2017 Health Team

The morning commute to Yaara is always interesting. After about 20 minutes on the main road we turn on to a dirt road that I fondly refer to as “Washboard Avenue.” After another turn, the road becomes more of a path lined by tall grass. Every once in a while we would pass a small village or a school. All the while the road seems to get narrower and narrower and the pot holes deeper and deeper. After crossing the amazing Makbraneth Bridge, we got momentarily stuck in a big mud puddle. Thankfully, our expert driver Simon got us out of it before we had to decide who would do the pushing.

Just under two hours later we arrived in beautiful village of Yaara, the place where David Mensah was sent as a young boy after his father died of a hernia. David explained it was a village that mistreated him so severely that he had to escape yet, many years later, it was one of the first villages that NEA brought its development work to. David speaks about this in detail in his book Kwabena.

After such a long and bumpy bus ride, many team members reluctantly headed to the latrines. Suddenly there were whoops of joy as we discovered brand new, never before used latrines built by NEA and the Makbraneth Foundation. These latrines had doors. These latrines had locks on the doors. These latrines had … wait for it … toilets, which quickly became known as thrones! Oh my, there was such a commotion as people started cheering from behind those doors and I believe it was nurse Joan who broke out into the Hallelujah chorus. The latrines were the topic of the day in the lunch room!

The school was quickly transformed into a a clinic due to the coordinated efforts by every member of the team and our Ghanaian volunteers. It is a logistical work of art (thanks Kim, Steve and Dave) as every canopy, hockey bag, table, chair and even garbage bag gets to the proper destination. While we were setting up, the beating of the drums began and soon the women started to sing and dance. The team made their way over to join the dancing, but Dr. Sue and some of our nurses had to miss the ceremony as they were attending to a critically ill teenager who needed stabilizing. David’s brother, Chief Joseph, and his elders were seated and had a great laugh watching us all trying to dance to a beat that we cannot quite find with sweat pouring down our faces in the already well over 30 degree heat. I have to say Dr. Anne and Dr. Charlie won the prize for most enthusiastic dancers!

When the drums stopped, greetings were exchanged and Ashley Gayton (one of our surgical team members who joined us today) presented the chief with a gift and Margaret from the eye team presented a gift to his wife. Dr. Rob and Elena brought a soccer ball for each village and Amelia presented that as wide-eyed little boys and girls looked on. The Assembly Man then spoke eloquently on behalf of the Chief and Elders and explained that our annual visit over ten years has become a strong motivating force to them. Our efforts and our presence year by year has motivated their community to do more and more to help themselves and improve their situation. For example, they have been advocating for many years for a health centre in their community and he announced that approval has been given. Soon a nurse and a midwife will be posted in the newly built Yaara health centre to provide year round care! We have all been praying and waiting for that day! He also commented that their health has improved not only because of the medicine and surgery, but because their community’s consistent interaction and socialization with us has added to their health enormously. The ceremony concluded with the presentation of a ram, more yams and large piles of fresh pineapple, papaya, watermelon and bananas that neighbouring villages contributed to the group gift. The chief then called my daughter forward and his wife Hagar handed her the gift of a live chicken. As Dr. Andy said at dinner, the look on Amelia’s face as she held that chicken was priceless! The chicken fell out of the pickup on the way home but survived his attempt at escape. Poor guy.

All sectors of our clinic ran so well today and one patient at a time was treated with compassionate, highly quality care. Team spirits were very high despite the blistering heat. Our pharmacy and dentistry station were surprised and thrilled to be working in a brand new three-room school with electricity and fans. Sherry’s happy dance unfortunately only lasted for about one hour when they lost that precious power and out came the reliable old generators once again! It was an “hour of power” our pharmacy team will never forget.

Some of you will remember stories of Joshua, David’s nephew who, seven years ago, almost died from severe pneumonia while we were in Yaara. This tall growing young man paid us his annual visit and it seems like yesterday to many of us that we almost lost him as a sweet little baby.

