Our time in the village of Nyamboi came to an emotional close. The day was full of the breadth of medicine. One moment I was watching the pediatrician team of Dr. Sean and Dr. Julie carrying very sick infants down to our nursing station with pneumonia, malaria, diarrhea; then I’d see Dr. Rob cheerfully heading towards his patient with the fractured arm carrying a splint made of tongue depressors. A woman was laboring most of the day in the exam bed next to Dr. Joe while he kept on seeing patients. Dr. Gillian spent some time doing joint injections on the painful arthritic knee of some of the village elders. I passed by Dr. Sarah speaking with David about a follow-up approach for a young may with severe epilepsy while much laughter could be heard from Dr. Kirsten who got to work with our enthusiasic village midwife Ayi. I cried when Dr. Carol took off her earings at the end of the day to give to Letisha the clinic nurse.

All of this was supported by our fantastic nursing team who screened the crowd, cared for the sickest of the sick, poured tylenol into the febrile kids, and did all our diagnostic testing. Robin and Mary spent the day controlling and moving and interacting with the crowd of close to 1000 people while encouraging us all along.

The eye team had a record-breaking day seeing exactly 100 patients. It is incredible to consider the transfer of skills that is happening by Dr. Martin and his team to the 3 local optometrists.

The dental team was busy all day under the tree and I didn’t want to count how many teeth were in their big jar.

At the end of it all, this combined team saw over 500 patients and a few hundred went through our vitamin and tylenol lines. Oh and I forgot that our surgeons, Dr. Morag and Dr. Paul, screened a whole list of hernia patients for next year’s mission.

Back at the compound 88 procedures have been completed. The team is way ahead of schedule and are graciously fitting in the emergencies from the village. Dr. Rob had to operate without cautery today but did just fine. Flexibility and adaptability are so important around here!!! Our little boy who had the emergency surgery is doing very well and will probably go home tomorrow. What a miracle. One other critical child will stay with us another day.

As the sun was starting to set in Nyamboi the chief and elders presented the team with tubers of yam and a feisty ram. He spoke very deeply to us about this miracle of God that we are to them. Never in their dreams did they envision health care being brought to their remote village. He explained that he had no words to thank us, nor did they have any material gifts to gift us. He especially thanked our newcomers. So as a token of their love and gratitude they carved us each a spoon out of the wood from one of their local trees. Their village has been using these “spoons” long before our great-great-grandfathers came to the land and before the word spoon even existed. Each team member will have many more stories about what this wooden spoon represents to them.

Please pray for health and strength for this team who are working so hard. So far we have all been well and no one has been sick.

Today is our most difficult journey to the remote village of Yaara but we are ready! Please pray for safe travels as the final segment of the road is ….well….challenging might be putting it lightly!

Talk to you soon!

Jennifer

The first day in the villages is usually quite a learning experience, especially for our first timers, but with the great collaboration from everyone the teams were hitting their stride by the end of this very first full day. Boarding the bus at the end of the day, we were tired and sweaty (that’s the norm), but happy that a good day’s work got done, many people were helped, and a number of lives got saved.

An emergency surgery was performed on a 6 year-old today.

One of those was a six year old boy with his mother who was picked, in distress, out of the crowd of waiting patients this afternoon. A severe, life-threatening, incarcerated hernia was identified by our physicians. The matter was of such urgency that the boy, his mother, and Linda, one of the hernia team nurses who was in Nyamboi today, were quickly loaded on one of the pickup trucks for the trip back to Carpenter for emergency surgery by the waiting hernia team. Surgery was successfully performed, and at last report our young patient was awake and eating. All in a day’s work? Indeed, but what a great example of wonderful teamwork by caring and dedicated people

My last story is about our very last patient of the day who was an elderly lady at the eye clinic. After being fitted with glasses that would somewhat improve her failing vision and being assisted out of the clinic she stopped, threw up her arms and said something in her language. David Mensah who happened to be in the building quickly interpreted for us. She said “God bless you all for coming here to help us.” What can I possibly add to that?

Everyone is reportedly in good health in case you were wondering, and I’m passing on greetings from the entire crew.

Jacques

Today was a truly wonderful day. Our morning began with a special time under the gazebo with the entire team and all the NEA staff. Chef Abraham gave an inspirational devotional on Romans 12:5-8 which speaks about how we, who are many, form one body as we each use our gifts to serve. He challenged each of us to play our role well on this team of over 100 members so that together we can be vessels of healing to so many. He concluded with the quote, “What you are is a gift to you; what you do is a gift to God and to mankind.”

The Canadian team presented three plaques to be hung on each of the operating room doors in honor of David Mensah, Brenda Mensah and Moses Mensah. Moses was David’s father who died at a young age of a hernia in the village right next to the compound. It was a moving moment to realize how easily his life could have been saved by a procedure that hundreds will receive in these two weeks.

After breakfast Brenda surprised us with a visit from a local tailor. Can’t wait to show you our outfits!

We also had a surprise visit from 2 optometrists and an optician from Sunyani who heard about our eye program and decided to donate 2 weeks of their time to help Doc Martin, Marion, Jacques and Brigitte in the nut house. (They run the eye clinic in the peanut storage building on the compound!). Amazing.

New team members went on a tour of the compound while the veterans set up for the staff clinic which began after lunch.

By the time we all congregated hot and sweaty for dinner around 7 pm, the team had completed 22 hernia procedures and just under 200 NEA staff and families were seen by the medical, surgical and dental team. Overall, we noticed a big improvement in the health of the staff on the compound this year.

