ghana day 10

Post by Ann Marie

Mai said today was a really busy day for them.  They started early since they planned to visit as many community outreach locations as they possibly could but they only ended up visiting one.  She said that she tested and treated about 100 people at just this one location.

Mai said that they were testing the locals for blood type, malaria, cholera and hepatitis B.  I finally remembered to ask if she has ever come across someone that tested positive for any of these things and she responded with a resounding YES!   Good to  know all those vaccines are paying off  : |  

Mai said that there were quite a few people with hepatitis B at this particular location.  I asked her  whether she is able to use lancet device that makes it fast and less painful or does she just go for it with a plain lancet.  Plain lancet it is!  She sounded like she is definitely past the whole needle thing and poking people after doing so many of these.   Mai joked, "we are practically doctors here, it's Ghana."

Today was so busy that they had to eat their lunch in the car which must have been a real treat considering the daily diet they have been enduring.  Mai said for breakfast they eat a piece of bread, lunch is pasta, potatoes or yams with a little bit of tomato'ish sauce and dinner is rice with the same tomato'ish sauce.  keep in mind the tomato'ish sauce is coming from a can.  She is pretty sure they have been eating the original batch that was made the first day they arrived.  Considering our diet at home is mostly vegetables, fruit, fish and meat she is longing for a good meal.  She said it is no wonder she got sick and the locals aren't so healthy.

Mai said that when she first arrived in Ghana she really realized how poor of a country it was.  She certainly had a good idea ahead of time but when you see it first hand it affects your differently.  She said that the house she is staying in is like a hut of sorts since you are mostly outside but there is a roof.  Now that she has visited the poorest areas she said that the house that she is staying in is about as nice as it gets.

When we were getting off the phone Mai and her roommates were going to sit on the roof.  Yeah, didn't need to hear that part since I am not so sure how sturdy the roof is.  I asked "why" and she said because you can see the stars better up there since it is so dark without city lights.  I reminded her that if she breaks a leg falling from they roof it may be one of her roommates that is posing as the "doctor" to fix it.  That didn't deter her....they went to the roof.

Tomorrow they are scheduled to go back to the hospital but she doesn't get to interact as much as she would like to with the patients there.  Mai returns to the Anakaful Leprosy Camp on Thursday and that seems to be the place that feel like they get to accomplish helping people the most.  

Good to know that Mai, and the Hearts for Hearts Foundation, are helping people that really need it.  It sounds like a very rewarding experience.