2018 Health Team

Our day began with morning devotions under the gazebo with all of the NEA staff. The pastoral staff sang two beautiful songs for us, testimonies were given and Dr. David Mensah gave another inspiring address. He wanted us to know that our mission of medical, surgical, dental and eye care to Northern Ghana has had unspeakable proportions. He described an enormous ripple effect as we have been steadfast about saving lives over this past decade, and concluded with a text from Galatians 6:9 that encourages us all to not grow weary in doing good for at the proper time we will reap a harvest.

It was hard to get everyone to breakfast as Peter the artisan returned with another gazebo full of goods. Our suitcases are full and Peter is one happy man.

The rest of the day was spent cleaning, taking inventory and packing away our equipment for 2019 under the skillful direction of Joan, after which leftover medicine and supplies were organized for distribution to the local health care facilities.

Tonight we had a feast under the stars with all of the NEA staff, translators and volunteers along with their families. There were well over 200 of us. The children were over the moon with excitement. Our expat team were sporting new outfits, thanks to Esther and her seamstress team that made 34 outfits in total. A cow was killed and the kitchen prepared a wonderful roast beef dinner.

We were all surprised when David announced that the Chief of Yaara travelled to Carpenter in order to see our team off. Chief Joseph gave a beautiful speech asking God to give us the proper thanks due for our sacrifice. He asked that the Lord send us home safely.

The NEA team presented each of us with a fresh jar of NEA’s organic peanut butter. David asked us to tell our families that they are loved by NEA every time they eat it. The music and dancing began after which David called each team, along with our translators, to the stage for a dance-off. It was quite a sight. The prize was given to Nana Tibalakala (Dr. Mensah) and his brother Nana Yaara Kooko (Yaara Chief Joseph). Their dance was so fantastic. The children’s’ performance was definitely runner-up. It was a perfect end to our mission.

There is an African proverb that states,

If you wish to move mountains tomorrow, you must start by lifting stones today.

This team of Ghanaians, Canadians and Europeans lifted a lot of stones over this fortnight, and the mountain of poverty and ill health was moved just a little bit more. It has been an honour and a privilege for us to serve NEA, and we return home having gained much more than we have given. We return home better than when we came as the lives of our brothers and sisters in Ghana have been imprinted in our minds and on our hearts forever.

All eyes are on the Leyaata Hospital that will be built on these very grounds over the next two years. Our collective vision of sustainable health care is almost here. This is the biggest mountain that NEA has ever considered moving but we are committed to cheering them on towards their vision and assisting them in any way we can. Please help us.

On behalf of our team and all of the patients we were privileged to serve, I want to sign off by thanking God for all he has done.

I want to thank NEA for inviting us into this partnership.

I want to thank our leadership for their wholehearted commitment to every detail of this mission.

I want to thank each and every member of this outstanding 2018 Ghana health team for the unique role they played in making this mission an overwhelming success.

And finally, I want to thank all of our family, friends, donors and supporters who have made it possible for us to come alongside side the people of Ghana for such a time as this.

Let us never grow weary of doing good. Let us never grow weary of doing good. Amen.

This post is one in a series of Ghana Health Team 2018 Updates. You can subscribe to receive these updates by email.

I know there are many wonderful definitions of teamwork, but what we witnessed on the NEA compound today redefines the word for many of us.

We knew it was going to be a big day and we were ready.

After breakfast, we gathered for a team photo under the surgical tree, and with fist pumps and well-wishes we were seeing patients and operating by 7:30 am. Each person on our team and on the NEA team did everything imaginable to support one another in caring for as many patients as possible. The kitchen staff even kept a 60-cup coffee percolator going all day in case anyone needed a pick- me-up. (I noticed Dr. Carlye and Dr. Charlie had four mugs on their desks by the end of the day.)

Those of us who have been to Ghana before noticed a marked improvement in the health of the population that today’s clinic served. Health is improving in this area around Carpenter thanks to NEA’s sustainable development, and it was noticeable to us. What stood out to me more than anything was that almost all the women were carrying purses today. It sounds like a strange thing to notice but in the past, I have rarely seen women carrying purses, as usually they use their skirt or a little black plastic bag to carry their belongings. Today, I saw purses. We did still see many diseases of poverty, such as elephantiasis, dysentery from drinking dirty river water, HIV, skin ulcers, and one case of severe malnutrition but overall, the health of this area is improving significantly.

