The 2011 Medical Team will be sharing their experiences with us all this Sunday, November 27 at Uxbridge Baptist Church. The service starts at 10 am. Come and hear the full story!

Friday morning we gathered once again under the gazebo with the entire team from Canada, UK and Ghana. It felt like just a moment had passed since NEA’s chef, Abraham, had challenged us to play our roles well two weeks ago. Joan, whom we nearly evacuated out by air ambulance the day before, was able to share her thanks to the pastors who prayed so powerfully for her. Dr. David shared scripture from 1 Thessalonians 1:2-3:

We always thank God for all of you and continually mention you in our prayers. We remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.

He challenged us to continue to move forward together to alleviate poverty in this region through work produced by faith, labor prompted by love, and endurance inspired by hope.

We received an unexpected visit from the Regional Medical Director and his district team. He shared the many challenges this vast area faces. Right now there are 17 doctors for 2.5 million people in the 19 districts of this region. (Note: We have 15 doctors on our team.) Many of the district hospitals have no doctor at all; they just do their best. There is one opthamologist for 2.5 million people and he is semi-retired. They have very few obstetricians and too few midwives. As a result, 90 women in the region have died in childbirth this year alone. My thoughts immediately went back to our patient who delivered twins in Busweme that we were able to help. She could have been the 91st death.

He concluded by saying that “until we can stand on our own, this partnership to provide medical, surgical, dental and eye care is making a difference in thousands of lives.” It is going to take time before sustainable health care reaches this area. Until then, he requested the continued support of Canada, and the UK and NEA. I will never forget those words “until we stand on our own.” It describes so perfectly the vision that we all have have for these people.

In our honor, the NEA staff and the team of translators played football (soccer) to the cheers of the “expats” as we are fondly called. These men know how to play soccer.

The grand finale was an outdoor party to celebrate the success of the mission with the entire team. When I say team, I’m including the almost 100 local Ghanaian volunteers who support us during our two-week stay, along with all their families. These people have become our dear friends and we know each by name. Many of us were decked out in our new outfits made by the local tailor. Some of our translators didn’t recognize us with dresses on, hair down and make up on.

Abraham cooked a feast of cream of tomato soup, roast beef, salads, vegetables all grown on the compound and grilled tilapia pulled out of the pond that day. Dessert was a pumpkin tart. After the children ate there was a flurry of activity under the gazebo and the kids were jumping and clapping and singing. I went to see what the excitement was about and discovered that each child had been given a juice box. I have never seen those kids so excited. After dinner and speeches we read out the names of each volunteer and presented them with gifts from Canada. It was a special moment, especially for some of the Ghanaian women as they heard their name over the speaker and walked to the front to the applause of the crowd. David and Brenda presented generous gifts to each team member. David concluded the party with a beautiful prayer of thanksgiving and asked God’s blessing upon us all until we can meet for supper once again. It was an emotional goodbye.

As I write, we are on the bus heading back to Accra where we will catch our flights home to UK and Canada. Most of the team is fast asleep after giving their all each and every day. It will take a long time to process all we have seen and heard and learned and felt during these two weeks. In the end over 10,000 people received medical, surgical, dental and eye care over these 2 weeks. Operation Hernia hit a record number of 288 surgical procedures.

It is impossible for me to find words to close off and summarize this mission and so I will close with a Franciscan Blessing that was passed along to our team during one of our final clinics:

May God bless you with discomfort at easy answers, half truths, and superficial relationships so that you may live deep within your heart. May God bless you with anger at injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people so that you may wish for justice, freedom and peace. May God bless you with enough foolishness to believe that you can make a difference in the world, so that you can do what others claim cannot be done.

Signing off on behalf of the 2011 team with thanks to all our family and friends for supporting us and praying for us along the way.

Jennifer Wilson

Yesterday was our last clinic, and what a day it turned out to be. As I was walking back to the compound from the eye clinic I crossed path with a few coworkers from pharmacy and nursing who also had just wrapped up their day and were heading to the showers before dinner. I knew that they had to be as tired as I was, but I noticed that we all had a fresh bounce to our steps, knowing that the job was done and that we had all done the best we could.

An estimated 1200 people had come to the clinic this day and those that had needed treatment had received it. Although we had run out of certain drugs and diagnostic supplies earlier in the day alternatives were found and in some cases we saw miracles happen.

