Last Days in Wa

Before leaving Wa, I met up once again with the Director of Health Services for the Upper West Region…this time for drinks at my guesthouse, which also functions as a conference area and is a popular meeting spot for local health, development, and government officials. I have learned that while a 10 minute meeting in someone’s office can get the job done, it is the hours I spend “unofficially” chatting with health personnel where relationships are solidified. Aside from the benefit to MedPLUS, I feel so fortunate to have the opportunity to talk to such incredible people who are leaders in Ghana’s health sector! My conversation with Dr. Alexis was no exception. Dr. Alexis was a practicing physician for many years before moving into the public health arena and it was fascinating to hear about his experiences in Ghana and the many countries where he studied and consulted. Moving outside after the restaurant closed for the night, we chatted about our mutual experiences in Beijing, the ethics of life support in Ghana, and what it means to be a physician working with underserved populations. Hand down, one of the best conversations I have ever had!

The bus ride from Wa back down to Accra was another all-day marathon but we managed to miss the worst of traffic and make it to Accra after a quick (?) 12 hours. Although the idea of watching movies on the bus sounds like a nice way to pass the time, the reality of the situation—poorly acted Nigerian movies blasted at full volume, followed by a DVD containing a series of movies that should have been titled “films Steve Martin made but was rightly too embarrassed to show in the United States”—was less than enjoyable. As we reached the outskirts of Accra at just past 4am, it apparently became the appropriate time to switch from Steve Martin’s “excellent” portrayal of a Russian submarine captain and begin blasting rap videos ☺.

On a more serious note, the journey from northern to southern Ghana highlights just how diverse the Ghana is in terms of development (and development challenges).

Emma

Crossing Border Between Ghana and Burkina Faso

Roads Connecting Rural Communities in Northern Ghana

Transport Hub in Kumasi, Ghana's Second Largest City

Cholera Outbreak and Site Visit at Jirapa

On Monday, I did a site visit to the Jirapa District Hospital, also located a few hours from Wa. Although I had met Dr. Wodah, the Medical Director, several times before, he had recently transferred to the hospital in Jirapa and I had not yet had the opportunity to tour the facilities and meet other staff members.

Dr. Wodah Inserting IV in Pediatric Patient

Because health vehicles were occupied with a recent cholera outbreak (ok, I guess cholera is slightly more important than my personal comfort) I grabbed a ride into town (by waiting at the entrance to my hotel and waving down the first government pickup truck that passed) and took a tro-tro to Jirapa. I enjoyed touring the facilities and reviewing the request list of supplies and equipment that the Medical Director had previously prepared—we plan to send a container to Jirapa in the next few months.

Male Ward at Jirapa

Sterile Instruments in OR

However, the most interesting part of the day was accompanying the doctor to a briefing on the cholera outbreak that he gave to local health workers. There have been more than 500 cholera cases recently reported, and the day before I arrived in Jirapa, three cases had been admitted to the hospital there.

http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/artikel.php?ID=202966

From a public health perspective, the meeting was fascinating. The health workers had a variety of levels of training and knowledge about cholera and a big focus of the meeting was helping them understand when to refer patients to the hospital. The doctor also shared awareness messages that should be spread to the communities (proper disposal of feces, making sure food is hot, boiling drinking water, hand washing, etc) and led a discussion about ways to educate illiterate mothers on how to mix oral rehydration salts (cholera mortality is linked to dehydration) correctly. Dr. Wodah led the meeting with humor, an openness to dialogue, and an acute understanding of the specific challenges faced in his district—I cannot imagine anyone (top Infectious Disease experts included) who could have done a better job!

Emma

Nutrition Initiative in Lawra

The following morning, I traveled back to Lawra, this time in the company of Honorable Abu Samson, Lawra’s District Chief Executive (head of local government). I first met Abu when two friends and I dragged a few suitcases of medical supplies from our guesthouse, down a dirt road, and to the Lawra District Hospital in 2007.

