December 8th, 2008 Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
oK here I go for those who has supported me during this trip, for anyone who wants to hear about this experience. I owed an apoligized for any gramatical english mistake, as a fact my native language is Spanish. A colombian southamerican girl end in Nalerigu ,Ghana Africa anyone who wants to know both countries are almost in the same latitud. Some of the northen costal Colombian towns could look liked Nalerigu when I crossed the continent and get to Accra the warm weather, the tropical enviroment, and crowed ,noisy traffic and people remind me Colombia.
The first interesting experience with Ghanaians in Accra was the day we went to church , they celebrated church service, in a special way, amazing joy, rythm.They pray to God singing and dancing ,mixed with the colorful, beatiful almost party dressed like going for a night party but for GOD,they bring up the emotion of their black heritage, rythm ,rythm , dancing, joy and big big smiles and good voices.
For those who doesn’t know me as a exalum of the National university from the 70 really pants were the expression of disagreement, rebelion difficult we weared skirts, let me tell you now with respect to the ghanaian women and their long skirts and dressess with beatiful bright colors as the main women customs even for male well I really find them now very comfortable.
The flight from Accra to Tamale last two hours and another 2 hours for unpavement road to Nalerigu with a very red sand, your feet skin change during your stay to red marron .
During the trip by car you start seen the villages with houses made by barro and roof wood, in a five star distribution this has a meaning for the Ghanaian ,family is a strong tight there is a landlord , a head of the house who may provide food ,the wife still in some cases more than one, several children and those who has grown up or are already married can stay with his/her spouses and kids,big families under the same roof.
They help to take care of those who can’t work or are disable,elderly, sick, niece or nephwes with needs.It is a tight family network that try no to help and keep every member of the family cover .
Well for those who knows Colombia a town like San Benito Sucre or Lorica ,Monteria in Colombia could be, Nalerigu but weather is warmer,an social situation harder.
This story is about people and start with the one who picked me up at the airport the driver of MBC Ipahusi in Mampruli Dickens in English, Kaleb from the bible the housekeeper,and Baby a cleaner amazing woman, a teacher and me ,all of them speaking Mampruli, and a difficult sometimes confuse english to me, with the tiredness of the flight and the mampruli sleeping sound , most of the trip slept , swinging my head for the bumping road .
We walked trough Tamale’s market still no crowed , I saw the women with long dresses ,hanging her babies in the back, holding at the same time on their head ,big pods or long pack of clothes, elegants thin, although imaging tired on this hot weather.They speak loud sometimes you believe they are fighting but now they do so.
This is the best weather of the year to come , not rainy ,and dry with some windy mornings and evenings and at the last two days even cold., Always as the real rural towns there is just a main road, and the medical Nalerigu Center is almost at the entrace of the town , The MBC provide a really great amount of jobs 300 something like that and their families .Well for being so a small town you really think this is a big hospital but people come from villages far away walking 20, 50 miles or more ,others by bus car etc, Understanding how some patients can get so sick and came too late to get medical assistance .
This medical center has aproximately 150 beds ,2 male medical wards ,2 for females, one for kids with beds between 45-40 beds,one small maternity ward with 12 beds that manage 90 deliveries per month amazing. and an isolation ward.Most of the time the hospital is full an over its capacity A theater where procedures are done,I&D, remove foreign bodies, lumps, debridements.A Ultrasound machine run for the staff is the advance technology Here you understand what important is to learn the basics for do Ultrasound , read X rays mainly CXR a lot of lung diseases some more than simple Pneumonia. There are two operating rooms. The human resources as any need place are short, as well as tools for work but everybody place a grain everybody work hard and God guide us through day by day.
when I came the hospital was run basically but Dr Hewitt FP a tall ( called walewale in Mampruli),thin man to admire is amazing how his thin shoulders can hold with the responsability of this big hospital ,and how he can be prepare as family physician with most of the skills and tools that you think now a really family physician might have.besides he has been for a while years and ,speaks Mampruli , you will see people love him he has stablished a really good rapport with Nalerigu habitants .
Well about the rest of the medical staff Dr Gilles a retired volunter surgeon, on his 70ths dayli on call ,Femka a young holland girl recently finished medical schooll and Daniell a mixed ofhebreo - rusian medical student, who volunteer too.There are two OBGyn Samba and Dr Lasse ,they came from Accra for two weeks, for several years mainly to repair Bladder-Vaginal or Recto vaginal fistulas ,frequent morbidity in this area poss secondary to house deliveries.They did too hysterectomies, myomectomies and Cesarean, nice people,
Daniel left Nalerigu like 4 days after I came .Basically as soon as you arrive you start working at the begining at Hewitt Drs side later on by my own, Calls q 4hrs first week then q 3 days An outpatient clinic runs Monday, Wednesday, and Friday with an average of 70 pts per each of the MD may be more for the master these are very exhausting days.
But what it was the main and first shocking experience that happened so soon that I even didn’t have time to grief ,to tell their mother sorry, besides the barrier language a line of children were waiting to be seen ,just prayed God be with them and take him to your side.The child mortality is mainly secondary to Malaria too high ,followed by Pneumonia worsening by malnutrition.
It’s schocking to see died kids a quick thought came their lives had just started and were turned off. MALARIA has its kingdom here, is an endemic disease .You will see all type, cerebral malaria , the biggest spleen ,that I ve seen as well as in kids than adults, The falciparum is the main bug and resistant to many antimalaric medicines , pts needs to be treated several times with A/A or quinine . Malaria and Pneumonia are the killers advanced late cases came that could make it in a third level setting . but no here, no respirators, very restricted O2 supplied ,patients very sick need to wait for the only available machine , no suction .no pumps just slow, moderate or rapid IV fluids rate.
What about the staff nurse very few, medical assistance, midwifes, ward assitance people from town some with barely primary education, that have grown at the same this hospital has developed for 50 years. they have been trainning here others from other big towns,there are spetial persons that you always want to remember like Moises works in the female wards dedicate health care worker, always with a smile helping translating that is not an easy job.He belongs to a presbiterian church that is building the church, he prietch I heard him, really has a strong belief is a great man . Simon a young man work in the outpatient clinic care about patient care about people always try to do the best for them always happy.
One leson when we have been for a while in a same position we don;t realize that we turned to be crunky, grumpy we got tired of the job .We do when we have been doing for a long time same activity .Turn the fire on give something spetial that keep it alive the flame.
I have not written day by day I have just wait until the end. I have seen to many things and learned from them as well as from my self living this experience Hopefully end this story an event of my life like that for sure has turned the direction of her.
