After making sure that Larbi got on a bus back to Accra, I spent an evening in Wa meeting with the Medical Director of a potential partner hospital. The hotel where I stay doubles as a conference center for local government and healthcare workshops, so I spend a fun night chatting with an Information Officer, doctor, and District Chief Executive who I had worked with in neighboring towns, and a current medical student from University of Michigan spending her summer doing research in Ghana…all who were passing through Wa for a variety of workshops…what a small, small world!
Overlooking Kumasi's Main Tro-Tro Station
The following morning, I took a bus down to Kumasi, which was an interesting experience considering they had run out of seats and I sat with other late-comers on plastic stools in the isle. The stools were surprising comfortable, and only really became an issue when someone in the back of the bus had to pee, which involved a bit of creativity and some gymnastics maneuvers. In Kumasi, I stayed with my wonderful host family and took a week off from MedPLUS work while I waited for the Ministry of Health official who I needed to meet with to return from a conference in Washington D.C.. I visited the orphanage where I volunteered during my first summer in Kumasi, helped other volunteers to plant trees, shadowed at KNUST (a local hospital), visited some old friends, and showed Christy (a teacher from Baltimore) around the city.
Emma