Each day while in Ghana, Mai recorded her experiences in her journal. Here they are for everyone to read and share.
Day 1: July 8
Today we spent all day flying. I said bye to my parents at security, then went through and found my gate. I had to check five suitcases with donations which was hectic! Because I was traveling with a large group of people I had never met before, I was really intimidated, but everyone was so sweet. There were 19 of us flying together. Our flight was delayed for a total of 3.5 hours so by the time we took off we were all so antsy, but we then had a 10 hour flight ahead of us. The plane ride felt like an eternity because all I could think about was what laid ahead of me in Ghana. Right when we landed, we went through customs and waited in line for over an hour. Once I finally reached the booth, I was told that I filled out the customs form wrong along with at least 6 from our group, so we all had to redo them. After we finally got through customs we went to claim our bags, and I struggled to grab all 5 of my bags, but everyone was nice enough to help me after I explained that they were donations, and not just extra outfits for the trip. With all five suitcases in hand, we piled into a van for a three hour car ride from Accra to Cape Coast. We finally arrived at our host family's house. The woman we are staying with is named Veronica, and she is very kind and welcoming. She lives in the house with her brother and his family including two young children, multiple chicken, a dog, and two cats. For dinner we had spaghetti and hardboiled eggs and then hung our mosquito nets and got ready for bed. The only other volunteer to get here yet other than me in our house is a girl named Ida from Canada. She is one of the sweetest people I have ever met. I am absolutely exhausted, but equally as excited!
Today we spent all day flying. I said bye to my parents at security, then went through and found my gate. I had to check five suitcases with donations which was hectic! Because I was traveling with a large group of people I had never met before, I was really intimidated, but everyone was so sweet. There were 19 of us flying together. Our flight was delayed for a total of 3.5 hours so by the time we took off we were all so antsy, but we then had a 10 hour flight ahead of us. The plane ride felt like an eternity because all I could think about was what laid ahead of me in Ghana. Right when we landed, we went through customs and waited in line for over an hour. Once I finally reached the booth, I was told that I filled out the customs form wrong along with at least 6 from our group, so we all had to redo them. After we finally got through customs we went to claim our bags, and I struggled to grab all 5 of my bags, but everyone was nice enough to help me after I explained that they were donations, and not just extra outfits for the trip. With all five suitcases in hand, we piled into a van for a three hour car ride from Accra to Cape Coast. We finally arrived at our host family's house. The woman we are staying with is named Veronica, and she is very kind and welcoming. She lives in the house with her brother and his family including two young children, multiple chicken, a dog, and two cats. For dinner we had spaghetti and hardboiled eggs and then hung our mosquito nets and got ready for bed. The only other volunteer to get here yet other than me in our house is a girl named Ida from Canada. She is one of the sweetest people I have ever met. I am absolutely exhausted, but equally as excited!
Day 2: July 9
This morning I woke up at 2 a.m. and didn't go back to sleep because I was SO hot! I felt like I couldn't escape my mosquito net and I was sweating like crazy. I had a short moment wondering what I had gotten myself into. For breakfast we had bread and tea again. We then went to church with Eric, our project manager, because it is Sunday. The volunteers from the other houses joined us. The entire service was all singing and dancing, which was amazing and a complete blast! The church even had a live band. One of the girls got sick in the middle of the service, and had to go back to her house. Then we all went home and ate Red Red for lunch, Red Red is a Ghanaian dish that consists of fried plantains and bean stew. I loved it! Another girl arrived at our house. Her name is Aubrey and she is from New York. After meeting Aubrey and giving her a quick crash course of all of the advice we had so far, we all went to a beach named The Breeze. The waves looked really mean, and were brown. After relaxing at the beach we went back to our house and there was a boy who had arrived. His name is Nat and he is from London. He is really nice as well, and the four of us talked forever! We then ate dinner, which consisted of rice and chicken. I showered for the first time since I arrived, and I think I was more dirty after the shower. The water literally dripped out of the faucet and it took two showers to even get somewhat clean. The first thing I am going to do when I get home is take a nice, long shower for sure. I already love it in Ghana, though, and I can't wait for tomorrow to see the hospital!
This morning I woke up at 2 a.m. and didn't go back to sleep because I was SO hot! I felt like I couldn't escape my mosquito net and I was sweating like crazy. I had a short moment wondering what I had gotten myself into. For breakfast we had bread and tea again. We then went to church with Eric, our project manager, because it is Sunday. The volunteers from the other houses joined us. The entire service was all singing and dancing, which was amazing and a complete blast! The church even had a live band. One of the girls got sick in the middle of the service, and had to go back to her house. Then we all went home and ate Red Red for lunch, Red Red is a Ghanaian dish that consists of fried plantains and bean stew. I loved it! Another girl arrived at our house. Her name is Aubrey and she is from New York. After meeting Aubrey and giving her a quick crash course of all of the advice we had so far, we all went to a beach named The Breeze. The waves looked really mean, and were brown. After relaxing at the beach we went back to our house and there was a boy who had arrived. His name is Nat and he is from London. He is really nice as well, and the four of us talked forever! We then ate dinner, which consisted of rice and chicken. I showered for the first time since I arrived, and I think I was more dirty after the shower. The water literally dripped out of the faucet and it took two showers to even get somewhat clean. The first thing I am going to do when I get home is take a nice, long shower for sure. I already love it in Ghana, though, and I can't wait for tomorrow to see the hospital!