Every team saw a record number of patients today, and by the time we gathered in the dining hall for dinner at 7:00 pm Kim informed us that over 1000 patients received care today. Our surgical team smashed their target of 300 procedures. Despite all teams reaching unexpectedly high levels of productivity on this mission, our medications, anaesthetics, supplies and eyeglasses did not run out. I am reminded of the story in the Bible about the multiplication of the loaves and the fishes and in fact, some of us were specifically praying for this miracle to occur.

There are many wonderful stories to tell of the individuals that we had the honour of serving today but there are two stand-out moments for me.

Emmanuel is the 13-year old boy who is in charge of the Monopoly Board that I mentioned earlier in the week. Today he found his way through the crowds to my chair and informed me that he was having trouble seeing the blackboard at school. Off to the eye clinic with a VIP wrist band he went, returning an hour later with a trendy pair of donated eyeglasses. These glasses will impact his ability to receive his education. (And to excel at Monopoly.)

The second memorable moment for me was when a young woman we had looked after on our first mission in 2007 came with a special thank you. It is a long story of how she was helped, but now, eleven years later, she returned as a successful businesswoman and wanted to thank our teams past and present.

At dinner tonight, Abraham expressed his opinion that the success of this mission is due to the fact that we are all brothers and sisters now. It is so true that the unity and friendship between our Ghanaian team and expat team has elevated our teamwork to a very high level and this unity allowed us to accomplish what seemed impossible. With God’s help, along with the support of so many friends and family and colleagues in our home countries, we have accomplished the objectives that NEA has given us and in doing so, we have gained much more than we have given.

Tomorrow we will gather at 7:30 am with all of the NEA staff for a final devotional time in the great gazebo. After breakfast there will be few small surgical and laser procedures whilst the rest of us clean, inventory and pack away all the clinic supplies for 2019. Leftover medication will be divided up and distributed to the local health clinics. Gifts will be given and gifts will be received. And then we will party. An end of mission celebration is planned for tomorrow evening and I’m told that food preparation for this celebration has already begun.

It has been a great day and we are truly, truly thankful for every moment of it.

Today was one of those days that is hard to put into words so I will let the pictures tell the story of the health care that was delivered on the NEA compound. The only station I “forgot” to visit was the eye clinic and that might have something to do with the fact that temperatures rose to 45 degrees in there today.

I’m told that the little girl we prayed for with cerebral malaria last week was seen running around the grounds today. As she played, two other kids were on their way to the hospital as their care exceeded what we could provide. One had complications from a snake bite and the other was in a sickle cell crisis. Our colleagues at that hospital were alerted and prepared for their arrival.

Despite a record number of cases that included 11 children and an add-on emergency, the surgical and anaesthetic team beat the medical team to dinner for the first time in history. They are amazing!

It was a very long and challenging day for every single team member, but together we accomplished our objectives and are in great spirits. There was much joy and much laughter when we finally gathered for dinner well after 7:00 pm.

We can hardly believe that tomorrow is our last clinic day and look forward to doing everything we can to ensure that together, we finish strong, finish well, and give our best the to people of Ghana.

This post is one in a series of Ghana Health Team 2018 Updates. You can subscribe to receive these updates by email.

Our day in the village started with wonderfully comfortable temperatures of 27-28 degrees and we arrived to a large but orderly crowd. The logistics team were in control and even reorganized the location of the waiting room to reduce noise outside the physician consulting area.

Our nursing team had an extremely busy day in all the stations from triage to weights and temps to diagnostics to nursing station. Jennifer M. gave the nursing report at dinner describing how Leslie just kept pulling sick babies out of the crowd, straight to Joan’s IV station and into a corner which functioned as a little paediatric ICU. Anne was extremely busy with the many kids who needed ORS (oral rehydration solution). We are thankful to report that all of these precious little ones made excellent recoveries.

Our physicians provided care to about 900 patients over these past two days in Asantekwaa and several hundred more were treated in the pain clinic. Even though we were all set up in one big room, we didn’t see much of one another as every one of us were glued to our seats and focused on our task. Facing a crowd like this can be overwhelming and paralyzing, but the approach of the entire team is to give the best care we can to the person in front of us irrespective of how many people are waiting to be seen.

