Finally! I have time to update everyone on what I have been up to! What a busy couple of weeks. My October was definitely a whirlwind! Troy and Jammie left for a trip back to the US. This left me to run the clinic by myself for three weeks. In addition to running the clinic, I also taught two health classes on top of my regular botany class. Needless to say, I was very busy! On slow days, life at the clinic can be heavenly. I can prepare my lesson plans for the classes I teach, or study for my Twi class.
I’m trying my best to learn some of the local languages, my main focus is Twi. I sit in on one of the children’s classes for Twi at the school. It is incredibly challenging, but I am managing to get by with it while traveling. I’m doing my best to learn some Dangme also, which is the language spoken in the nearby village, Doryumu. A lot of the new children that recently arrived speak another language called Ewe, so I’m trying to learn some of that as well. So many languages, so little time! It’s quite the struggle to keep them all straight.
Busy days at the clinic are another story. You can be taking care of one patient, and have several others waiting to be seen. Being the only person to run the clinic for three weeks can be pretty exhausting! At times, It can be a little overwhelming to try and take care of multiple sick children at the same time, especially with illnesses like malaria. We do not have a functioning lab, and are only able to do minimal lab tests at the clinic. This can make diagnosis challenging, and I think it’s something that I definitely take for granted in the US. In the states, I would just order lab work or imaging to help make a conclusion on the diagnosis of a patient. Here, we don’t have a lab. We don’t have imaging. We would have to take a patient to the nearest hospital for both. The road is only paved part of the way and the other part can take some time. This hospital has xray and a lab, but no EKG, no MRI, or CT. Making that trip only happens if it’s absolutely necessary. I am able to use the medical library at the Tompkins house to assist me, and then if I’m really stumped on a patient I can send them a message on Whatsapp. Somehow, I made it through. I was definitely ready for a break by the end of it!
I did have help the last few days of the Tompkins trip, my fiance came to visit me!! He is also a nurse, and works in the ER at a hospital in Colorado. I put him right to work! I cannot tell you how wonderful it was to see him. Being apart during our engagement has been more challenging than I could have imagined. The length of this trip, the lack of phone service to be able to have a conversation, it really begins to wear on you. Having him visit for three weeks was absolutely heavenly! It was just what my heart needed. Not only that, but it was amazing to have help, and to show him a bit of my life here in Ghana. It was his first trip to Africa, but it did not show. He did so well the culture, the food, the travel, and meeting a ton of new people. I took him on a camping safari, where we camp in the bush in a regular tent. Camping safaris really save on price, but also allow you to more out in nature, and truly surrounded by all the elements. We spent some time in Botswana, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, and also visited Victoria Falls. The great thing about this area is that three countries meet in one small area, and you can even just walk across the border. Each country has such a beautiful culture and landscape, and are so different from each other.
During our time in Botswana, an anthrax outbreak occurred in the game park where we camped. It apparently occurs naturally in the animals, but can kill the animals off quite fast. We decided to continue with our safari, and were informed we would be fine as long as we didn’t play with the dead hippos. It was a struggle, but we managed! We saw so many beautiful animals and were lucky to have not seen any poisonous snakes near our campsite! However, we did see many sets of eyes at night around our tents. We were told that if you shine a light in a lion or leopard’s eyes, their reflection will be red. I didn’t see any red eyes, but that still leaves hyenas and wild dogs for predators, so you still want to be careful. For a bathroom, they dig a pit latrine behind the tents. It’s not that bad until you wake up in the middle of the night and have to go! Our guides told us predators are most active after 9:30pm, so it’s best to not leave your tent after that time. They also said to wear close toed shoes around camp because of the snakes and scorpions, and not to leave your shoes outside or the animals will run off with them! It was amazing to be in your tent and hear elephants walking around. There is just something completely different about seeing these amazing animals in their natural habitat. It’s so different than in the zoo. You are in their element. You get a better sense of their power and strength, and gain a lot of respect for how dangerous they can be. It is such a beautiful thing, and I can’t tell you how sad it makes me that the rate of poaching is so high in some of these countries.
I don’t know if you have been following the news, but it’s lucky that we left Zimbabwe when we did! The state of Zimbabwe was already a difficult one with it’s economy. They currently don’t really have any currency to circulate. The Zimbabwean dollar went under a few years ago as inflation had made it basically worthless. Since then, they have been using foreign currency, including the US Dollar, which has made it very expensive for the people. Lately, they don’t even have that in circulation. We saw people standing in line for hours at the bank, but not able to receive any money because there simply wasn’t any. Mugabe, age 93, is the current president of Zimbabwe and has been since 1980. He has used ruthless tactics to stay in power, even when he lost previous elections. With an election coming up next year, Mugabe intended to run again, and fired his Vice President to set his wife up to be his successor. Last week, the military intervened and forced him into house arrest. He was expected to make a speech to resign yesterday, but refused and said he will remain in power. Needless to say, it’s a good thing we left when we did. The landscape is beautiful, the people are amazing, but it just wasn’t the right time for us to be there.
Lance left last week, and it’s an adjustment to get used to him being gone again. I’m so thankful for the amazing time we had together though. I have been a little under the weather since he left but am on the mend. I jumped right back into the busy schedule, and am now teaching Biology at the school. This past weekend Jammie and I went back up to Aveyime to facilitate another women’s conference. That was amazing, as always. I think there is a special place in my heart for the people in rural villages. I enjoy my time with them so much. We taught Community Health Evangelism, and focused on laying the groundwork for the women to feel empowered enough to provide change in their communities on the first day of the conference. On the second day, we focused on health topics. I really enjoy teaching about a woman’s worth at these conferences. These women are taught so many things by society and their culture. They are taught it’s more important for boys to go to school, that they must stay home, take care of the children, make money for the family, and do a lot of the work around the house. Men often take multiple wives. It’s amazing to be able to tell these women how precious they are to God. To not listen to what society tells them, they are smart enough and strong enough to do whatever they want, be whatever they want. They are precious and valuable in the eyes of God and do not need a man to have a relationship with Him. When we say those things their eyes light up, and it’s amazing to witness.
The second day of our conference was a little rough. Our translator didn’t show up. I was teaching on reproductive systems and reproductive health, which as you can imagine, can be tricky without accurate translation! Luckily, another woman stepped up and did the best she could. One of the lessons taught on the ovulation cycle, and how this can be used as a form of family planning. In a society where women have a lot of children and often don’t have access to birth control, they found this really interesting! They took out pens and paper and copied down the diagram I drew. They also found the talk on menopause very interesting that Jammie gave. Apparently, in some places in Ghana, they don’t know what menopause is. When women start acting different or “crazy” when they begin to go through menopause, they think she is a witch. Then, they send her to an actual witch camp to live. It’s unbelievable what women have to go through around the world.
I am now back at City of Refuge, and preparing for our Thanksgiving celebration this week! This Thanksgiving, I am very aware of how much I have to be thankful for. First of all, I’m thankful for all of the time I am able to spend with these children! It has been such a huge blessing to be able to be here and help in any way that I can. I definitely am very thankful for the basics, like running water, and electricity, as those things go out frequently here, and I am so thankful for when we have them. I am also really thankful for my family, and the time apart really does make you appreciate the time you have together. I am counting down the days until I can see them again. I am so thankful for a wonderful fiance, who supports me in my work, and would fly half way around the world to spend time with me. I’m also thankful for all of you. I received so many nice messages and prayers when I was sick, it means a lot to me. Thank you all so much, and I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving! Eat some turkey for me!
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