was wonderful. It reminded me of a resort you would see pictures of in the Bahamas. I was able to get a nice blanket at the gift shop. We paid 10 cedi to swim at the pool. it was a nice pool with a bridge that went across. The waiters brought us lunch and drinks. I had half of Izzy’s Margarita pizza which was wonderful. I also had a ginger ale which was very cold and refreshing.  It was a very relaxing afternoon for everyone. The water in the pool was cool and comfortable. After a few hours of relaxation we loaded up and ventured back to the mission hospital. Joseph (a student at the mission) came to get us in the van.

After returning to the mission house, we played “H-O-R-S-E” at the basketball goal outside. It was nice to get outside and do something for a while. We had dinner shorly after which consisted of left-overs from the previous days and various snacks.  We played several rounds of phase 10 dice and Uno and just enjoyed chatting.   The day ended without showers because the house was completely out of water.

Thursday morning started around 4:30 am to the sound of the water truck outside our window. I have to admit I was happy to hear the sound because this meant a potential shower soon. Around 7:30 I finally ventured into the bathroom to test the water and after realizing it worked I quickly took a shower. Emily in her brilliance had primed the pump and adjusted the hot water so I had the pleasure of having a hot shower (it is amazing how excited you get about the little things in life). This morning when we arrived to the hospital Ashley and I were given an assignment from one of the doctors at the hospital to research DKA (a patient Ashley had shadowed the doctor following the day before). We looked up some information about the pathophysiology and the differences in management here versus the U.S.  After our little project we went down to the ward to see if anything interesting was going on. We told the nurses to let us know if there are any procedures or operations later in the day. I went back to the lab to chat and look at sickle cell slides. I am currently about to go to the Canteen with Emily and Kaitlyn and perhaps try some Ghanaian food.

Hope all is well back home. I look forward to hearing from everyone. It is free to send me a text message so I welcome “hellos”. Have a great day.

Ghana continues…

Hello All!

It is Wednesday morning at about 9:00 am and we just made it to the hospital. This morning was off to a slow start because of a lack of  water in the house. We had to call Vida and then Joseph to prime the pump so that we could have running water again. I took a cold shower but it was refreshing regardless of the temperature. I didn’t get a chance to write a blog yesterday so I will give a recap of the days ventures….

We started Tuesday morning with devotion. Shortly following the morning Bible study, Dr. Ablorh took us down to the wards and gave us more information on what he expected us to do.  He had us review a chart just to become familiar with the abreviations that are used here and so that we could give a patient presentation later in the day.  We are required by inmed to do a presentation during our visit and Dr. Ablorh told us to do a presentation on something that we will see a lot of here and his suggestions were either Typhoid Fever or Malaria. Ashley claimed Malaria so I will be presenting on Typhoid Fever.  After reading for a small period of time, we walked back to the labor and delivery area where there was a woman in labor.  Ashley and I watched the delivery which was run by a midwife. The mom-to-be and father brought everything they would need to use at the hospital in a small suitcase. This included sheets, pads, diapers and other things.  The delivery room was quiet.  At one point the mom started to moan and the midwife told her “don’t get loud”.  It was a very quick delivery.  The dad was obviously very nervous and kept going in and out of the room.  The atmosphere was very excited and there were lots of smiles and congratuations.  The mom gave birth to a healthy 3.1 kg baby girl. 

After the delivery, we walked back to the office area within the hospital where Dr. Ablorh was finishing up with a CME for part of the staff. In the conference hall the Inauguration was playing so we were able to watch Barack Obama become president at 5:00 pm Ghana time. I would have blogged yesterday but there was a mouse in the conference room. I am not a fan of mice and so I had a lot of trouble staying in the room for long periods of time.  The staff was nice enough to cover the hole he had entered the room from the neighboring kitchen.

Last night Ashley and I cooked a rice and chicken dish and then I was asleep by 7:00pm. Around 10:00 two other students from Virginia arrived.  I had the chance to meet Lizzy this morning and she seems very nice. 

Today we have plans to go to the La Palm Hotel after work and go swimming but I am not sure if time will allow.  We got such a late start today because of the lack of water.  The staff was in a meeting this morning so the hospital is very quiet.  I am not sure what today holds but I will keep you posted. Hope all is well back in the States!

Arrival to Africa

Greetings all!

We arrived in Ghana on Friday morning. It has been an interesting few days. Our first experience with the people of Ghana was the ease at which we flew through customs and then as we exited the airport we were greeted by David with a sign “Ashley and Kim Reaves”. Shortly after that we were swarmed by a large group of men wanting to carry our bags…for a tip. We weren’t really sure who was with the mission hospital and who wasn’t so we probably tipped a lot more than necessary. We then drove to the mission hospital via dirt roads and partially paved roads with pot holes. We passed the beach and snapped a few pictures. We were welcomed by smiling faces upon entering the Manna Mission. We were taken to the Mission House where we were given our first mineral (a coke in a bottle). We then walked up the dirt road to the hospital. Dr. Alborh spoke with us briefly and then Emily (another visiting student) gave us a tour of the facility. We then had lunch prepared by Vida at the mission house. Ashley and I took a nap due to all the jet lag. When we ventured back to the hospital the office was closed so internet access had to wait until today. That evening Ashley and I figured out how to start a gas oven and cooked a “meal in a box” that Ashley brought. Emily and Katlyn came in later that evening and answered a few questions for us.  I had a hard time sleeping that night because of the six hour time difference. I listened to my ipod for several hours. I probably shouldn’t have taken the nap during the day.

Saturday morning we went shopping through Teshie and the surrounding area. We found some shops that had crafts made by the local people and I got several gifts for back home. I had pizza for lunch at one of the fast food restaurants with a Coke Light Across from where we ate lunch their was a group selling T-shirts but I am not one to bargin for prices so I didn’t buy anything. We had a few more stops on the way back to the mission including stopping at Gilbert’s (Emily’s driver from when she lived here before) house. He had a coconut tree in the backyard which I took a picture of. We also stopped at Koala which is a grocery store that has imported products which meant we found pasta and Ragu. That ended up being our dinner for the evening. Sunday we attended church services in the morning and then we went to Bojo beach which was about 2 hours away from where we are staying. We also grabbed some food from  ”Papaye” on our way back to the mission hospital. Junior, Dr. Albohr son, was nice enough to have us over to his place to eat. We looked through the pictures from his recent engagement and wedding. All-in-all it was a good weekend.

We started in the hospital this morning. I started in the lab where they do a lot of smears, pregnancy tests, urinalysis and such. The guys that work in the lab are nice and have been telling me what food I need to try while I am in Ghana. I am very excited that I have the wireless internet working to my phone and can now check email regularly. Ashley worked in the pharmacy this morning and really enjoyed it. I think we are going to do a week in each prior to seeing patients but I am not completely sure.

I have definately been in a large amount of culture shock since I have arrived but I am trying to adjust. I am not sure exactly what I imagined but I don’t think I was really prepared. I am hoping to see a lot of malaria and interesting things. The people are nice so I have no doubt my experience will be unique and something I will remember for the rest of my life.

Hello world!

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