I’ll tell you a quick story of a very sick little girl who was brought to the clinic by her very desperate mother in the afternoon. Malaria and anemia were some of the ailments affecting her and our team of doctors agreed that she did not have much of a chance to survive. An immediate blood transfusion would possibly improve her chances so she, along with her mother and Ernestina, a nurse practitioner who has been working with us, were sent to the Wenchi hospital which is about an hour away. The team saves some of the funds donated each year for just such purposes. Later in the evening we received the amazing report that by the time they arrived at the hospital new life was being breathed onto her little body. Her hands and feet had returned to a healthy pink colour. Within a short time she was sitting and eating and no longer in need of a blood transfusion. I believe in miracles because sometimes that is the only explanation that fits

As far as the team’s health is concerned a few people have caught a bug that has been going around and all but one were back at their post within a day. Joan, one of our veteran nurses, had been down for several days with something that hit her more severely. Despite the best possible care she had to be moved onto an air conditioned room. Arrangements for a medical evacuation were initiated and a group of local pastors began praying for her. This morning Joan was up early, feeling much better and attended devotions where we were all able to praise the Lord for her recovery.

After dinner last night the Mensahs hosted an “open house” at their home. Everyone’s attention was on Dr David who, on unanimous request, recounted some of his stories from his early years in this area.

Today is our packing day. Clinic facilities must be dismantled and our remaining supplies must be sorted and packed for the trip back home or to be put in storage at the compound. It’s a long process and this, too, must be done well to help prepare for subsequent trips. Tonight all the teams, including the Ghanaians, the British, and the Canadians will get together for one final time of celebration and after a few hours of sleep it’s on the bus for the beginning of the long trip home.

We’ll see you soon.

Each day there always seems to be a special moment that is etched in our minds. Today’s moment was when an albino woman with skin as white as ours came to present three small yams to Susan and Sherry from pharmacy. Susan had remembered her from last year and made a point of bringing sunscreen and lip balm for her which she gave to her yesterday. Today, the woman walked 3 miles in the hot African sun to present these gifts of thanks to them. David reminded Susan to give her back her plastic bag as it was very valuable to her. She didn’t have much but what she did have she just gave away. What a great illustration for Chief Charles’ sermon on Sunday.

The gratitude of our patients is hard to describe on paper. Few patients leave our stations or our operating rooms without thanking us, blessing us and often blessing our children and our children’s children. Isaac, the Ghanaian optician, shared with the team that after the patients get their glasses and look around the room they say over and over “Jan Broni, Jan David” which means “thank you whites, thank you David Mensah”.

The day was full of many very moving moments for me. I was moved when baby Joshua’s father Peter carried a paralyzed woman on his back across the field to the doctors. I was moved when women would present us with their babies after being seen by us for infertility last year. I was moved when the nurses spent so much time cleaning and dressing a Buruli ulcer which covered a young man’s entire lower leg. I was moved when Dr. Gillian and Dr. Martin recalled a suffering patient from a previous clinic after considering some additional treatment options for her. I was moved to watch the 2 pediatricians Dr. Sean and Dr. Julie care for an endless stream of the sickest children all day long. I was moved to see a picture of man with a huge smile who, just yesterday, had a disfiguring tumor of his upper gum which prevented him from smiling. Dr. Kyle removed it yesterday and Dr. Rob sutured him up. I could write a book about all of the special moments from this day alone.

Dr. Magdi kidnapped Dr. Joe today and the department of anesthesia doubled in size. Dr. Joe did the spinal anesthetics while Dr. Ira did the general anesthetics for some very, very large hernias.

Every day at 3:00 Mary circulates a red tin box to each team member. The tin has the British logo “STAY CALM AND CARRY ON” written on the lid. Inside the tin is a treat and a little piece of paper with a quote of the day on it lovingly prepared by Dr. Sarah. Today’s quote was by Mother Teresa and said, “Never worry about numbers. Help one person at a time and always start with the person nearest to you.” It is easy to be paralyzed by the massive crowds, the long hernia wait lists, and the many, many needs of the patients here. This team is doing such a great job of skillfully and lovingly helping the patient nearest to them to the best of their ability.

The evening closed under the gazebo as we all shared our stories of the day and stories of our lives at home.

One clinic to go! We plan to finish very strong.