Our newcomers took a brief walking tour through the village and salty bus snacks (highlight of the day) were handed out thanks to our Hunstville friends of John, Jenn, Cheryl and family. With God’s help, we arrived safely back on the compound before dark.

Back at home base the laser clinic was busy restoring sight and putting another big dent in the epidemic of glaucoma here in Ghana. Our optometry team is already talking about the next step — which would be cataract surgeries. No pressure Dr Toylin!?I’d love to report on how our surgical team’s day went but they still were still in the operating theatres when we all left for bed at 8:00, completing the 40th case of the day. What a long day they had, but they will be happy to enjoy another amazing meal of Fufu from Lucy’s yams and guinea fowl tomato soup. Apparently Lucy’s guinea fowl gave the NEA staff a very hard time when they tried to catch them.

Today was a day where our team values of service, teamwork, sensitivity, professionalism and resilience continued to come to life in so many ways by so many individuals in Yaara and on the Carpenter compound. Our sixth unofficial team value is “to have fun along the way,” and we are all thoroughly enjoying every moment of our time with our dear friends at NEA and the people of Ghana.

There are moments during every mission when I realize afresh that the beautiful people of Ghana are no different that you and I. I realize that sounds like an odd statement. However, when you are dealing with a culture that is so different from ours and when poverty is staring you in the face, I am embarrassed to say that it happens.

There were two moments when this reminder hit me so hard today that I had to pause and regroup myself. The first came when I received a visitor. Evans was a little boy we saw last year who was born with a stump for a right leg. With funds left over from last year’s mission we were able to arrange for him to be fitted for a prosthetic leg. He and his mom made the journey to Nyamboi to thank us for giving him his life and the mom started to brag about his football skills. An incredible story on many levels, but it was her bragging about her little boy that reminded me that she is no different from any mom who loves to tell of her kids’ accomplishments.

The second reminder came to me when I had three very sick kids with malaria who were so scared of my white face. My clinic nurses back at home, Jill and Kelly, snuck some big Paw Patrol stickers in my bag before I left. The moment those three kids saw those smiling animal faces, they were the happiest kids in the world and would let me do anything.

A proud mamma. A child with a sticker. These parents and these kids are no different than yours or mine, except that they were born in Northern Ghana.

Wednesday was rich. It was wonderful. It was challenging. It required every ounce of teamwork we could muster to manage to care for the large numbers of people and the challenges that arose throughout the day both in the village and in the OR. It is humbling work and flexibility and adaptability and teamwork skills must be applied moment to moment.

When we arrived this morning the crowd was under incredible control due to the arrival of our hard-working Ghanaian volunteers, who were on sight as early at 4:00 am. The clinic began immediately and three of our surgical team colleagues — Dr David, Ted and nurse Mel — enjoyed their first African village experience. Their help was really needed. I was greeted immediately by Letichia, the village nurse. This dear woman is the only nurse midwife in the community. She is on call 24/7 with no back up. She was absolutely dancing with joy with the health care being delivered in her community. She has been through two of the “Helping Babies Breathe” neonatal resuscitation training programs that we ran with the Leyaata team and is now a master trainer. As she shared stories with me about babies successfully resuscitated, she once again was jumping for joy.

Taking off on Ashley’s “Team Awesome” title, Abraham and our logistics team decided to play a game with all of us today. As they visited each station and asked how they were doing, the first word they said was to become their team name. Giggling away, he announced our new names: Weights and Temps: Team Great; Triage: Team Beautiful, Diagnostics: Team Wonder; Nursing Treatment: Team Busy, Physicians: Team Perfect, Pharmacy: Team Happy Feet (Sherry was doing another happy dance at the time); Dental: Tooth Thieves. Abraham is saving the registration, logistics and eye team for tomorrow!