Dr. Dan was the mobile surgeon today. By 11:00, his hernia line-up was finished. He thought he would take some well-deserved leisure time to enjoy some jazz music but as the earbuds went in, Dr. Carlye had other ideas. Before Dan knew it, she had him set up at the other end of her consulting table and he dove in to help us with the medical patients. After a quick refresher on how to use a stethoscope and how to turn on an otoscope, Dan re-entered the world of being a medical doctor. At supper, he gave a brief report on his experience that began with, “I smashed it!”  Smashed it he did as he made some exciting diagnoses for a surgeon to make such as scabies and tinea capitus. Dr. Carlye gave him an enthusiastic thumbs up at the other end of the table for these excellent bread and butter diagnoses.

Speaking of smashed it, we do enjoy learning and trying out British phrases and vocabulary that we do not use in Canada. Dr. Magdi asked Jessica if she would like to join him in theatre and she was surprised Carpenter had a movie theatre. Despite all efforts we cannot pronounce “whilst.” Katie is one of my favourite team members because she always greets me with, “Hello, my lovely.” After a few days, I realized that she uses that phrase when talking to everyone else on the team, but nonetheless it always makes me feel so special. I’m hoping my husband might consider adopting this greeting moving forward.

Our dental station saw 46 patients today, 45 of whom were people. One of them was a scorpion. Together with the pharmacists, who were in the adjacent classroom, the beast met his demise with Sherry’s box cutter. Linda quickly made a coffin out of a pack of Zinc tablets which we use to treat kids with diarrhea. He is now in our residence freezer becoming “more dead” prior to Francois claiming him.

Our eye team saw over 200 patients in the two days in this village. They have their system down pat and miraculously are not running out of medication or eyeglasses. Martin and Marion were busy with 24 laser procedures today (according to Dr. Martin’s limerick report). These patients all leave with a laminated card explaining the details of their procedure in case they need follow up after we leave. Many of last year’s patients are constantly flowing through the eye clinic for reassessments and Dr. Mai, Dr. Josh and Dr. Pete are reporting great results of one year post laser surgery on these patients.

Our surgical program recorded 35 cases, 6 spinals and another fire. Ashley is down to one sterilizer but it has not dampened his energy or sense of humour. Special mention goes out today to our recovery team of Sue and Becky. They are responsible for the care of patients after their surgery. Becky is on the evening shift, administering medications and checking all the patients who stay over after their surgery. Sue, who I heard referred to as Mary Poppins of the program, takes the early shift and makes rounds on all the patients prior to breakfast to prepare them for discharge. These two kindhearted nurses have such long hours.

Believe it or not, our entire team (except Becky who was getting the post-op patients settled) were at the dinner table by 6:30 pm. Dr. Mensah gave an inspiring address to our group that I hope to say more about in the future. Apparently, Leslie was inquiring about NEA’s cashew and cocoa program and so David thought he would do a little show-and-tell session. He brought fruit from a cocoa tree and a cashew tree and explained them to us. NEA currently has 70 acres of cashews.

The quote that landed on the workstations of the 60 of us and all our volunteers at 3:00 pm really does reflect this day:

Each new day is a new beginning: To learn more about ourselves. To care more about others. To laugh more than we did. To accomplish more than we thought we could. And to be more than we were before. (Author Unknown)

This post is one in a series of Ghana Health Team 2018 Updates. You can subscribe to receive these updates by email.

Alexandria is one of our Ghanaian nurses who has worked with us for many years now. On Friday, she became sick and had to stay back on the compound to rest. Once she had recovered, she shared with me how overwhelmed she was by the way the NEA staff took care of her. While she was sick, plates of watermelon would be left outside her door and someone would check in on her every few hours bringing cold water, asking what they could do to help her. She told me, “I actually feel at home in this place.”

She expressed something that this 2018 Health Team is feeling as well. Not enough can be said for this NEA staff and the entire support team for their hospitality and commitment to the success of this program. Tonight’s blog is dedicated to them — the behind-the-scenes heroes that make our work possible.