First Meeting with Abu Samson in 2007

Since that time, Abu has moved from his role as Hospital Administrator to District Chief Executive, and is now planning his candidacy for the 2012 Parliament elections. As MedPLUS Connect grows, it is been a huge asset to have Abu’s continued support, advice, and growing expertise on rural health and development.

In addition to our primary focus on sending medical supplies and equipment, MedPLUS is always looking to partner with other organizations to improve healthcare delivery. Currently, we are being considered for a grant to fund the construction of a nutrition rehabilitation center in Lawra and will get a final decision in a few weeks. The center will provide in-patient feeding and treatment to malnourished children as well as nutrition counseling and educational services to mothers.

Farms During Rainy Season (Child Malnutrition is Big Problem in Dry Season)

This project has been under discussion with the Lawra community for the past several years, and it feels great to be making some real headway in getting started. With the contractor who does the majority of construction for local development initiatives, Abu and I traveled to nearby sites to check out the local construction styles/structures. I am awaiting an updated estimate and floor plan and have my fingers crossed that funding comes through!!

After finishing up “business” for the day, we headed back to “Water Village”—a local bar consisting of plastic tables and chairs scattered under the shade of trees—before catching a ride with some of Abu’s friends back to Wa.

Emma

Site Visit at Lawra - An Important Lesson Learned!

After a great morning at Nandom and a quick stop to fix a flat tire, I headed to the Lawra District Hospital, located a little less than two hours away.

Broken Bridge...Hope it Gets Fixed by Rainy Season!

Throughout most of this trip to Ghana, I have been thrilled at how far MedPLUS Connect has come in building key relationships and understanding the nuances of the Ghanaian system in which we operate. However, there are times—like my site visit to Lawra—that remind me of how far we still have to go. During the Carolina Challenge (a social entrepreneurship competition at UNC that provided start-up funds for MedPLUS) our “go to” example for irresponsible and unpractical medical donations was the story of walking into a rural hospital and seeing an infant incubator wrapped in plastic wrap in the corner while the hospital turned away patients because they didn’t have supplies as basic as gloves (or a way to even plug in the machine).

As part of the follow-up site visit to Lawra, I asked the storekeeper to walk me though the hospital wards so I could see the different pieces of equipment in use. At the maternity ward, I relived the infant incubator story, with the machine that we had shipped several months ago (wrapped in the anecdotal bubble wrap) sitting in obvious disuse.

Infant Incubator Still in Bubble Wrap

The storekeeper came with me to ask the nurses why the infant incubator was not being used (we learned that they didn’t have the training to operate it) and then we all went to speak with the Medical Director about why the training (which he was coordinating with a district health official) hadn’t yet happened. On one hand, things in Ghana just move more slowly than I am accustomed to in the U.S., and sometimes working in Ghana requires accepting this new pace. However, it goes against our mission and model to have life-saving equipment not being used...which led to a good discussion about the importance of facilitating immediate trainings, or working with us to transfer the equipment to another health facility that has the necessary training/resources.

Touring the rest of the wards, I was excited to observe many pieces of medical equipment being used to treat patients, donated computers and printers being used by hospital admin staff, and hundreds of boxes of basic consumables gone from the room where they had been stored after delivery.

Donated Computer & Printer Being Used in Records Room

However, my experience at Lawra reaffirms the importance of following up with site visits after shipments have been sent, and having the time and relationships to ask questions and get answers!

Emma

Site Visit at Nandom District Hospital

Once in Wa (the capital of Ghana’s Upper West Region), thanks to my previously explained dialing mistake, I quickly set up a meeting with the Regional Director of Health Services. After a chat in his office about MedPLUS Connect’s next shipment to the Nandom District Hospital, which is located in his region, he offered his personal car and driver for my day of site visits. In the morning, I traveled to the Nandom District Hospital to meet the new Medical Director who had been in Europe getting his MPH when I initially visited the hospital to tour the facilities and explain the MedPLUS model. As the sole doctor at Nandom (a 144 bed hospital), Dr. Robert performs every surgery, provides the ultimate consult on each patient, and attends every complicated childbirth no matter the time of day of night. Even more incredible, his duties extend beyond providing medical care to every aspect of the daily functioning of the hospital…from petitioning the MOH for funding for hospital construction down to signing each receipt for gas for hospital vehicles.