Jennifer

Everyone was back at their post today for what is now the home stretch for this year’s Medical and Surgical mission. Today and for the next two days we are seeing patients in the facilities at the Carpenter project site. There is electricity for those who need it but the biggest bonus is that there is no traveling the rough roads to the remote villages where clinics were held last week, thus saving time and energy to serve more patients. In her daily summary at dinner time Dr. Jennifer informed the team that this had been record-breaking day in terms of how many patients had been seen in a single day.

The highlight in the eye clinic involved one of NEA’s staff members who had been working as a translator with Brigitte in dispensing glasses for the past two years. Pastor Phillip, when he is not translation for us, is the pastor at Kintampo church where he leads a fairly large congregation. Brigitte had noticed this year that he was struggling to read patient charts. After much coaxing he finally agreed to have his own eyes examined by his team members this morning. After all was completed he was prescribed a pair of bifocals that corrected both his near and far vision. Pastor Phillip had seen hundreds leave the eye clinic with better vision and now it was his turn. He kept repeating that he had no idea that his vision had been so poor and that it could corrected so easily. He was very thankful that he could read patient charts but even more thankful that reading his bible would be easier again.

In her summary of had been seen by the medical team today Dr. Jennifer simply said that the doctors had seen a number of conditions that they had only read about in medical school.

The continuing common theme during debriefing tonight and most evenings was the the excellent teamwork within and between the groups. Everyone has been willing to help where there is a need. All the team leaders agreed that this was a great team again this year and that our first timers were fitting right in.

Finally Dr David Mensah got everyone’s undivided attention when he reminded the group that about 98% of those who show up at our clinics cannot even afford the $5 annual health insurance fee that would give them free access to local medical services.

On that note I think I will close for tonight, but more to follow.

The Sunday morning church service started to the beat of a much-needed, brand new drum set donated to the Carpenter church by chairman of the GRID board Jacques and Brigitte Lapointe. The shiny red drums arrived from Kumasi on God’s timing — just in time for worship.

Under the Kapok tree Pastor Rance and Dr. David Mensah, dressed in full chief attire, led us in the true spirit of worship with clapping, singing, and line-dancing. The African church does not need to be reminded to praise god with their whole heart.

Pastor Charles read the scriptures 2 Kings 4:1-7: Elisha asked the poor widow what she had to repay her debtors. She responded that she had nothing but a little olive oil. Elisha asked her to bring several empty jars to him and told her to pour a little oil into each one. The jars were miraculously filled to the brim.

The significance of the widow’s oil was not lost on us as we reflected on the work of our medical mission here in Ghana. Sometimes we feel as if what we have to offer isn’t enough to fill all the jars of the sick. Pastor Charles reminded the entire congregation of Africans and “the experts” as they call us, that if we are willing, God will take whatever is in our hand and multiply it and work through it to serve humanity.

After more clapping, singing and dancing, a heart-warming testimonial was given by Ernestina, the Ghanian medical assistant who has accompanied us on all five missions.

David Mensah and Ernestina

Her testimony assured us that indeed the Lord is working through our team to fill the jars of oil. She said our team has taught her “tremendous wisdom, insight, gentleness, love and compassion.” The Ghanaian government has recognized her exemplary care of patients in her region that they have put her in charge of a large clinic which has 30 staff. She is now training all of her nurses and midwives using what she has learned from us. She is transferring clinical skills. There is no doctor at this busy clinic that has a 6 bed ER and 8 bed maternity unit. Ernestina is on call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. We were moved by the impact we have had on this remarkable woman and now, on her staff. More jars are being filled.

As the worship service came to a close and while we were still dancing, clapping and singing we were reminded once again that our work has left many Ghanians beating to a new drum.

Sunday evening our convoy of vehicles arrived at the Mole National Game Park, a 4,577 square kilometer reserve dedicated to the protection of wildlife. Last night we celebrated Dr. Laurence’s 40th wedding anniversary by singing a few different versions all at once of “Happy Anniversary” while his wife listened on the phone from Vancouver.

The team enjoying a break

Today we had the option of going on a walking or jeep safari. The guides told us we probably wouldn’t see any elephants as none were seen on the safari the day before. Well … there were elephants everywhere. Some groups saw as many as 12 majestic elephants as close as 100m away. We also saw crocodiles, deer, antelope and water bucks all in their natural habitat. The monkeys were getting a little cheeky while we were cooling off in the swimming pool and one took a bit of a run at our dear friend Sarah Hasted from the UK. She was cool as a cucumber and handled that monkey just fine!