Dr. Bill had a very sick 5 month-old with malaria and sepsis and worked with the nurses all day to stabilize the child. I have no idea how Joan found a vein in the tiny, dehydrated foot, but life-giving fluids and medicine were running through it. Bill confessed he would not have slept a wink worrying about this baby surviving the night if she went home (that’s how much we care for these patients). Although she improved a great deal, we felt she would be best to continue treatment in the local hospital due to her young age. Arrangements were made. Bill shared with me that their plan was to walk to the next village, and get a motorbike to take mom and baby to hospital. Bill noted the injustice that in our shop, an ORNGE ambulance with the Sick Kids team would be landing right now. Instead they will travel 2 hours on a motorbike on a dangerous road as it is getting dark. Nelson Mandela said, “How we walk with the broken speaks louder than how we sit with the great. Overcoming poverty is not a task of charity. It is an act of justice.” Bill lived out that quote today.

Our team Pediatrian, Anne, shared about her special patient and special teamwork moment involving a child drifting in and out of unconsciousness from severe malaria and hypoglycaemia. Anne said it was just the most incredible sight to enter our nursing treatment area and have the diagnostic team (led by Tracey), and the nurses on duty in the station (Joan, Kathleen, Nicole, Leslie and Val) descended on the child and in minutes the IV glucose, antimalarials were running. An hour later Anne came back to find the child sitting up drinking and she was ready to go home by the end of the clinic.

Our clinic ended with the Chief of Nyamboi presenting our team with a large pile of yams and a beautiful ram. His parting words were that our delivery of health services to his village was highly beyond their imagination. The ram rode home in the back of the eye team truck (with all of their very valuable equipment). Apparently that didn’t go over too well with our optometrists!

Our surgical team had a fantastic day full of challenges that were overcome with team work, and our Ghanaian anaesthetist shared how he was left in charge of a case when Perry was called out for an emergency. Eric felt his courage slip as Perry left but quickly realized that “when you are trained by master trainers, you will be ready to overcome.” The team had the privilege of operating on one of David Mensah’s family members. No pressure!

Dinner was waiting when we returned. I know some family members back home were worried about what their loved ones might be eating in Africa so I thought I’d give you our dinner menu from last night: pumpkin and ginger soup, fresh bread, rice garnished with corn and peas, rice sauce, roast beef with BBQ sauce, salad with fresh vegetables and eggs, yam fritters (made with Lucy’s yams) and fresh watermelon, grapes and pineapple. Needless to say we may not lose any weight in Ghana!

Our special dinner guest tonight was Dr. Mensah himself, and he updated us on some world news and weather reports from home. He gave touching words to us all on behalf of his people, reminding us that many of them have never sat in front of a nurse or a doctor in their lives. He prepped us for Yaara, his village — a village where health is returning due to the consistent efforts of the medical team. Unfortunately a crew of our people missed his speech (Dr. Carlye, Lisa, Bill, Val and Joan) as a medical emergency arrived during dinner time.

We thought our day was finally over but as we walked back to our residence a hysterical mother brought her daughter to the gate who they thought had been bitten by a snake. Thankfully it was “JUST a scorpion bite” and we were able to send her home with some pain medication.

As this day closes, I must say that it is the chief’s final words to us that are ringing in my ears. What occurred today in the village of Nyamboi and in the operating theatres and the eye laser room in Carpenter was highly beyond anything any of us could have asked for or imagined. These words come from one of my favourite Bible verses. For those of you praying for the team, your prayers are being heard.

On to Yaara we go!

The medical team set out at 0630 for the remote village of Nyamboi. The chiefs and elders were waiting to greet us and we quickly moved to the greeting ceremony where the chief’s closing remarks were, “I pray this consistent relationship will endure forever.” My Amelia presented a gift to the chief; Elise, our star pharmacy student, presented a football to the village; and our birthday girl presented a gift for the chief’s wife. Renee celebrated her birthday with us and Nyamboi village invited about a thousand people to her party!