Patients Outside Nandom District Hospital

At various points throughout our meeting, Dr. Robert performed surgery on a child with a congenital intestinal defect (which I eagerly scrubbed in for and observed!), comforted several family members, performed a lumbar puncture to test for suspected meningitis (so cool!), and taught a nurse how to chart blood pressure…all with a huge smile and infectious enthusiasm.

Me and Dr. Robert and in Scrubs After Surgery

The Nandom District Hospital recently built a new maternity ward and the twelve beds and mattresses that are current en route to Ghana, along with the IV poles, bed side tables, and other supplies will be primarily used to fill the empty rooms.

Empty Maternity Ward at Nandom

I am so happy, that in our small part, MedPLUS Connect will help Dr. Robert in providing care for his patients. As I look forward to beginning medical school in August, Dr. Robert serves as yet another Ghanaian model for the type of doctor that I hope to become.

Bolgatanga to Wa - Across Northern Ghana

Last summer, I was admittedly nervous to travel to Bolgatanga, even though I was accompanied by my two fantastic colleagues, Brooke and Emily. Arriving at 4am in an unknown town in an unknown area of Ghana without a place to stay and only a few contact numbers is not exactly reassuring. However, as I left Bolga last week after spending five days in and around the town, I find myself moving with the ease and peace of mind that comes with familiarity. I have found a fantastic place to stay, made friends that I can count on for a fun evening or a ride at anytime of the day or night, and made huge strides in building a relationship between MedPLUS Connect and the healthcare system of the Upper East Region. Bolga is no longer just a dot on the map, painfully far from Accra, but like other places in northern Ghana, is now defined by the unhurried pace of life and the friendly people.

Out for Drinks in Bolgatanga

I have had so many interactions in Ghana that make me stop and remember that although the news is filled with stories of crime, corruption, and war, there is still so much good in the world and so many people who are defined by their generosity and selflessness. My travel experiences yesterday remind me of this fact. When I asked a someone working at my hotel what time the bus ran from Bolga to Wa (my next destination), another guest insisted on not only driving me to the bus station that evening to confirm that the bus would run the following day, but also waking up at 3:30am to drive me to catch the bus—incredible!

Once at the station, things progressed in typical fashion, with a two hour wait for the bus to arrive. Thirty seconds after the bus did arrive, everything suddenly transformed from random chaos to multiple orderly lines, everyone seeming to understand the unmarked start/end points, corresponding buses/destinations, and who was actually selling tickets…except for me. Noticing my obvious confusion, a fellow traveler offered to buy me a ticket and I handed over my money and trust—a few minutes later, he fought back through the crowd to hand me my ticket and change.

Road from Bolgatanga to Wa

Throughout the bumpy ride across the north of Ghana, he took it upon himself to make sure I was happy, offering to switch seats to block the dust flying through the windows, giving me a quick geography lesson, sprinting off the bus in pursuit of a passenger he thought has taken my bag (it was a different bag…and pretty hilarious to watch) and making sure I had found a taxi at our destination before heading on his way. Thank you, Richard!

Emma

MedPLUS in the News!

It's been a crazy (in a great way) past few days and I have found myself so busy with meetings and site visits that I haven't had time to blog about them.

Updates are coming soon, but in the meantime I want to share an article that was recently published about MedPLUS Connect in the University of North Carolina's newspaper, the Daily Tar Heel: http://www.dailytarheel.com/index.php/article/2011/02/unc_graduates_give_gift_to_ghana

Getting The Job Done in Tamale

After wrapping up meetings in the Upper East, it was time to move on to the Northern Region. My afternoon of meetings in Tamale (the capital of the Northern Region) was the perfect representation of how things get done in Ghana…

The recipient of our most recent shipment, the Walewale District Hospital, is located right within the border of Ghana’s Northern Region.

