Team Updates

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.

Tuesday started very early for a few of our team members. Around 2:00 a.m a patient who had a tooth extracted the previous day showed up at the NEA compound concerned that the bleeding had not completely stopped. In now typical caring fashion members of the dental team and several others got up to help and got the problem resolved. It was around 3:30 however by the time everyone involved got back to bed but the roosters would have nothing of it and started crowing especially early this morning. Regardless, everyone was ready to start work early despite their short night.

This morning our traveling medical clinic was due to set up at a school within walking distance from the NEA compound for its last two days. The two big trucks carrying all the team supplies and set up equipment were loaded when word came back from the team leaders that due to several unforeseen issues plans had to be changed and that the best available option was to hold this usually very large clinic within the gates of the NEA compound itself. Within two hours the setup was complete and patients were being seen.

Even the large grain warehouse was conscripted into special service for the occasion. After a bit of rearranging and sweeping, the eye team, always looking for darkened spaces to do their work moved in and eagerly shared their new home with hundreds of jute bags filled with peanuts.

As you can perceive we never know what each new day will bring. It mentions in the bible that man makes plans but each step is ordained by the Lord. Today was just one more example of that. Despite the change in plans we had another very successful day of helping many people in all areas. A number of people had to be told to return in the morning as the end of the day approached. No doubt tomorrow will be another big day

At dinner this evening there was talk of people mustering the second, and in some cases their third wind for tomorrow, our last day of clinic. Everyone is healthy and keen to finish well what they came to Ghana to do.

This morning began with a big group laugh as our dentist Dr Kyle reminded us to ask our patients if they are having dental pain. Dental pain is translated “CaCa”. Speaking of Dr. Kyle … he and Amanda are very busy and face many difficult extractions each day. They are doing a fantastic job!

Today was the biggest clinic we have ever had. We were too tired to count our charts. The rains continue to hold off which allowed us to work a long 13 hour day with one quick lunch break. We were faced with some very, very challenging cases and it took a huge team effort to make our way through the crowd one person at a time. Dr. Carol and I spent about 2 hours running what I like to call a “rapid assessment gynecology clinic”. I had a moment where I had to stop and collect myself when I recognized, once again, the reality that the majority of these women had lost one if not more of their children. Their pain was palpable and I found myself trying to imagine life without one or two or three of my children. Most of these kids died of the very things we are treating: diarrhea, malaria and pneumonia.

The surgical team continues to do amazing work despite receiving disappointing news that 2 surgeons due to arrive today for 5 days have been delayed by 48 hours. They are determined to help as many as humanly possible and are making lists and plans for 2011. I think they are up to 120 procedures.

Tomorrow we need to dig deep. We are all physically and mentally weary and we are expecting a huge crowd. David tells us that our fame is spreading so far that people from the Ivory Coast arrived to Carpenter already to wait for our clinic. Oh my. Please pray for strength for each team member and that our supply of drugs will be enough for what sounds like more people than we anticipated. The miracle of the loaves and the fishes would be very timely right now!

We were challenged by Pastor Jacob at church yesterday to consider our life and, in all things, love one another and push ourselves beyond what makes us happy. As I watch this group of people work I recognize that they are doing just that. They are caring for the sick, relieving suffering, and giving sight to the blind in the midst of sweat, tears, diarrhea, and insect bites, and missing their families. They have gone way beyond personal happiness. This mission has been a powerful demonstration of love on so many levels.

Jumboga.

Jennifer

When God in his infinite wisdom proclaimed the seventh day as a day of rest He certainly foresaw the needs of our dedicated medical team today. After six long grueling days in the villages and on the roads to get to and from them it was time to turn off the adrenalin and just allow our bodies and minds to be tired and to rest.

After a later breakfast this morning the vehicles loaded for the short drive to the Bamboi church for Sunday service. Words simply can’t do justice to the time of praise, worship and testimonies at a good African church. Simple uninhibited praise and jubilation expressed in joyful song and dance is so natural here that most of our team willingly joined in with the congregation. Somehow two and a half hours went by very quickly. The rest of the day afforded plenty of time for naps, chats or just plain vegging and for the few of our unwell soldiers to get back to full strength.

Having been in the trenches with this awesome group of people this past week I can only say to all who are reading this, whether children, spouses, relatives, friends or supporters of those here, that you can be very proud of what they are accomplishing. It is truly making a difference in this faraway part of world.