Day 3: July 10
Today we toured the Cape Coast teaching hospital and saw all of the different wards. There was a 14 year old girl in one of them who was pregnant and still wearing her school uniform. I really liked the pediatrics ward and the ICU ward. The hospital was really poor and nothing is online there, like it is in America. There was no air conditioning and not even the MRI machine was working. There were also extremely long lines everywhere inside the hospital, and not enough people or space to help them. Males and females are completely separated into different wards for privacy here. It seemed like most of what the hospital had was from donations. The women who were in labor and giving birth didn't have even the option of pain medication. If I could name one thing in Ghana that is most different from home, it would easily be the hospital. After touring the hospital we went back to the office for a four hour seminar on Malaria and Cholera. The workshop was painfully long, but I think that's because I am still getting into the routine of each and every day. Two more girls joined our house today. One of them in named Nana, and she is from Ghana, but lives in Lindon. The other girl is named Allie and she is from San Francisco. Tomorrow is when the real work starts.
Today we toured the Cape Coast teaching hospital and saw all of the different wards. There was a 14 year old girl in one of them who was pregnant and still wearing her school uniform. I really liked the pediatrics ward and the ICU ward. The hospital was really poor and nothing is online there, like it is in America. There was no air conditioning and not even the MRI machine was working. There were also extremely long lines everywhere inside the hospital, and not enough people or space to help them. Males and females are completely separated into different wards for privacy here. It seemed like most of what the hospital had was from donations. The women who were in labor and giving birth didn't have even the option of pain medication. If I could name one thing in Ghana that is most different from home, it would easily be the hospital. After touring the hospital we went back to the office for a four hour seminar on Malaria and Cholera. The workshop was painfully long, but I think that's because I am still getting into the routine of each and every day. Two more girls joined our house today. One of them in named Nana, and she is from Ghana, but lives in Lindon. The other girl is named Allie and she is from San Francisco. Tomorrow is when the real work starts.
Day 4: July 11
We had something for breakfast other than bread! We had crepes!! We then went to a school and taught a lesson on Malaria and Cholera. It was really intimidating because there were so many children, and they barely spoke any English, so we had to act out most of our lesson. After teaching, we went across the school and were greeted by a bunch of little boys running around with machetes. They used them to cut open coconuts. We then checked the children at the school for untreated and infected wounds and cleaned and bandaged them. The children we were helping were in first and second grade. We also checked their temperatures to catch early signs of malaria. Lots of the children also had ringworm which we treated with an anti fungal as well. After we were done helping the kids, we sang and danced with them, and they were all so sweet. Some of them asked for money and tried to take my watch, so tomorrow I will make sure not to wear any jewelry at all. One of the little boys who was about 12 followed Aubrey and I around a lot and grabbed both of our bums which really freaked us out. We then went back to the house, ate lunch, relaxed, and went to the office for yet another painfully long medical workshop. We learned how to take blood pressured test for Hepatitis B and Malaria. We then went home and our toilet unexpectedly started exploding water!! It was one of the funniest moments of my life. We were all cracking up and the water was hitting the ceiling. If only the water pressure was that good in the shower. Eric, our project manager, helped us fix it and then we all had a nice talk with him. Eric called us his heroes fir coming to his country on our own to help his people and it was really sweet. We had yam and tomato sauce for dinner. Pique, the little boy who lives in the house with our host family, stole my toothbrush and he spilled all of Nat's shampoo! Pique's sister, Nana, came into the bathroom in the middle of my shower and I had to sprint out of the shower to close the door! Another hilarious memory that will stay with me forever. The kids are crazy but adorable and a ton of fun. I am loving everything about Ghana.