One of the District Hospitals in the Northern Region

When I was in Walewale for a follow-up site visit, the Medical Director of the hospital called his boss/colleague, the Deputy Director of Public Health to tell him to expect my call. Thanks to this introduction, and a government car/driver (roundtrip from Bolga to Tamale can be done in 4 hours in a private vehicle, but is a multiple-day excursion using public transport) I had a meeting set up within a day. Once in Tamale, I met with the Deputy Director, who then accompanied me to the office of the Regional Director of Health Services and initiated introductions…mission accomplished!

Now that this set of meetings have been completed, it’s time to wait for request lists, and then back to the more nitty-gritty details of drawing up documents for Ministry of Health to sign. Writing this reminds me of an awesome cartoon hanging in the office of the Regional Director of the Upper East—below a picture of a boy sitting on the toilet with toilet paper in his hand was the phrase “no job is finished until the paperwork is done.”

Emma

Planning Our First Regional Shipment

Ghana is divided into 10 regions (similar to U.S. states) with healthcare implementation led by regional ministries that oversee all hospitals in the region and report to the national Ministry of Health. Currently, MedPLUS Connect is focusing on providing shipments to Ghana’s three northern-most regions, the Upper West Region, Upper East Region, and Northern Region. These regions have higher poverty rates and less accessibility to medical supplies that their southern counterparts.

Map of Ghana's Regions

Our presence in the Upper West Region is strong, and one of my main goals for this trip is to build relationships in the Upper East Region and Northern Region. On Tuesday, I met with the Regional Director of Health Services for the Upper East Region, and worked with him to start developing a request list of supplies and equipment. In the next few months, we plan to send our first “regional” shipment of supplies, which will be divided among the one regional hospital and six district hospitals in the Upper East Region, according to need. Because two new wards have recently been built at one of the district hospitals, sending hospital beds and mattresses will be a priority!

Depending on Size, 30 to 40 Beds Fit in One Container

Although this shipment is on a regional scale, building relationships and accountability with individual hospitals and medical directors continues to be an important part of our model—we plan to conduct site visits and follow-up visits at each hospital. The huge advantage of working with regional officials is the resources, oversight, and strong connections to local/national officials that they can provide. A long-term goal is to bring five portable x-ray machines to the Upper East Region, one for each hospital that currently does not have an x-ray.

Meeting with Hospital with X-Ray to Discuss Their Safety Measures

The Regional Director will work closely with the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission to ensure that all safety standards are being met at each recipient hospital….again, providing an important service that MedPLUS has neither the knowledge nor resources to provide!

Emma

Hello? Hello?

In Ghana, the key to successfully traveling and networking is to get the cell numbers of everyone you meet along the way. In lieu of online schedules and contact info, calling the guy who sells bus tickets is the best way to get a question answered about a departure time, and saving taxi drivers’ number is the only way to coordinate a ride to catch that bus at 4:00am.

Getting a Ride to the Bus Station in a Friend's Ambulance (Photo from Several Years Ago)

However, I have run into a few problems with this strategy. The first is my archaic cell phone, which I bought in India in 2006 and has been my travel companion ever since…now reinforced with slips of paper and some tape to hold my sim card and battery in place. When I am saving names to my contact list, my phone only lets me enter about 10 characters. This wouldn’t be much of an issue if I didn’t need to save dozens of people, each sharing the name Kwame or Kofi…people are given a name based on the day of the week that they are born (Kofi Annan was born in Ghana on a Friday). My solution has been to save contacts descriptively, with “A-W Reg D UER” standing for “Dr. Awoonor-Williams, the Regional Director of Health Services for the Upper East Region” and “Alex Taxi Wa PM” as “the taxi driver who works in Wa and picked me my from the station late at night.”

Because my contact list has gotten fairly large, I mistakenly dialed the number for the wrong regional director of health services, an official who I had been given contact info for though a local hospital official, but had never actually met. Instead of the exchange being awkward, we had a nice conversation, shared a few jokes, and set up a time to meet in the coming week, after I traveled across Ghana to his region. Despite daily frustrations in dealing with communication barriers, experiences like this highlight how accessible the Ghanaian health and government system can be….it just takes a solid network of contacts, a little luck, and a decent cell phone ☺.