It was a wonderful, well-needed rest and we all feel recharged, refreshed and ready to finish hard for our 3 remaining clinics which will be held here on the NEA compound in Carpenter.

Glenda DeVries

Saturday morning the medical team arrived bright an early to a remote village called Baniantwe. It was so beautiful and overlooked a huge ravine. The man who had been coordinating the Ghanaian volunteers all week was sitting in the chief’s chair in his traditional crown, robe, and jewelry. We had no idea that Charles was a chief. What an example that this man, in this position of power, would choose to serve along side us all week.

After the speeches concluded, the village presented us with our largest gift ever. One by one the children brought huge tubers of yams until there was a mountain of yams before us. Then a perfect white ram was ushered in to the group. Dr. Mensah surprised Dr. Sarah by asking her to thank the village on our behalf. She did an eloquent job expressing a mountain of gratitude for this mountain of yams. One of the elders responded by saying that even the opportunity for their children to see us and meet us will impact their lives forever. How could we not give our best and do our all for this obscure, tucked-away village who saw fit to present us with these precious gifts?

Every station functioned so well and before we knew it, all 425 of the villagers who arrived for care had been seen. The same number of healthy people received deworming, tylenol and vitamins. While the team helped pharmacy clear out the last of the scripts, Dr. Joe gave the village kids a new soccer ball. Before we knew it most of the men on our team joined the youth of the village in a soccer match. We women would have joined in but we were too busy working!  I’m just kidding….those boys will remember that soccer game long after they will remember the medical clinic!

My favorite moment of the day was when I looked out my classroom window to see how our dental station was doing only to see a herd of cattle grazing in and around Kyle, Amanda and the patients. Not even a herd of cattle can stop that dental team from getting the job done.

I came down with a serious case of the giggles mid-afternoon when, every time I tried to speak to my patient, a rooster sitting right outside my window, would cock-a-doodle-do. I think my translator thought the heat was getting to me but it was just so funny.

The most touching moment of my day was when I turned to see Dr. Rob carrying our exam bed out from behind the screen to the front of our classroom. I couldn’t figure out was he was doing only to realize that his patient was paralyzed from the waist down. Rather than the villagers struggling to carry her to the exam bed, he brought the exam bed to her. I’ll call that picture I took “Compassion”.

On the trip home the vehicles took an unexpected detour to the most beautiful waterfall I had ever seen. What a way to end what was most of the team’s favorite day so far. By the way, no one was home sick with DWD (down with diarrhea).

Back at the compound, Operation Hernia had a productive day despite the generator acting up and despite losing their leader, Dr. Magdi, who came with us to the village. The team is up to 180 procedures. If they keep going at this pace, we may need to call the hernia patients from our first village of Nyamboi to the OR.

We are ready for a rest. Sunday after church we leave for Mole Game Park. David warned us that these are not tame animals and that we need to listen to the man carrying the gun who accompanies us. After dinner I noticed the nurses adding some extra stock to our trauma bag and Dr. Carol gathering extra antibiotics while pondering which one would be best for a baboon bite. Don’t worry — we’ll be just fine.  If not, there is no shortage of health care personnel to deal with just about anything!

We will try and get a blog to you from the game park if possible.

With love to all our friends and family back home on behalf of the entire Canadian and UK team!

Jenn

Tonight as I reflect on our day I am reminded of the story about the boy who discovers a beach full of dying, washed up starfish and decides to start throwing them back into the water one by one. An older passerby told him it was no use, he couldn’t possibly make a difference. The boy continued to throw the starfish back into the water saying “it makes a difference to this one, and this one, and this one….”

Today reminded me of that story as our team made a difference in the lives of so many individuals.

One little girl who was so sick with malaria on Thursday arrived for her reassessment dressed in her best dress, already recovered from this disease which is the leading cause of death in Ghana. Our visit made a difference to her.

Three men who were blind on Thursday due to the high pressures in their eyes returned and “saw” Dr. Martin for the first time. Their vision was restored. Our visit made a difference to them.

29 patients suffering from dental pain received extractions from Dr. Kyle and Amanda. Dr. Rob from Operation Hernia helped suture up dental patients after he and nurse Sue saw many hernia patients who are now on next year’s list. Our visit made a difference to these people.

