Day 36

This morning I went to the clinic and did rounds like I normally do with the nurses and Isaac. Right after rounds I usually go to the dressing room and other wards before consultations but I went straight to consultations and stayed there the whole day. From 9-2:20 I recorded the patients information while Isaac did the diagnosis. The Chief wasn’t in so everyone had to go through Isaac. He recently graduated from Physician Assistant School and is smart and very good with patients. Most of the cases at the clinic, and I assume at most clinics in Ghana, are uncomplicated malaria. For each malaria patient he checks for a temperature and looks at the conjunctiva. I think just about every single patient goes to the lab to get tested for the final diagnosis. Normally Isaac and I have a little bit of time in between groups of patients to talk but not today. The clinic was busy the whole entire day. I love being occupied the whole entire day. I actually brought my computer and a couple books to keep myself busy in case it was a slow day. I love the little kids that come in. The older ones just smile at me because I’m an obruni but the babies are so precious. Some are actually scared of me but most just sit in their mom’s lap and giggle. After a longer day than usual we finished up and closed. I wanted to let Vicky know about our trip Thursday in hopes that she can have another exciting adventure with us. She showed me her gorgeous Kente cloth that she just bought. It doesn’t look too Ghanaian so she can definitely wear it out in the UK. We had a lovely conversation about how different things here are and how they shock us with something new every single day. The lackadaisical attitude is one of the troubles we foreigners find with African clinics. Then I made my walk home in a very good mood. I actually stopped and talked to a lot of people. My seamstresses were out and told me to come over and talk to them. The main seamstress Elizabeth teaches a few other girls how to sew. She speaks broken English but could understand some of what I said I think. I asked her what she did with the extra fabric but I don’t think she understood the question. I explained to her that my mom knows how to quilt and I want to make one to remind me of Africa with all the gorgeous fabric that I see around me. I drew a picture of what I want it to look like and that’s when she got what I was saying because she started giving me pretty big squares of gorgeous fabric. She said she has so much of it that I can have for free if I come by the next day in the evening. I think she will be my new best friend until I leave. I was so excited that I found a seamstress that understands what I want to do and is willing to give me all the fabric for free. I came home to Kofi waiting outside our gate waiting to play with us but both Cassie and I had a lot to do so he just sat and watched us do our washing and write up our notes. I cut up a mango for us to share and then he left to go home. The rest of the evening I spent inside writing up emails and recording notes.

XOXO