Emma

Site Visit at Walewale

Today was the kind of day that makes every minute spent totaliing financial information for tax forms, arguing with customs officials, and getting by on a small salary, 110% worth it!!

I traveled to the town of Walewale, home of the Walewale District Hospital, which was the most recent recipient of a MedPLUS Connect shipment.

Unloading of Walewale Shipment (Photo Taken by Dr. Abdulai)

Supplies Unloaded at Walewale (Photo Taken by Dr. Abdulai)

The Medical Director of the Walewale District Hospital is an incredible physician who has become a close friend and an important part of my decision to attend medical school.

Dr. Abdulai with Donated Bedside Tables

Although the shipment had arrived just two weeks earlier, all 28 hospital beds and mattresses had been transported to the various wards. In the children’s ward, beds now occupy a side corridor where patients previously had to lie on the ground during the rainy season when malaria is especially widespread. In the operating theatre, patients now have a bed to recovery on post-surgery.

Donated Bed Used for Post-op Recovery

It was many of the items that I would have passed over before starting to work in Ghana—filing cabinets, bedside tables, doctors stools—that the nurses excitedly pointed out as huge assets to the daily functioning of the hospital.

Nurse with Donated Filing Cabinet

Throughout the development of MedPLUS Connect, one of my personal fears has been that the medical supplies and equipment that we send ends up collecting dust in a storeroom. My experience with past shipments, and again with Walewale today, reaffirms that carts are being stocked with gloves and gauze, boxes of surgical drapes are open and ready in the operating theatre, and items that may be in excess of the hospital’s need are being cataloged and transported to community health centers in the surrounding villages.

Supplies & Equipment Being Inventoried

The hospital officials had already been in contact with the Ministry of Health and the local government about the receipt of the supplies and equipment—building a form of continuity and accountability that would be impossible to externally construct. When the doctor was called back to attend to a hernia surgery, I traveled with the hospital’s head administrator, accountant, and matron to meet with the District Chief Deputy and District Chief Executive (heads of local government) for lots of hand shaking, thank yous, photos, and discuss of future partnership.

Meeting with Local Health & Government Officials

Then, back to Bolgatanga to join in the Valentine’s Day festivities. Any excuse to party is seen as a good thing in Ghana ☺ !

Emma

I Heart Ghana

On Sunday, I woke up for long enough to make a few phone calls, learn that several of the hospital officials I needed to meet with had not yet returned to town, and fall back asleep for a few much-needed hours. I woke up to a long list of missed calls—nice to know how many people wanted to check and make sure the bus ride had gone ok!

Somehow, in my 4am stupor, I had managed to convey to a taxi driver the type of place where I wanted to stay, and “Sand Gardens Hotel” (a spot on description) has been my home for the past few nights. $8 per night isn’t bad for clean sheets, a fan, and a shared but functional shower and toilet!

Sunday afternoon was a perfect representation of what I love so much about Ghana. I met up with a friend of a friend, who spent his entire day giving me a tour of Bolgatanga from the back of his motorbike (don’t worry mom, I made him promise to drive slowly!). The sun was hot but the breeze was fantastic and the town was packed with people from Burkina Faso and neighboring villages traveling in for market day. My new friend, Gogo, of course seemed to know everyone, and I met his grandmother, chatted with several of his brothers, and despite the advice of his friends, lost round after round of a Mancala-like game played with dried seeds.

Market Day

Refreshed, I spent the late afternoon and evening catching up on blogs posts, working on documents for the upcoming shipments, and managing the never-ending stream of incoming MedPLUS Connect emails.

Emma

Onwards to Bolgatanga!