Many of you may remember the story of Joshua who almost died 2 years ago of pneumonia while we were here. This robust, thriving toddler was dancing in the circle of women who welcomed us. He had a visit today with nurse Joan who put in the difficult IV that saved his life two years ago. Our visit made a difference to him.

Mid-morning a man arrived breathless requesting help for his wife who was hemorrhaging after delivering a baby in the next village. Her bleeding wouldn’t stop. Cindy, Erin, the local medical assistant, midwife, and I jumped into the pick-up with our emergency supplies. We arrived to a hut to find a woman lying on a mat on the dirt floor. Within minutes the IV fluids were running and the oxytocin was administered to contract the uterus. In the dark corner of the hut under the mosquito net we found not one, but two baby boys. Can you imagine. The babies were healthy but cold, so within minutes a fire was started and two village women cuddled the babies. As we exited the hut with good news, we had a captive audience of wide-eyed villagers. The midwife took the opportunity to educate the village as to the importance of delivering their babies at the medical clinics where a skilled birth attendant is available. What a miracle that we were in that village on that day. Our visit made a difference to this woman and her 6 children.

While there are many problems facing this continent, this unique partnership between NEA, Canada and the UK is making a difference to one person at a time, one family at a time, one village at a time. We all feel deeply privileged to be part of it as we watch many miracles of God unfold before our eyes.

At the end of the day this courageous, hardworking team saw just over 500 patients and David tells me another 500-600 patients went through our “fast track” clinic for deworming, tylenol and vitamins. Despite huge numbers, our incredible pharmacy team with support from the team had us wrapped up in time to be off Yaara road before dark. I’ve forgotten the exact number but the surgical team are up to about 150 procedures. Today they had to call some of Saturday’s patients to the OR as they were so far ahead of schedule. Incredible!

Here is a picture of the medical team after this memorable day. Some of you will notice 3 members were not with us in Yaara today but we are thankful to God that they are back to good health after a day of rest.

David concluded our day with some inspirational words and told the team that each one of us was hand picked by God himself to be here on this mission. He thanked us for surrendering ourselves and doing our work with so much heart. We are tired but ready for our big day tomorrow in Baniantwe.

Thanks for your support and prayers. We miss you all!

Jennifer

Our 6:00am breakfast call had everyone up early this morning for the long trip to Yaara. The short cut was washed out again this year so we set out on the longer “good road” (inside joke).

Along the way we made a courtesy stop in Old Longoro to visit and greet young Chief Solomon from Carpenter. He was in the village convalescing from injuries suffered in a car accident a few weeks earlier. While in the small village Dr. David (Mensah) explained that this village was very special for the Mo tribe. It is the traditional burial site for the tribe’s chiefs and elders. In fact, the houses in the villages were the location where generations of chiefs from each division of the tribe were buried. Had we not stopped here could never have guessed the significance of this very unassuming village close to our destination.

As we approached Yaara we could hear the drums beating in the area where the Chief Joseph and his elders had assembled. Before proceeding to the formal greeting, a number of our team, led by Dr. David himself, joined some of the village women in a bit of traditional dancing. The gifts of food presented by the town to the team were truly overwhelming.

All the clinics were very busy as expected but what stood out to several doctors and nurses, including some first-timers, was that the general state of health in the village was noticeably better than what had earlier been seen In Nyamboi. Dr David explained that this was most probably due to a number of initiatives in agriculture and nutrition that had been undertaken by NEA over the passed several years. Dr Sean, one of our pediatricians had even noted that the children’s skin felt healthier. We did not stay overnight in Yaara this year because of several logistical issues so we had to leave for Carpenter early enough to make most of the trip back in daylight.

During dinner this evening we were able to catch up with the day’s hernia team activities. Dr Magdi was glowing in his comments about how smoothly that their day had gone, and how on this trip with three operating rooms available they were smashing Operation hernia productivity records. He was especially complementary of how well the team, including the Ghanaian translators and assistants were working together. The difficult medical issues that they had encountered had also been ably addressed by the medical clinic group. Nurse Teresa’s Canadian blog fans should be aware that she has joined the Hernia Team for this year’s trip.

Well, we’re off to another early start in the morning so it’s time to sign off for today

Jacques