We are all too tired for a costume party tonight. Off to sleep to prepare for a very busy 2 days in Nyamboi village.

Jennifer

Dear friends and family,

It is with a very thankful heart that I report that every team member and every piece of baggage except for one (piece of baggage, that is) is safe and sound on Carpenter soil.

After an 11-hour ride, the team climbed off of our special bus and was warmly greeted with the words “Welcome Home” by David, Brenda and many of the NEA staff. For two-thirds of our team who are returning to Ghana for a second, third, fourth or fifth mission, these words are ring true. This place has become a second home to so many of us and we were so excited to greet our dear friends, brothers and sisters once again. It was so special to me to then watch as the 43 of us formed a huge circle and joined hands with a large group of our Ghanaian friends. Pastor Yebohah thanked God for bringing us safely to this place for this special time of service and committed these next two weeks into God’s hands. It was a special reunion.

I had to dry my tears quickly as we needed to prepare for tomorrow’s patients. After setting up the clinic and preparing the operating rooms, the team is now settled for the night. Most of us are in a wonderful new dorm together! I hope they all sleep well … there is much work ahead of us!

Thanks to you all for following our journey. We are grateful for your prayers and your support.

Jennifer

Jennifer Wilson, a physician in Uxbridge, Ontario, launched GRID’s annual health team several years ago and continues to lead it. She and her husband Graham are committed to alleviating suffering among Ghana’s poor. Jennifer is a board member of GRID.

We are thrilled to report we have all arrived safety in Accra with all our luggage. It was a seamless journey and our spirits are high.

Our spirits took a leap when we were greeted by this coach….our chariot! Instead of a 10 hour bus ride in extremely cramped quarters we will all ride together! Screams of delight could be heard for miles! We are so spoiled!

Jennifer Wilson, a physician in Uxbridge, Ontario, launched GRID’s annual health team several years ago and continues to lead it. She and her husband Graham are committed to alleviating suffering among Ghana’s poor. Jennifer is a board member of GRID.

Our 2011 Medical Team is off! The team members departed from Toronto this evening, along with their 126 hockey bags of luggage.

Please pray for health and safety for these volunteers as they face a long journey and a grueling schedule over the next two weeks.

For those of you who have been following the news from the 2010 Ghana Health team online, we wanted to inform you of two main ways that you can hear more stories from this team.

First, GRID plans to release a newsletter to report back on the team’s experience. We hope to email it out in the week of November 22 – 26. To receive the newsletter automatically you simply need to subscribe to GRID’s quarterly e-newsletter by November 21st.  We will also post it on our website shortly after emailing it out.

Second, the medical team will be sharing a report with us at Uxbridge Baptist Church on Sunday, November 28th at 10:30 am. All are welcome!

Thank you all for your interest in and support of this team.

The team ran into some traffic as they neared Accra which put them a bit behind schedule. They were able to spend a short time in the market before they got to the airport.

When they arrived at the airport they were met by a representative of the Prime Minister’s office who had them bypass the normal checkpoints. The team was very thankful for this blessing.

They boarded their plane to Heathrow at 6:30 pm eastern time.

We are on our way to the Accra airport as I write this last update. A little after 5:30 am all the vehicles were loaded and our caravan was waving goodbye to David and Brenda and others that had become friends and who got up early to see us off.

Yesterday was a somewhat more relaxed day for everyone except for the surgical team who decided to put in an extra day of surgery to complete the patients who had been scheduled for this week. The rest of the team pitched in to complete necessary paperwork and to sort through and pack up leftover supplies and medication, much of which will be left behind for distribution to village clinics.

Last night was PARTY TIME when all the teams, the Ghanaians, the British and the Canadians, came together for a great feast enjoyed together outside under the stars. It was a great time of fellowship as stories about our two weeks together were being retold with added colour and drama. After gift presentations and a few words of acknowledgment a group of Ewe dancers and drummers came to liven things up with plenty of audience participation for the rest of the evening.

As we continue our trip to Accra I can’t help but think about the impact of this year’s and previous years’ medical missions. For each person who was helped it made a big difference. But beyond that, the team leaders who have been here for several trips have commented that the level of health in the villages had improved overall and I find that very encouraging.

So, as I sign off I can only say “Well done team” and to all friends and family back home we will see you soon with more stories about a great experience.

After watching thousands after thousands of people come through our clinics, it was hard for me to believe that a “last patient” actually existed. Sure enough, around 6:30 pm tonight, the last script was filled and the last patient walked out the gates. We did it!

It was a great day full of highs and lows. A four year old little girl with Downs Syndrome was sick with malaria. Her two eyes were darting around in different directions and it was obvious that she could not see very well. It was quite a sight to see her coming out of the eye clinic with a perfect little pair of glasses (donated by a Canadian child). Her vision was corrected which allowed her eyes to align perfectly. She could not stop playing with the fingers on her hands that she has never seen before. That was a high.

The low for me was the moment I looked up to see a look on Dr Lorna’s face. I recognized the look from across the room … I have seen it too many times before. It was the look of anguish as she counseled an HIV positive woman who was pregnant and whose 3 year old was at her side.

Tomorrow we debrief, pack up, plan for the future and rumor has it that there may be some African dancers arriving. There will be a huge party in the evening for us and all the NEA staff and their families. It will be a pressure free day as we prepare for our long journey home. Now that our mission has been accomplished we are really missing our loved ones and cannot wait to get home to them all. There is just so much to tell you all.