We had something for breakfast other than bread! We had crepes!! We then went to a school and taught a lesson on Malaria and Cholera. It was really intimidating because there were so many children, and they barely spoke any English, so we had to act out most of our lesson. After teaching, we went across the school and were greeted by a bunch of little boys running around with machetes. They used them to cut open coconuts. We then checked the children at the school for untreated and infected wounds and cleaned and bandaged them. The children we were helping were in first and second grade. We also checked their temperatures to catch early signs of malaria. Lots of the children also had ringworm which we treated with an anti fungal as well. After we were done helping the kids, we sang and danced with them, and they were all so sweet. Some of them asked for money and tried to take my watch, so tomorrow I will make sure not to wear any jewelry at all. One of the little boys who was about 12 followed Aubrey and I around a lot and grabbed both of our bums which really freaked us out. We then went back to the house, ate lunch, relaxed, and went to the office for yet another painfully long medical workshop. We learned how to take blood pressured test for Hepatitis B and Malaria. We then went home and our toilet unexpectedly started exploding water!! It was one of the funniest moments of my life. We were all cracking up and the water was hitting the ceiling. If only the water pressure was that good in the shower. Eric, our project manager, helped us fix it and then we all had a nice talk with him. Eric called us his heroes fir coming to his country on our own to help his people and it was really sweet. We had yam and tomato sauce for dinner. Pique, the little boy who lives in the house with our host family, stole my toothbrush and he spilled all of Nat's shampoo! Pique's sister, Nana, came into the bathroom in the middle of my shower and I had to sprint out of the shower to close the door! Another hilarious memory that will stay with me forever. The kids are crazy but adorable and a ton of fun. I am loving everything about Ghana.
Day 5: July 13
Today we had bread...again. We then went to the leprosy camp and had to dress the wounds of the cured people who once had leprosy. Some of them were so deep that it was hard for me to handle at first. One man was missing almost all of the flesh in the front of his shin and another man's wound was so deep that Nat's whole finger could fit. I enjoyed the experience as much as it equally grossed me out initially. We then went to another leprosy camp that was much more well funded and dressed some amputee wounds. We at lunch at our homestay, then did a community outreach. We went to Maggie's village that she lives in and had a free clinic. I checked blood pressure and we did hundreds of Hepatitis B tests and blood group tests, which eventually got extremely tedious. I really enjoyed the experience because it was really interesting and I was directly helping the people. One woman was positive for Hep B and the look on her friend's face when we explained it broke my heart. I also tested all of this on babies and small children, which was very hard because they cry so much. Even some of the grown women were so scared that they were shaking and screaming. I enjoyed this experience so much and I am now sure healthcare is what I am meant to do. We had a movie night and it wasn't fun at all. Another interesting thing that happened is that I saw pink chickens at the leprosy camp. One more interesting thing I learned today is that here in Ghana, they burn their trash, including the plastic, which has a distinct smell. When we first got here I thought it was incense but now I know it is definitely trash. The last interesting thing that happened today is that one man that we were helping at the clinic called me his wife. Nat and I found it pretty funny. The donations also got picked up today in their suitcases to be distributed!!!!!!!!!!
Day 6: July 14
Today we woke up and ate eggs for breakfast! We then went to the Cape Coast teaching hospital to shadow doctors in the wards. I was in the pediatrics ward. Nat was in the pediatrics ward with me so we toured around together and got to feel the heartbeat of a premature baby. We saw a whole room of babies that were sick, and a large majority of them had jaundice. I then took the vitals of some of the children with a medical student from Ghana. One of the babies started screaming when I walked up to her, and I later found out that she was terrified of white people. After checking all of the vitals, there wasn't much to do in the ward, and I just walked around and explored the ward. I am pretty sure the medical student I was shadowing was hitting on me! I then got to go into the NICU and oh my gosh! The babies were tiny! You could literally see the organs of some of the babies through their stomachs. We then ate lunch and went back to work, but we weren't needed anywhere so Nana, Aubrey, Nat and I sat and hung out. We later went back to the house and I took a nice long nap before we headed out for dinner at the beach. Aubrey ordered my dinner for me, and it was shrimp and squid pasta-not a favorite! Everyone here is so kind at heart and I really love it. Sadly, I caught a cold which is really annoying but I am sure I will be better soon.
Today we woke up and ate eggs for breakfast! We then went to the Cape Coast teaching hospital to shadow doctors in the wards. I was in the pediatrics ward. Nat was in the pediatrics ward with me so we toured around together and got to feel the heartbeat of a premature baby. We saw a whole room of babies that were sick, and a large majority of them had jaundice. I then took the vitals of some of the children with a medical student from Ghana. One of the babies started screaming when I walked up to her, and I later found out that she was terrified of white people. After checking all of the vitals, there wasn't much to do in the ward, and I just walked around and explored the ward. I am pretty sure the medical student I was shadowing was hitting on me! I then got to go into the NICU and oh my gosh! The babies were tiny! You could literally see the organs of some of the babies through their stomachs. We then ate lunch and went back to work, but we weren't needed anywhere so Nana, Aubrey, Nat and I sat and hung out. We later went back to the house and I took a nice long nap before we headed out for dinner at the beach. Aubrey ordered my dinner for me, and it was shrimp and squid pasta-not a favorite! Everyone here is so kind at heart and I really love it. Sadly, I caught a cold which is really annoying but I am sure I will be better soon.