Our logistics team had their work cut out for them today as the crowd was very large and loud and pressing in constantly. They have a very tough job.

Our triage team of Sandra, Greg and Les did a great job screening the crowd, deciding who could be treated for minor ailments and sent home, and who needed to be seen by the doctors.

Before our nursing station was even set up, the whistle blew. The whistle sounds when there is a major emergency. Every day we have one physician assigned to deal with emergencies and they respond together with Greg, our advanced care paramedic, and one of our nurses. Two unresponsive kids with severe malaria were carried in as Dr. Charlie got to work. Soon thereafter a man having severe angina and heart failure arrived. It was no coincidence that Dr. Charlie is a cardiac specialist. Set up or not, the team was ready. That is one thing I love about this group of people — they are always ready, always prepared for anything.

All team members worked extremely hard in extremely hot and loud conditions today and provided such compassionate and excellent care to a large number of patients. We thank God that all the critical patients turned around in time to go home.

The eye team tells us they had awesome day as all systems were running effectively and the volunteer eye team — now called “Badama” (Barb, Dan, and Margaret) — have really caught on to their new roles. Back the compound, Dr. Angela and Marion restored sight to 2 patients with glaucoma and dealt with some eye emergencies.

Our surgical team started their day with an unexpectedly challenging case that required all hands on deck. Dan was so impressed with the teamwork that is necessary when working in our low-resource conditions here. Twenty-three lives were changed in that OR today.

At dinner, each team leader designates someone to report to the group on how their day went. We share about the patients we meet, the challenges we face, and of course there is always a lot of laughter as we hear about things like … wedding proposals (Sue has had 3!), dental drama (Francois), aches and pains that surgeons didn’t know they had (Dan), and happy dances over simple things like power (Sherry) or frozen Fandago at lunch (all of us).

I am so thankful to God that our team’s health has been wonderful. The only exception is that latrine phobia has kicked in. It is real and is it quite common to hear team members wishing each other luck as they pass one another on the latrine path. Dr. Carlye, our team doc, kindly ran a constipation clinic after dinner and it was appreciated by many. Our gazebo is now buzzing with excitement as Esther the local seamstress is selling her cloth for the outfit she will make for many of us.

Well, 0545 is coming very quickly and it is time to rest. As they say in Ghana, may God grant us tomorrow.

Much love to everyone back home — we appreciate your support and comments that feel like a little lifeline to home.

Every morning, the entire staff of NEA gather together under their big gazebo to pray for one another and pray for the day ahead before they begin their work. We were all invited to join them this morning. After a time of singing, an elderly woman named Lucy from Carpenter village walked slowly to the centre of our gathering and thanked our team for the kindness that had been extended to her people over the past 10 years. She told us she was a poor woman but she needed to return the kindness so she worked and planned all year in able provide us with a gift from her farm. Her gift was a bowl of 10 very large yams and 9 guinea fowl — a gift we might expect from a village — not one woman. The significance of the value of this gift was not lost on any of us.

David Mensah shared a passionate message from the book of John in the Bible. He told us the story of Jesus healing a man who had been ill for over 30 years at the pool of Bethesda. None of the disciples wanted to go to that place of suffering except for John. He explained that to his people, we have become a pool of Bethesda — a house of mercy, hands of healing. He then gave examples of patients he has met with in recents months. A man whose daughters would have been orphans if not for the emergency surgery performed by Magdi’s hands of healing; a woman who can now thread her needle to make income from sewing thanks to the “tall man” (that’s Martin McDowell, our lead optometrist); a man who can now “crack bones with his teeth” due to Kyle’s hands of healing; a child saved by the IV placed by nurse Joan’s healing hands years ago. The examples kept coming as David walked around the gazebo … Charlie’s healing hands, the pharmacists’ healing hands, the nurses’ healing hands. You could have heard a pin drop in that gazebo.