I woke up early on Saturday morning to catch a taxi to the bus station to travel from Accra to the northeastern town of Bolgatanga. To avoid the stop-and-go morning traffic, my taxi driver took several “shortcuts,” which involved passing through pedestrian walkways, driving across fields (who knew there were fields in Accra!?) and getting stuck amidst a herd of cows. You can buy just about anything through the window of a taxi—watermelon, toilet paper, a cell phone, some jeans—but I saw a guy taking street hawking to whole new level by weaving among cars and motorbikes, trying to sell the exercise bike he carried on his head…hands down the best workout anyone has every gotten from an exercise bike!

Selling Crackers on the Streets...A Balancing Act!

At the bus station, I waited for an hour for the driver to show up and another hour for the bus to actually arrive…although still managed to almost miss the bus because my bag was put in the wrong pile. The first few hours of the ride were typical—a blaring radio program, passengers playing music on their cell phones to block out the radio, other passengers yelling over the combined noise, the A/C breaking within 20 minutes of leaving the station, and a screaming fight with the driver over the broken A/C. During a few hours of relative silence (the radio was switched to cover a soccer game), I managed to get a bit of sweaty sleep…the kind where you jolt awake every 15 minutes sure that you are snoring and drooling ☺. The ride from Accra up through Kumasi (Ghana’s second largest city after the capital) was painfully slow—a trip that should take 2-3 hours was stretched to 7 hours because of construction, bumpy dirt road, and horrible traffic. We were moving so slowly that people selling hot dogs (I don’t even what to think what makes up a Ghanaian hot dog) and bananas could hop in and out of bus door as we crawled along. In have learned to zone out and settle into a place somewhere between daydream and actual sleep, helped along by putting my travel playlist on repeat…a combination of Jack Johnson and the Lion King on Broadway soundtrack.

Traffic on Road Through Kumasi (Nope, This is Not a Parking Lot)

After 18+ hours, we arrived in Bolgatanga sometime just past 4am. I crawled out of my seat and managed to fall over a full fledged banana tree that had appeared in the isle (we’re talking trunk, braches, hundreds of bananas) and the impressive collection of pineapples, bread and fish that the women sitting next to me had accumulated throughout the trip. At that point, I was beyond regretting the late night I had spent out with friends in Accra the night before, and SO ready for some actual sleep!

Emma

Ministry Meetings - Round Two

Bouncing back from a disappointing day at the Ministry of Finance, I spent a much more productive Friday at the Ministry of Health. I came well prepared for the meeting, with snacks, a full water bottle, and a good book, knowing that I would likely have to wait…and wait I did. After two trips to the Ministry offices and several phone calls with the Chief Director of the MOH, our main contact, schedules were sorted out and we were able to have a FANTASTIC meeting!

Nandom District Hospital, Site of Next Shipment

We reviewed the summary docs and full packing lists for the container of supplies that will be arriving in Ghana in early March, and discussed the items that would need to be shared among neighboring hospitals and health centers--there is a huge need for things like OR scissors, but a single hospital doesn’t need the hundreds that we shipped! I presented plans for our next few shipments, and the subsequent travel/meetings to make them a reality—everything looks good to go!

The Chief Director was enthusiastic about incorporating a "value-added" charge that will give us the funding to purchase items (or refurbish donated items) that will have a significant impact on the hospital’s ability to provide care. The #1 priority is securing/shipping refurbished portable x-ray machines, hopefully accompanied with lead vests and other items needed for safe use. One of our Board members has networked with a Ghanaian organization that trains physicians to use medical equipment—I see a great opportunity for partnership!

Despite all the successes of the meeting, the exemption process remains confusing and elusive…there is definitely a disconnect between decisions of top MOH officials and the realities of action (and delays/corruption) on the ground. I am beginning to view an exemption as a mythical creature that everyone has heard stories about but no one has actually seen with their own eyes ☺. We discussed the option of moving to door-to-port shipping (Cleveland, OH to Tema, Ghana) with Ghana Supply (the government clearing agent) taking care of clearing and the MOH, themselves, providing the in-country trucking. On one hand, I am hesitant about the loss of accountability that comes with handing over part of the transport process. On the other hand, it may be time for us to move toward working within the Ghanaian system…definitely lots of things for the Board of Directors to discuss this week!