The indoor kitchen staff that prepares food for our team starts at 3:00 am and ends at 9:00 pm every day. The quality, colour, flavour and creative presentations with which they prepare the meals is unbelievable. Tonight, we had peanut soup over rice balls, chicken and roast potatoes, salad garnished with fresh vegetables and tuna and fresh watermelon. On talent show night, the kitchen sent up a Ghanaian appetizer platter to contribute to the celebration. It was mini-skewers of chicken gizzards with fresh jalapeño pepper and onion. There is also an outdoor cooking team that prepares three traditional meals a day for all of the translators, volunteers, staff, compound kids and post-operative patients. It is a massive operation.

Every three days, each team member’s laundry is done for them. We send it out in a personalized black bag and it is returned to us at the end of the day. A large group of women from local villages make up this team. Once a week, our sheets and towels are laundered as well.

We never see the cleaning staff, but we arrive home every day to find our residences and washrooms absolutely spic and span. Tea, coffee, crackers and Laughing Cow cheese are set out for our enjoyment with a fridge full of water and pop.

The compound has never looked better in my opinion. The groundskeeping staff have created a place of true beauty, and the attention to detail in the landscaping and the maintenance of the property and buildings is breathtaking.

Our security staff are on duty 24 hours a day and a security team travels with us. We don’t notice their presence but we know they are there and as a result, we feel safe and completely at ease at all times.

We have an amazing team of NEA drivers. Manoeuvring three busses in convoy down bumpy, pothole-ridden village roads takes skill, and these drivers are the best. Despite the dust and the dirt, the buses are always spotless inside and out, and we have yet to have any mechanical problems.

Our translators wear blue shirts, and they are by our sides at all times while we work. We are lost without them.

The clinic volunteers are the heroes in the yellow shirts. Today’s team left at 3:00 am. When we arrived in Asantekwaa, the crowd was well organized and the entire clinic was already set up, ready for us to begin working. These volunteers also control the flow of patients through the stations, run prescriptions to pharmacy and assist with the taking down of the clinic and transporting it back to Carpenter at night.

The surgical volunteers are responsible to manage all transportation, housing, and feeding of the hernia patients during their two-day stay in Carpenter.

Finally, I would be remiss if I did not mention the pastoral team. This large, dedicated team has the important task of praying for us, for our patients, and for the mission as a whole. They pray constantly from the moment we leave our homes and will continue until a word is received that we have all returned safely to our loved ones.

I’ve shared with you what this NEA team does but what I have not done is communicated how each of these individuals discharges their duties with such kindness and love. This is what Alexandria was talking about . It is this love that they show us in such practical ways that makes this NEA compound in this remote area of this small African country a second home to so many of us.

PS: The entire team had a beyond busy day but we managed to all make it to the dining hall by 7:00 pm for dinner and team reports. We were off to bed early as we know what we are in store for tomorrow! Apparently a patient arrived from another country yesterday to get in line for our Wednesday clinic!

This post is one in a series of Ghana Health Team 2018 Updates. You can subscribe to receive these updates by email.

Two days of rest, relaxation and fun in the Ghanaian sun are great for the soul. We are so sorry to hear we are missing Canadian winter!

Saturday morning the team enjoyed a lovely sleep-in with the exception of the running club who were on the trails at 6:30 am. En route to breakfast we discovered the big NEA gazebo was full of African crafts, carvings, baskets, fabrics and clothing for our purchasing pleasure. This team clearly has a case of shopping withdrawal.

After breakfast David Mensah played the role of tour guide as team members walked around the vast NEA compound to witness the different sectors of development taking place. They received lessons in aquaculture, mushroom farming, shea butter production and animal husbandry to mention a few. How wonderful for our team to understand the context into which our health care delivery fits. The rest of the day was filled with napping, puzzling, yoga classes with Bex, book clubs, a tour of the village, a trip to a local market and some rehearsals for…

GHANA’S GOT TALENT!

