June 10th, 2018 by alexroney

After a long week of settling in and working at the Public Health Department it’s nice to have a little time to relax and unwind. So at work I got to move around and explore. I worked in the lab (a tiny hut with a thatch roof) where I was testing pregnant mother’s health through a hemoglobin check as well as checking for protein in urine which could indicate pre-eclampsia. I also ran the “pharmacy” (a small table on one side of one of the huts) where we dispensed vitamins for the mothers and registered them in the system. So you are all aware, the system is a ton of logbooks where all of the information from a visit is entered and the pregnancy is tracked through all of the follow up visits. The Public Health Department runs by dividing employees up into stations. When a mother walks in, her route is dependent on whether or not she is pregnant or just coming in for a well child visit. From there she follows a set of steps to get all of the required information, shots, medication, etc. they need in order to be well for another month before she comes back for her next visit. Overall it is actually a pretty smooth operation but I can’t help but wonder how much better it would be with a computer. When manually inputting information into logbooks, errors occur, quite frequently sometimes. The system isn’t bad but they need some updating of technology.

Work is only a small part of life over here though. I haven’t had a night yet where there wasn’t Frisbee or basketball to be played or exploring and socializing to be done. Volunteers at Baptist Medical Center (BMC) are welcomed into the community and it’s very easy to feel like you belong. The families that live here full time are amazing. They’re so kind and do their best to make you feel at home. One of my very favorite experiences so far has to be church. I’m going to have to take a full post to explain that though. But everyone I’ve met has been wonderful and welcoming and I’m quickly growing to love the nature. They have beautiful flowering trees and odd plants that look like they might belong in a world in Star Wars. They also have interesting animals and beautiful scenery and bats (which I love because they kill the mosquitos) and even a millipede (I call him Milton) I see every night on the way to the schoolhouse.

There is so much to cover but the days are starting to fly by. It seems like its getting harder and harder to even go out into the village without hearing someone shout “Alex!” (usually one of the kids we play with). I guess I must be recognizable somehow… Can’t really put my finger on what that reason would be. But anyway, tonight at Frisbee, Richard, a very nice man and a Prince asked me, “So are you liking your visit to Ghana?” And the answer is absolutely yes. Very much.