Time for some jollof rice ☺

Emma

Ministry Meetings

With each shipment of medical supplies that we send, I can see MedPLUS growing by leaps and bounds in our ability to explain our model to partner hospitals, meet comfortably and professionally with the Ministry of Health, and deal with the states-side aspects of requesting medical supplies, purchasing transformers, etc, with fewer and fewer last minute crises. However, despite our strong relationship with the MOH and knowing more about the Ghanaian customs process that I ever thought possible (or desirable), we continue to struggle to get exemptions. For all of you that don’t spent your weekends reading up on international customs policies, an exemption is essentially a document that allows a container to pass though customs without paying an import duty.

Tema, Ghana's Main Port City

Because exemptions are ultimately processed by the Ministry of Finance (or the president!) I decided to attempt to cut out a step and meet directly with officials there. Not surprisingly, I was directed and redirected to the offices of different officials, before being told that the Ministry of Health had to first write a “letter” to the Ministry of Finance before anything could be processed. While I do see the importance of accountability between government bodies, I cannot express the frustration with how many times I have been told to get a letter, send a letter, write a letter, sign a letter…from different government officials on behalf of other gov bodies/hospitals/individuals…sigh!

Emma

Adventures of an African Shopping Mall

After experiencing serious withdrawal symptoms from being away from gmail for all of six waking hours, I decided to head out to the “Accra shopping mall”—a shockingly Western collection of overpriced stores and wealthy young people—to check out modem options. http://www.accramall.com/

I set out from the house to find a taxi but it felt great to stretch my legs so decided to walk part way there. After 30 minutes of walking, I was pouring with sweat and realized that failing to change out of the sweater that I wore on the plane, was not a smart idea. At this point, I was sure that the mall was just around the next corner, and I refused to be “that person”—the tourist wearing a sweater in 90+ degree heat, searching for Ghana’s only mall, and needing a taxi for a destination just 5 minutes down the road. So instead, I walked, and walked, and walked….and realized, true to form, I had managed to get lost walking from one place on a road to another place on that same road. Finally, I swallowed my pride, gave up and got a taxi…the mall was just around the next corner :).

I'm off to the north-eastern city of Bolgatanga tomorrow morning, so no more shopping mall adventures in my near future. Although I'm not looking forward to the 10+ hour bus ride, I'm ready to escape the traffic of Accra and visit the site of our most recent shipment!

Emma

Just Arrived in Ghana!

Yesterday, I took a 6am flight into Atlanta (which sounded like a much better plan when was I was booking the flight than when I was waking up at 3:30am) and was picked up from the airport by Lauren—a close friend and co-founder of MedPLUS. We spent the morning meeting with a nonprofit called MedShare (www.medshare.org), which was a great opportunity to discuss issues of expiration dates, placing a monetary value on supplies, dealing with customs, etc with a leader in the field of supply recovery. Then, on to an amazing lunch at Flying Biscuit (check it out if you are ever in Atlanta!) and back to the airport to wait for my evening flight. Aside from a patch of heavy turbulence, which elicited a few screams from nervous passengers, my flight to Ghana was easy and I managed a grab a few hours of sleep.

Busy Streets in Accra (This is the location of the Ghana episode on the Amazing Race!!)

I arrived in Accra to a shock of thick hot air, the burnt red dust of Ghana’s dry season, and lots of welcomes …“Akwaaba!” After passing through customs and immigration (which consisted of smiling at officials as they waved me though), I employed my most successful strategy for navigating in Ghana…calling someone who knows where things are, handing the phone over to the taxi driver, and sitting back to enjoy the ride. Thirty minutes, and a few stops at an atm and phone store later, I arrived at Habib’s uncle’s house, my home for the next few days. His house is fantastic and is decorated with an interesting mix of eclectic artwork—a glowing fish tank, huge paintings of panthers, a collection of Buddhas, the requisite framed photo of Obama. The breeze from the porch is awesome because….the power is out…shocking ☺

Load of Supplies to Nandom District Hospital is Complete!