After omelettes, porridge, fruit, beans and Tim Horton’s coffee, all of the newcomers went on a 30 minute tour of the NEA compound with David.

Two hours later, that group came back stunned and amazed and so excited about at what they had just witnessed. NEA’s integrated development projects from fish to rabbits to peanuts to ostriches left them speechless. Caitlin, who is studying international development in university, said that everything she has been learning just came to life. Whilst (love hanging with UK friends) the tour was going on, Kim worked with our local hosts to train the translators and volunteers who will be collecting our registration and important stats for the Leyaata program.

After lunch the surgeries began and by dinner, 20 surgeries were successfully and safely treated. I popped my head into the Brenda theatre mid afternoon to hear Ashley’s voice announce “Welcome to Theatre Awesome!” Awesome it was with the glowing faces and healing hands of Emilia, David, Dan and Ashley cheerfully going about their work. Our young Canadian nurse Emilia was definitely keeping those three British chaps in line! All of them were wearing brand new scrub hats donated to the team by Esther, a local seamstress.

While surgeries were being performed an amazing sea of white shirts provided care to the NEA staff and their families as the medical, dental and eye teams kicked into action along with their translators and volunteers. I couldn’t believe how smoothly it went for a first clinic — especially with half of our team being there for the first time. Despite a few hiccups, such as losing power to our automated pharmacy, problems were identified and fixed with great speed.

After another awesome dinner, awesome stories of the day were exchanged by our awesome team leaders while Eric, our Ghanaian anaesthetist, told me he could write a book on all he learned in one day from Dr. Perry. We love our Ghanaian colleagues and are thrilled that a new Ghanaian physician graduate, Dr. David, and a new nursing graduate, Rita, will also with working with us for these 2 weeks.

We all headed off to bed leaving Dr. Toylin, our ophthalmologist in deep conversation with Abraham and Soale, our local leaders, about a life-threatening case involving a young woman with a very large tumor behind her eye. We need great wisdom to discern the next steps to help her in her great suffering.

The surgical team headed back to their residence for a team debrief and the medical team unwound under our gazebo with a good dose of journalling, puzzling, colouring, very competitive banagramming and playing some euchre. My daughter Amelia was amused by how health professionals choose to unwind.

Off to a village tomorrow — our day begins at 0545!

After a few short hours of sleep, our journey to Carpenter continued Sunday morning on domestic flights to Kumasi, followed by a rather toasty coach ride to Carpenter. Kim kept trying to communicate how hot the bus was, hoping for a bit more A/C, only to have the driver advise her “Ma’am … it is because of the weather.” Point taken.

Apparently overbooked flights are a problem in Ghana, too, and so with hugs and high fives while shoving Cedis in their pockets, we left behind Dave our assistant logistics lead (sorry Heather) and Greg, our advanced care paramedic (who by the way had been travelling from Fort McMurray since Thursday) to figure out a plan B. Resilience is one of our team values, don’t you know!

So 66 minus 2 of us rolled into the compound of NEA around 2 pm to be greeted by our dear friends, brothers and sisters and of course the children at NEA. The circle we formed as we held hands and sang a Ghanaian song of thanksgiving to God was just such a massive circle. I was perhaps a tad emotional remembering it was exactly 10 years ago that my feet hit Carpenter soil and this beautiful partnership began. After an exchange of greetings, hugs and introductions in the 35 plus degree heat, we enjoyed mushroom soup from Frank’s mushroom farm and fresh bread from Kate’s bakery, and then we got to work.

The next 3 hours was a sight to behold as 200 hockey bags and cartons were unpacked. By 7 pm the training room was transformed into a massive pharmacy, medical, dental and nursing station as well as a logistics home base. Our eye team was so far ahead of schedule they bragged they were prepping for Wednesday’s clinic. And our surgical team … oh my. By 7 pm our first 15 hernia patients had been screened and prepped for Monday’s surgeries and those 60 boxes of equipment suddenly became 2 operating theatres and a recovery ward.