We were all amazed by the creativity and variety of acts that took the stage for our 3rd annual talent show. As tradition dictates, the night was opened up by the simultaneous singing of the national anthems of our home countries Egypt, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Britain, Jamaica, Ghana, Canada, France, Germany and Senegal. The line up was fantastic. We enjoyed a game of Family Feud hosted by the eye team, poetry by Martha, stand-up comedy with Greg, a monologue about Francois’ new charity “Hoarders Without Boarders” (pronounced Hordairs Widout Boardairs), a nursing team skit entitled “Staying Alive” and a beautiful song called “Thank You My Friends” by Abraham. The physicians pulled off a coordinated hand-clapping skit which impressed! Dr. Dan brought his portable keyboard and expertly accompanied a number of parodies for Carlye and I, pharmacy and surgery. One of my favourite choruses belonged to the surgical team, sung to the tune of “Day Dream Believer:”

Cheer up knackered team
How hard can it be
To fix, 300 hernias
and we’re living the dream

One of my favourite moments of the night was when Dr. Carolyn, who was brilliantly playing the bachelorette in the “Dating Game,” asked Dr. Neil, Kyle and Francois (who were playing the bachelors) the final question of this hilarious skit. “If you could be a tooth … what tooth would you be?” After considering their answers, she wisely declined all three of them and decided to buy a cat. It is true that laughter is very good medicine.

Today was a wonderful day of rest. There are too many of us to fit into the local church so the surgical courtyard became our sanctuary. There was singing, drumming, dancing and joyous celebration for all God has done over this past week. Noah shared a moving testimony about a man with epilepsy who has received treatment from our team for a number of years. Prior to this, due to his regular convulsions, he was an outcast and banned from eating meat in his village. Now he is seizure-free, reintegrated into society, and invited to eat meat in the village.

David Mensah’s mother shared a testimony as well. Having lost her husband and her father due to hernia, she stood in the centre of the surgical centre that is preventing hundreds of deaths from hernia and thanked God for our team. It was quite a moment.

Dr. Martin McDowell led us in a medley of This Little Light of Mine and Give Me Oil in My Lamp and I must say we sounded beautiful. Pastor Rans preached a message about Queen Esther. He challenged us that we all have a purpose for which we were created but often we let fear stand in our way. Esther faced her fear, rose up and took action due to the imminent death of her tribe. Rans thanked God for our willingness rise up like Esther and act even though his people are not even our people. “Good works shall never be in vain,” he concluded.

Once the temperature dropped in the late afternoon, an NEA vs expat volleyball match was enjoyed by all. We lost by only one point in game one and then got creamed in games two and three. I think we are all such good friends now than NEA no longer feels they need to take it easy on us!

European football was next on the agenda. The local men’s football team arrived to take us on. We could tell by their warm up that we were in big, big trouble but thankfully NEA staff joined our team. Prior to the match, Dr. Rob presented them with brand new football jerseys which they promptly put on. It was an amazing match that ended in a tie even though we had 17 players and 17 subs to their 11 with no subs.

Next up was American football. Quarterbacks Dr. Martin, Greg, Dan and Dave gave a quick crash course to our friends and the game was on. It ended in a tie as well with big touchdowns being scored by our Dr. David Cressey and Dr. Kate.

It certainly has been a great weekend with some good ol’ fashioned fun. Speaking of old fashioned fun, I cannot conclude without sharing two Monopoly stories. Dr. Josh received some blog comments from home about a “Monopoly episode.” At the talent show, he was forced to stand up and give a monologue about the Monopoly incident of his youth. Turns out he was a rather mean banker, forcing his younger siblings to play for hours until he had all their money. Interestingly, Saturday morning I had a chance to present a Monopoly Board to the kids on the compound. Last year, some of the pre-teen boys on the compound asked my daughter Amelia if she could help them get a Monopoly board. We have no idea how they even heard about this game. With Brenda Mensah’s blessing, a deluxe Monopoly board was presented to Emmanuel, a 13 year old boy who is now the President of the NEA Monopoly Club. After reading the instructions, the boys played for 7 hours on Saturday and five hours today. I’m hoping they don’t invite Dr. Josh to play.

After we celebrated Debbie’s birthday at supper, our fun and games came to an end as all our supplies and medicines needed to be prepped and loaded onto the truck which will leave very early. Everyone went to bed early as we anticipate a full day in the village and in the theatres. We are rested, healthy and excited to finish strong as, over the next four days, we continue to serve each patient we meet with our whole hearts.

This post is one in a series of Ghana Health Team 2018 Updates. You can subscribe to receive these updates by email.