Last week, we loaded MedPLUS Connect's next container of medical supplies and equipment, which is headed to the town of Nandom, Ghana. Check out the photos below to get a feel for our loading process!

Starting With An Empty Container...

Loading an OR Light

Loading Hospital Beds

All Packed!

I'm writing from the Cleveland airport, waiting for my flight to Ghana. I'm eager to leave the snow and spend the next few weeks visiting partner hospitals!

Emma

MedPLUS Intern Shares Her Experiences in the U.S. and Ghana

Hello!

My name is Catherine Patterson, and I am a senior Biology and African Studies double major at UNC. I first met Emma and Lauren through Project Heal, a global health organization they founded on campus that seeks to facilitate sustainable development in Ghana. From the very first meeting I attended as a freshman, I was drawn in by their vision and passion—it was absolutely contagious. As I began becoming more involved in Project Heal over the years, I became more and more personally invested in the group’s commitment to improving health and wellness in Ghana through locally driven and sustainable efforts.

Through my involvement with Project Heal, my interest in global healthcare flourished along with a newfound interest in Ghana. I subsequently chose to study Ghanaian rural healthcare at the University of Ghana during the fall of my junior year. I also volunteered at the University Children’s Ward in Accra where I witnessed firsthand how many Ghanaians sought medical care from poorly resourced health centers. Despite this hospital being relatively modern and in an urban center, staff and supplies were limited. When I returned home, I eagerly joined the MedPLUS Connect team as an intern.

Unable to stay away, I returned to Ghana this past summer on a trip through Project Heal. This time I traveled to rural Lawra, where MedPLUS Connect has sent shipments for several years. I led an initiative to construct two composting pit latrines with slabs at a school with no waste facilities, with the objective of reducing the negative impacts on the environment and the spread of disease.

Pit Latrines Project in Lawra

The project utilized only locally acquired materials and included workshops and booklets on how to build and maintain the latrines, in hopes that that they will be sustained and replicated by the local community.

While working on this project, as well as several others, our Project Heal group came into contact with nearly the entire Lawra community. Not a day went by that members of the community did not approach our group and tell us how much they appreciated the work of Project Heal and MedPLUS Connect. They eagerly showed us past legacies from Project Heal and MedPLUS Connect such as the library at the Lawra District Hospital and the playroom at the Methodist Clinic, as well as the universal nutshellers, hospital beds and numerous other donated medical supplies at the Lawra District Hospital. The impact MedPLUS Connect has made in the Lawra community is a lasting one.

I cannot thank Lauren, Emma, and Emily enough for sharing their passion with me. Project Heal and MedPLUS Connect have given me the opportunity to help improve health and wellness in Ghana, thus shaping my interests in global healthcare and sustainability.

Catherine

Update from MedPLUS intern

Kate is one of our great interns--read below as she shares her experiences with MedPLUS Connect. Currently, Kate is working to collect donations of medical supplies for an ophthalmologist (eye doctor) in Ghana. Email her at donate@medplusconnect.org if you have any ophthalmology supplies to donate!

Hello All… Kate here! I hope everyone is having a joyous start to 2011! I wanted to take the time to talk to you about some of the exciting things that I have been working on. Recently I have assembled a Booklet about MedPLUS, including everything from how to get involved to information about the organization in general. My hope is that this will serve as an excellent resource for all. There is one line in the booklet that has really stuck with me, and I wanted to share it with you all. The line reads; “our hope is that you will feel as connected to our mission as we do.” I wanted to share this with you because I feel that it cuts straight to the heart of the mission of MedPLUS. We are all involved with MedPLUS because we feel so incredibly connected to the people in Ghana and their need and right to quality health care. I invite you all to read over our website more and get involved! Maybe you get involved by spreading the word about our mission to your friends. Maybe you get involved by foregoing eating out one day to instead donate a few dollars to help us meet our goals. However you decide to get involved, my hope is that you will find the experience as rewarding as I have. Keep checking back to our blog to learn more about our exciting work! As always, email us at medplusconnect@gmail.com with any questions.

Kate,

MedPLUS Connect intern