July 8, 2010

Much happened today at the hospital.  I found out the child with the severe fever I had been observing for the past couple of days had died shortly after I left the previous day.  I am sad for the child and his mother, but do not feel a strong loss, likely because I could not communicate to any significant degree with him, as we did not speak the same language.

I was able to observe my first ever surgeries, which were very interesting.  Some surgeons from other parts of Africa were here visiting as part of a program showing young med students from Florida state university around African hospitals.   I was allowed to scrub and watch from the corner of the operating room.  The surgeons were performing a partial hysterectomy (uterus, but not cervix removal) and uterine myectomy (removal of fibrous growths). 

I was very surprised how rough the surgeons were with the patients bodies. I was also surprised how large the fibrous growths were (about the size of a football!).

Additionally, I was astounded how nimble the surgeon’s fingers were and how focused the surgeon remained for the 1.5 hour surgery.  To be a successful surgeon seems to require complete immersion of oneself in the task at hand.

The surgery was a bit different then I imagine most surgeries in Canadian hospitals would be.  During the hysterectomy a persistent fly kept buzzing around the open surgical site, which the main surgeon wasn’t too impressed by.  Many of the surgical assistants also wore sandals, which I found surprising as sharp tools could be dropped on the open foot. It was also unbearably hot in the surgical room, which I imagine would make the work of the surgeon all that more difficult.    All I can say is, TIA (This Is Africa).

After the hospital, I started my first day at the BCL After-school program.  I had no lesson plan because Kojo did not drop off the kids work book, so instead I played a game to learn the kid’s names.  The game was a modified version of “duck-duck-goose”, in which we said each other’s names instead of “duck”.  As prizes I gave out pencils with Canadian flags on them, which the kids seemed really excited to receive. 

After the game, I started teaching some English from the kids work-book, which had now been found.  The work book was a 1993 English grammar from the US, which had been previously donated. We started from where the kids had left off.  As a first impression, the kids spoke English fairly well (approximately grade 4 level in Canada), but their reading and writing skills were a bit weaker (perhaps about grade 2 in Canada).  I really enjoyed the teaching experience and am looking forward to future classes.  

I learned that the kids attend day-school in the morning from about 8:30 A.M. – 3:00 P.M., then come to BCL afterwards, which just goes to show how highly motivated the kids are to learn.

Back at the house, the house cook, Fati, had prepared dinner, which was rice, vegetables, and goat meat.  Fati, is a local Ghanaian woman about 26 years old.  She has an odd sense of humour.  For example, she finds it hilarious anytime (which is often) that I almost set myself on fire while lighting the stove top. 

At the Abusua house, we are provided with breakfast and dinner.  For breakfast Fati cooks a rotation between oatmeal, French toast, crepes, and, on special occasions, omelettes.   Dinner is usually rice with some sort of sauce and, if lucky, some meat (chicken, goat or beef intestine) and vegetables.   Volunteers get their own lunch. 

Fati’s meals are tasty, but the portions are always very small.  If still hungry, peanut butter and jam is provided for sandwiches.  Luckily, I really like PB and J sandwiches.