Every morning at 5:45 am, a group of us from Canada, UK and Ghana gather to pray for our mission and our teammates. While it is early for us, the NEA staff have already been up for hours making breakfast, packing lunches, washing buses, and organizing surgical patients. The logistics team leaves at 4:00 am to organize the crowds and set up the clinic prior to our arrival. Dr. Kyle’s translator Moses looked a little sleepy today at the dental station: he had stayed in Yaara all night to guard the building that contained our supplies and medications. The commitment of the NEA staff towards this health program is hard to describe in words. It truly is their program.

Breakfast was extra special as Abraham presented Dr. Magdi with his gift-wrapped personal luggage which finally arrived from London at 3:00 am. Katie and Bex almost missed their breakfast as they discovered the ostriches on a morning walk and could not pull themselves away from these magnificent creatures.

Off to Yaara we went, and despite our long journey the physicians were consulting at their desks by 9:15 am. I cannot say enough about my colleagues. We are used to practicing in quiet consultation rooms where we can concentrate, examine patients under good lighting, and use specialized equipment to help us arrive at the correct diagnosis and treat the problem. Here, Drs. Carlye, Charlie, Sue, Kate, Helen, Mary, Andy, Anne, Karen and I are working in the hottest, most noisy environment imaginable, gathering information through a translator, dealing with unfamiliar diseases, while always ready to respond to an emergency.

Our ability to diagnose and treat with excellence is only possible due to the support and clinical information we receive from our nursing colleagues in triage, weights and temps, diagnostics, the nursing station, and then from our team of pharmacists at the end of the line who so professionally dispense the medication needed along with the counselling required. Our Ghanaian health care providers are the most invaluable resource of all. Today, was an extremely well run clinic and we were on the road by 3:45, thanks to an outstanding team effort.

I took a few moments today to visit our eye clinic. I watched as every patient moved through Barb’s auto refraction station, Dan’s intraocular pressure check followed by a full eye exam and slit lamp by Dr. Pete, Dr. Mai, Dr. Josh or Dr. Martin. After this, Jane checked her database for the required prescription and finally, our Ghanaian volunteers pulled out a pair of donated eye glasses they required. In addition, hundreds of sunglasses and safety glasses are being dispensed. It is a truly amazing operation and I’m hoping my pictures will come through to you so you can see for yourself.

The laser clinic only ran for a half-day today, but rather than taking a well deserved afternoon off, Martin took a short cut to Yaara to help his team in the village, and Marion popped into the OR to see if help was needed. They next thing she knew, she was scrubbed in and assisting Magdi with a hernia repair. What a change of pace for Marion who, although a nurse by training, has worked faithfully on our eye team since 2007.

You know you are a great leader when your team can function without you. Dr. Rob, surgical team leader, joined us in Yaara and in his absence his team worked non-stop from 7:00 am to 7:00 pm, completing 35 procedures. They are now up to 180 in total and we thank God that there have been no complications. (Nothing blew up or caught fire either.)

What would a trip to Africa be without an insect story? Today, it is all about the ants. Poor Dr. Carlye set her backpack down on the grass and when she picked it up and slung it on her back, it became apparent that she had set it down on a fire ant hill. The back pack flew off and a group of translators rushed to her and began slapping her head to toe trying to knock off hundreds of little ants without much progress. Finally one of them said, ”Madame, you must take off your clothes!” which is the only way to properly deal with these type of ants in your pants. Thankfully, there was a latrine nearby for Carlye to duck into.

This evening, Kim and Dr. Mai went into their room to find a group of a larger ants having a party. There were thousands of them pouring from a hole in the wall and the floor was almost black. We considered blowing three whistles but Kyle our protector kicked into action with a broom and Birkenstock. I ran like a mad woman with arms flailing to find Soale, because that is what you do when you have a problem in Ghana. I frantically explained the situation to him. He paused (as he always does) and responded, “They say good luck comes to those with ants in their room.” Kim and Mai did not find that funny. He followed up with “This is very normal for us,” Well, it’s not normal for us, Soale! But the best response came when I asked him if these ants bite. Another pause. “Just a little, but it is not critical. Don’t worry, I will send for silicone.”

It has been quite a week indeed. According to Kim, over 2600 patients have received health care in Mo Land since our arrival. The only appropriate way I can find to sum up this week is to tell you about a Fulani boy who came to see me today. The Fulani tribe are nomadic tribe and typically their children are uneducated. I was seeing a Fulani family at my station and one of the boys was standing right beside my chair. His mom, the translator and I were reviewing the children’s histories when this boy started to speak in a loud, strong voice for about 30 seconds. He would stop speaking, looked at me, looked at Dr. Mary sitting at the other end of my table, and repeat this 30 second speech. He did this three times. Curious, I asked my translator to find out what he kept repeating. The translation I received from this 6 year old boy was, “You have such kind hearts. Had it not been for your help, most of us would die.”

