Well I think I am going to have to rely on words and not pictures although I really do feel that the old cliche is true about what pictures can say compared to words themselves.
Anyhow this second week has proved to be yet another wonderful learning experience. We spend a fair amount of time traveling and so it has allowed me to reflect on what ive experienced that day or even to think about all the things I see out of the window. I have mostly spent a lot of my time thinking about people. I have asked myself over and over in this trip, "what is it that defines happiness?" There is so much in the world that is said to bring happiness, but I seem to find that no matter where in the world I've been, there are reoccurring things that bring happiness.
We had a clinic in a place called Larabanga this past week. We did a lot of research with this group our people. The predominant language of these people is Arabic and Kamara so it was a bit challenging to find sufficient interpreters to be part of the education and research, but fortunately we found a few young men who spoke English and Kamara and were able to help ous out a lot. Because we alla had to "share" the young boys, there were times when I was left to communicate with the patients with mere body language. It was interesting to say the least. It reminded me of when I was learning English... Aaah! But really, I realized that there is so much that we can communicate without words!
We are not in Accra and will spend the rest of our time here. A few of us were able to visit and worship in the LDS temple that is here in Accra. It was such a anest experience. The continuity of the church is very comforting.
I really do wish I could put pictures up, but I am thinking that might have to wait until I get back.
Oh life is so good, and I thank God for this experience. This distance thing is definitely harder than Ir thought, but I thank Scotty for his support in this learning experience.
Monday, June 6, 2011
Sunday, June 5, 2011
1st week
So apparently my blog does work. Long story, but basically this is the email I sent to all n my first week here in Ghana. Now the trick is going to be how I can put pictures here...
Dear family and friends,
It's day 10 or so in Ghana and for the first time I was able to attempt writting on my blog. Unfortunately it doesn't work here. This happened when I was in Brazil as well, I am not certain why, so I apologize for those who are getting an unwanted email. For those interested though, I thought I would share some things about my trip thus far. :)
We are staying in a city called Kumasi. We have mainly spent our time at hospitals and clinics providing health education, oral cancer screenings, and performing obtaining basic vital signs and refering them to local physicians here depending on the location of the clinic. One of the other main tasks that has kept us busy is pulmonary function research. The professor who has arranged this trip for the last 5 years is a respiratory therapists and has been conducting research with particular populations regarding their pulmonary functions. We have seen probably an average of 100 patients each morning and as far as ressearch is concerned I beleive she has been able to obtain information onn at leaast 800 patients. I could probablyy go into detail on what the research entails, but for sake of time the purpose is related to pts. cooking methods and the correlation to their pulmonary health. I beleive this is the last year she will be obtaining patiet information and conducting this particular ressaeerch project since she has expressed the need to have it published. Anyhow this is the firt time I have participated in a humanitarian project where research has been part of the outlined prpose and I really like that dimension of this service. We typically see about 100 pts each day, typically from about 9 am to about 3pm or so. This makes for very hardworking days, especially in the humidity, but it is absolutely rewarding to see the people engage in the education portion. I am gaining a greater appreciatiion for the power of education. Currently the topics we have been teaching have been HIV/AIDS, materntal/infant health, oral health and others. We have also been delivering medical supplies to the hspitals, clinics and patients (dental supplies to patients.) Last on the "medical" agenda, for those of you who may not know we did several fund raising activities inthe spring to raise money to ship an ambulance to a particular hospital called ANIWAH in Kumasi. The ambulance has successfully made it to the respective port in Ghana, close to the capital Accra and we hope to have it delievered soemtime next week. We are thrilled that it made it this far!
We have also recently spent 3 days in Mole National Park. Aside from a clinic day we had, we also had the chance to do a safari to see the wild animals. We spent about 2 hours driving that day, without seeing mmuch since it was very hot. But to our surprise 10 minutes or so before we were back to our place, we saw a group of elephants! We were able to pull over and spent some time observing and photographing them. What a sight to see! Some of the birds here are very colorful and have been a joy to watch too. Back at the place we were lodging, we actually had animals come into the eating and pool area such as baboons and worthogs! Not a big fan of seeing them roam out of their habitat, but I must admit one big baboon made me laugh while roaming around... what ahppened is that we were all having dinner outside and we noticed that a big baboon was roaming around trying to find food. I happened to have been in the pool talking to a gal int he group who had gotten up from her chair to talk to me about something. Well in the few minutes she was up and taling to me this huge baboon jumped on her shair, grabbed her dinner and ran off. Oh it was so funny! Poor Kailene, she had waited an hour to get her food and then before you know it it was gone! While in Mole we also slept on a tree house one night. Not the most comfortable, I have to admit, especially when I woke up in the middle of the night needing to use the restroom but being iunable since the gard had told us previosly that night that there were hyenas (spelling)out that night. eeeh! Well anyhow the night stars were wonderful and worth sleeping under! THe last night we were there we spent the evening dancing to the villagers playing their drums and dancing aorund the camp fire. Probably my favorite activity thus far! Loooved the energy that was felt!