The best part about 7 pm was that Dave and Greg rolled in to a standing ovation after a nice air conditioned VIP coach ride to Kumasi where NEA staff liased with them. We were particularly happy to see them as we had all decided to go on a hunger strike (after lunch, of course) pending their arrival. A wonderful spaghetti dinner was had by all as eyelids began falling at a rapid rate.

Our first patients couldn’t wait until we were open for business, as two of the children booked for hernias were sick with malaria. Dr. Anne, our team Pediatrician, Dr. Lisa, and nurse Kathleen, who are all first time team members, jumped to action and the kids were cared for and treated by torch light under the surgical tree and the watchful mentorship eye of our veteran Dr. Sue. The kids will have their surgeries on Friday.

As Dr. Rob said to me, “It has been a sterling start to our fortnight.” What a choice of words. My favourite words today came from my dear friend Magdi … “I’m just so happy.”

What a day it has been as we begin our service to this incredible organization at NEA and as we lend a hand to our local Ghanaian health care colleagues who continue to leave their posts and journey towards our team headquarters.

My husband always teases me that I’m supposed to be writing blogs … not books, but it is as if a week’s worth of stories happens in one day here.

Load of love back home to our friends and families. Your blog comments are coming through and being read to the entire group at meal times and they make us laugh and cry because we miss you all!

The staff of KLM airlines, having met many of our 66 team members on today’s flight, presented our logistics manager Kim with a signed letter wishing us success on our mission along with a little bell that was inscribed “Together We Have A Great Story To Tell.”

How perfect. A great story is indeed about to be told.

Sixty-six of us are now together. Every bit of our baggage arrived safely. We have shared a meal. We are ready for our story to begin.

Our journey was amazing, by the way. Wearing our team shirts proved helpful yet again as some amazing connections were made en route!

I was praying we wouldn’t have a medical emergency on board so our team could rest. There was no medical emergency, but there was a child care emergency that involved 3 very unhappy small children who liked to scream — a lot. Nurse Leslie spent what seemed like hours walking them up and down the aisles, trying to keep them occupied. At one point I looked back only to see my dear friend Kyle (our lead dentist) with one of the kids finally sound asleep in his arms. One of our team values is service …

I feel so privileged to be part of this group who have prepared so wholeheartedly to serve in Ghana. I’m too excited to sleep anticipating the greeting we will receive from our friends at NEA in a few short hours.

I awoke this morning to an email from Rob, our surgical team leader in the UK, with the subject line “Changing Lives.”

These two simple words have been rolling around in my head all day. They are perfect words for today. They are a perfect rallying call as our ninth Ghana Health Team mission begins and as team members from around the world journey towards Carpenter.

The lives of patients will be changed. As individuals are healed in the context of sustainable development, communities will be strengthened and another “dent” will be made in the battle against poverty and hopelessness.

The lives of our Ghanaian health care colleagues will be changed. These heroes of our professions, so often alone and ill-equipped, will be surrounded by some of the best teachers that medicine, nursing, pharmacy, dentistry, surgery, anaesthesia and optometry have to offer.

The lives of our NEA colleagues will be changed. Can you imagine doing the difficult, patient work of development day in and day out and then having a team of 66 professionals show up to encourage you, to assist you, to equip your clinics and to bolster your efforts?

And our lives will be changed too. How they will change remains to be seen and remains up to us. It will depend on how we choose to embrace each day, face each challenge and engage with each patient. It will depend how open our eyes, ears and hearts are to what we shall witness there. One thing our veterans know for sure — we will not leave Ghana unchanged.

History is full of examples of men and women whose acts of service change lives and change history. Our poppies remind us of this even today. Ten years ago, none of us had any idea how many lives would change by this special partnership between NEA, GRID and the international health care community.

And so we set out for Carpenter with God’s help, and we could not be more ready.