Sarah Cooper’s Blog

Baptist Medical Center- day 1

I rounded with a couple of the physicians in the hospital today.  I don’t think there is any way that I could have been prepared for all of the infectious disease and pathology that we will see this month.  We started off in the pediatrics ward and I estimate that at least 60% of these children had malaria.  There was also a case of a severe skin reaction called Steven Johnson’s Syndrome.  Last night, there was a uterine rupture in a patient that was in labor.  She had undergone two cesarean sections previously.  Apparently there was a football sized hematoma and the rupture extended into her bladder.  I was allowed to sleep last night and didn’t see this case.  We also saw a couple of snake bites, an unknown seizure disorder, meningitis, and a few cases of presumed typhoid fever.

This hospital has an isolation ward for tuberculosis, but thankfully there is no one requiring that service now.  We also got a more in-depth look at the different wards of the hospital and its equipment.  It will definitely be an adjustment from the standards and the options that I am used to in the States.  Although English is the national language in Ghana, very few of the locals speak any at all.  We do have access to the hospital staff which are all somewhat fluent in English.  The tribal language here is called Mampruli.  Many of these patients have very fine, intricate scars on their face that they have cut into their skin as a ritual.  I think that different people groups cut different patterns of scars, but I am not sure.  They are also dressed in beautiful, brights cloths and headscarves.  Some of them have beaded jewelry.  Hopefully I will do a better job taking pictures and I will get some posted soon.

I am still trying to adjust to the changes in the time zone.  The weather is much more enjoyable that it was in the capital.  It is still in the high 80’s to 90’s, but it is very dry.  There is lots of dust that clouds out the sun and the horizon.  This also serves to dry out your mouth and nose too though.

There are several local churches in the village and tomorrow Kristin and I look forward to checking one out.  The market in the village is held every third day, so we will look forward to checking that out sometime next week.

In Nalerigu

I have arrived at the Baptist Medical Center in Nalerigu.  We traveled by plane and then drove for two hours.  It was nice to see the countryside.  We saw lots of painted mud huts with grass roofs and a mango plantation.  We saw a little of the grounds after we arrived today, but mostly we rested.  We were told that we will do lots of procedures when are here.  There is three other visiting physicians here and a pharmacy student.  There are also three physicians that live here full time and one of them is an OB/GYN.  I am excited to start tomorrow morning with rounding on patients and assisting in surgery.

Accra

We spent the day in the capital and went to a couple of markets.  We ate the proclaimed “Best Burger Outside of the US”, which I have to say was pretty good.  I feel safe here.  I am constantly surprised by how friendly everyone is.  Granted, many were trying to sell us things, but it was still very friendly.  We met a girl today who is working with an NGO in Sierra Leone for the past four months on a women’s literacy program.  She is vacationing here for a few days and is originally from Canada.

We will leave the guesthouse at 5am for the flight that will take us further north.  Apparently the north will be much more dry due to an effect from the dust of the Sahara.  The dust will be thick enough to cloud the sun and hopefully cool us off!

At the capital

I have arrived in Accra, the capital city.  It was a very long trip and I am glad to finally be in Ghana.  It is very humid here.  Quite a shock from the below freezing layover in Amsterdam in which the flight was delayed for 30 mins while they de-iced it.  I will have a free day here tomorrow to adjust to the time zone and look around the city.  We will head to northern Ghana very early the following morning.

So far everyone is very friendly and happy.  The city is lively with fireworks because the country is in the middle of electing a president.  They just finished casting their ballots for the second time because the original count was too close.  I am told that we should be safe.

Welcome!

Hello and thanks for checking out my blog. I’ve never attempted to have one of these, so we’ll see how I do. I am getting ready to go to Nalerigu, Ghana in Northwest Africa for 5 weeks. I leave on Dec. 30 and return to the states on February 5. I am going with a fellow medical student, Kristin Thornton, so check out her blog too. I will be working at the Baptist Medical Center. Here is the website for your reference: http://www.baptistmedicalcenter.org

Needless to say, I am very excited to go on this medical mission. I have had several experiences with international missions before and a couple of these were medical in nature. My previous trips were about 10 days in length, so I am excited for this first, longer trip. I am looking forward to being able to more completely immerse myself in the culture and hopefully have more to offer and learn in the longer time frame.

Merry Christmas!