I wish I could write about all the things I am learning. Experiences like this always remind me of the need to SIMPLIFY my life. Of the beauty of people and cultures. It reminds me of the value of education I hold. It also reminds me that the definition of HAPPINESS is far greater than I someitmes categorize it in.
I love you all and thank God for this experience thus far!
Erica
ps unable to atach photos but I hope to do it when we return to Kumasi.
Dear family and friends,
It's day 10 or so in Ghana and for the first time I was able to attempt writting on my blog. Unfortunately it doesn't work here. This happened when I was in Brazil as well, I am not certain why, so I apologize for those who are getting an unwanted email. For those interested though, I thought I would share some things about my trip thus far. :)
We are staying in a city called Kumasi. We have mainly spent our time at hospitals and clinics providing health education, oral cancer screenings, and performing obtaining basic vital signs and refering them to local physicians here depending on the location of the clinic. One of the other main tasks that has kept us busy is pulmonary function research. The professor who has arranged this trip for the last 5 years is a respiratory therapists and has been conducting research with particular populations regarding their pulmonary functions. We have seen probably an average of 100 patients each morning and as far as ressearch is concerned I beleive she has been able to obtain information onn at leaast 800 patients. I could probablyy go into detail on what the research entails, but for sake of time the purpose is related to pts. cooking methods and the correlation to their pulmonary health. I beleive this is the last year she will be obtaining patiet information and conducting this particular ressaeerch project since she has expressed the need to have it published. Anyhow this is the firt time I have participated in a humanitarian project where research has been part of the outlined prpose and I really like that dimension of this service. We typically see about 100 pts each day, typically from about 9 am to about 3pm or so. This makes for very hardworking days, especially in the humidity, but it is absolutely rewarding to see the people engage in the education portion. I am gaining a greater appreciatiion for the power of education. Currently the topics we have been teaching have been HIV/AIDS, materntal/infant health, oral health and others. We have also been delivering medical supplies to the hspitals, clinics and patients (dental supplies to patients.) Last on the "medical" agenda, for those of you who may not know we did several fund raising activities inthe spring to raise money to ship an ambulance to a particular hospital called ANIWAH in Kumasi. The ambulance has successfully made it to the respective port in Ghana, close to the capital Accra and we hope to have it delievered soemtime next week. We are thrilled that it made it this far!
We have also recently spent 3 days in Mole National Park. Aside from a clinic day we had, we also had the chance to do a safari to see the wild animals. We spent about 2 hours driving that day, without seeing mmuch since it was very hot. But to our surprise 10 minutes or so before we were back to our place, we saw a group of elephants! We were able to pull over and spent some time observing and photographing them. What a sight to see! Some of the birds here are very colorful and have been a joy to watch too. Back at the place we were lodging, we actually had animals come into the eating and pool area such as baboons and worthogs! Not a big fan of seeing them roam out of their habitat, but I must admit one big baboon made me laugh while roaming around... what ahppened is that we were all having dinner outside and we noticed that a big baboon was roaming around trying to find food. I happened to have been in the pool talking to a gal int he group who had gotten up from her chair to talk to me about something. Well in the few minutes she was up and taling to me this huge baboon jumped on her shair, grabbed her dinner and ran off. Oh it was so funny! Poor Kailene, she had waited an hour to get her food and then before you know it it was gone! While in Mole we also slept on a tree house one night. Not the most comfortable, I have to admit, especially when I woke up in the middle of the night needing to use the restroom but being iunable since the gard had told us previosly that night that there were hyenas (spelling)out that night. eeeh! Well anyhow the night stars were wonderful and worth sleeping under! THe last night we were there we spent the evening dancing to the villagers playing their drums and dancing aorund the camp fire. Probably my favorite activity thus far! Loooved the energy that was felt!
I wish I could write about all the things I am learning. Experiences like this always remind me of the need to SIMPLIFY my life. Of the beauty of people and cultures. It reminds me of the value of education I hold. It also reminds me that the definition of HAPPINESS is far greater than I someitmes categorize it in.
I love you all and thank God for this experience thus far!
Erica
ps unable to atach photos but I hope to do it when we return to Kumasi.
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
What this is all about
I have been feeling an itch to serve abroad again. Thankfully this opportunity was presented to me through the school that I am currently attending (Weber State University.)
This trip to Africa is organized by Lisa Truillo; a respiratory therapy professor at WSU. She has taken students to Ghana for 5+ years now. We will be serving from May 20th-June14th . I feel very blessed to have the opportunity to serve, teach and (of course) learn in Africa!
This trip to Africa is organized by Lisa Truillo; a respiratory therapy professor at WSU. She has taken students to Ghana for 5+ years now. We will be serving from May 20th-June14th . I feel very blessed to have the opportunity to serve, teach and (of course) learn in Africa!
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