Kim Reaves’ Blog

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.