I want to thank God for making what happened this week possible and for watching over NEA, our team and our patients. I want to thank each and every one of our families, our friends, our donors and our supporters for your role making it possible for us to be here for this time. Thank you for your prayers, your good wishes and your encouraging comments that are read to us every evening and make us laugh and make us cry.

As they say in the UK, we are knackered. Tomorrow is a day of leisure and we could not be more ready. Tours of the NEA compound and Carpenter village, a trip to market, book clubs, and the third annual Ghana’s Got Talent show are planned. On Sunday, we will go to church and in the afternoon, Ghana will take on a Canada/Europe for a very competitive volleyball and football game. The outcome will not be hard to predict.

Signing off until Monday …

This post is one in a series of Ghana Health Team 2018 Updates. You can subscribe to receive these updates by email.

Today was paediatric day in our surgical theatres. Our Ghanaian anaesthetist Eric suggested we consider giving the children a touch of sedation before bringing them in for their anaesthesia so that they would be less scared of our white faces. Dr. Karen, who does a lot of paediatric anaesthesiology at home, took charge and the team made arrangements for all the kids to receive a brand new football along with small drink of Fanta laced with an oral sedative prior to being wheeled into the theatre. Let’s just say that a very happy group of kids came in and out of their surgeries without any complications and barely a cry or whine was heard.

Our anaesthetic nurse Debbie has been just brilliant. We are thankful that these kids not only had their hernias repaired but they and their families had a very positive health care experience overall.

The only complication of the day involved a sterilizer which sort of caught on fire. Apparently Dr. Dan didn’t blink an eye and just kept operating whilst singing his jazz tunes. Thankfully the fire put itself out and no harm was done (except for the sterilizer).

Miraculously, one of the NEA staff remembered there was another sterilizer on the compound. Before they knew it, a four foot tall industrial sized autoclave suddenly appeared and was in working order. We have no idea where it came from but Ashley and Sara can now sterilize the entire team’s instruments in one batch, saving hours of work.

The medical team was on the road at 0630 for the long and bumpy ride to the remote village of Yaara. Stepping off the bus in Yaara is always one of my favourite moments of the mission and this year was just as special as ever. The drums were beating, the women were dancing in a circle and David’s brother Chief Joseph, the Queen Mother, elders, and women leaders were all ready to greet us. Many of us joined the circle and tried without much success to find the beat of the drums. The village presented our team with yams, bananas, oranges, papaya, watermelon and Jessica received her own yams and a chicken.

Abraham tried his best to keep the welcome festivities and speeches short so that we could go straight to work as the crowd was enormous. What amazed me about today is how our team is just so committed to providing the most thorough and compassionate care to each and every patient they come in contact with despite the hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of other people who are waiting.

There are many amazing stories that could be told about this day but there is only one that I will share tonight.

Word was received that a very ill young woman in the village was too weak to get to us. Our paramedic Greg made a house call to the far corner of the village and when it became apparent that she needed immediate care, a taxi picked her up, drove right through our crowds to the door of our nursing station. Our doctor of the day was Dr. Andy and he was faced with a difficult and heartbreaking situation. It is cases like this that, quite frankly, cause an anger to rise up within me. A situation like this would never happen in Canada or the UK and it is unacceptable that a young mother in a village in Yaara is not given the same opportunity for health and life that we have. If the doors to NEA’s hospital were open today, I have no doubt that this situation would have looked very different for this woman and her three young children. Those of us who came in contact with her today will not soon erase this injustice from our minds.

Every afternoon around 3:00pm each team member, volunteer and translator on the medical, surgical, dental and eye team are handed a quote. This Franciscan Blessing was handed to us yesterday:

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 poverty, injustice, oppression and exploitation of people, so that you may wish for health justice, freedom and peace. May God bless you with enough foolishness to believe that you can make a difference in the world.

Amen.

This post is one in a series of Ghana Health Team 2018 Updates. You can subscribe to receive these updates by email.