COUNTRY: Ghana
PROGRAM: UniBreak
PROJECT: Teaching & Health
WRITTEN BY: Camille Gray
Monday: Back from our weekend getaway.
As much as we enjoyed Cape Coast, we were glad to be back in Swedru. While away, we found ourselves referring to Swedru as ’home’ – a place that once seemed so foreign now evokes a soft familiarity; the derelict buildings now recognisable landmarks, with local children shouting our names and shop owners greeting us like old friends.
At the hospital, Katie and Alice worked in maternity and witnessed a relatively smooth birth. Kiah worked in casualties helping to label boxes and dress wounds. Sally and Nina worked in the paediatric ward, cleaning the entire bathroom used by cholera patients.
Later the girls played with Richmond, a nine-year-old victim of a car accident, whose tiny legs have been poorly stitched together.
Since school holidays ended, Jacqui and Lucy have been overwhelmed with the number of students they are expected to teach. There are over 6o non-English speaking children between ages 5-11.
Hannah, Naomi and I spent the afternoon at the Caring Hands Children's Home, an orphanage for approximately thirty gorgeous kids aged between three months and 13 years. The children here run around with no shoes, often no pants, caked in dust, with holes in their oversized t-shirts and ill-fitting dresses.
Our job is merely to provide affection and care to these kids. “What is your name?,” they ask softly, always repeating it back to you, reciting it over and over. They stroke our skin, putting their hands against ours. They play with our bracelets and watches – items they probably would never have seen before. Most of all, the children simply rest their heads against our chest, perhaps to simply feel the warmth of a loving heartbeat. Already I know it is going to be heartbreaking to say goodbye to these children.
TUESDAY.
Today Kiah and Katie witnessed surgery at Swedru hospital. They saw the removal of ovarian tumours, which unfortunately resulted in taking out the patient’s entire uterus. Kiah and Katie noted the casual nature of the surgery, with the head surgeon at one point using one hand to talk on his mobile phone while the other hand remained inside the patient.
Alice worked in antenatal clinic with expecting mothers, a job she is familiar with. Meanwhile Hannah joined Sally and Nina in the paediatric ward. The girls have spent some time reassuring and comforting Judith, an extremely sick 10-year-old girl with an unknown stomach illness, as well as her distraught mother.
Naomi and I were split up at the pre-school. Naomi took the three year olds, and spent the morning reciting numbers, singing songs and drawing. I took the 5-6 year olds, and spent a good two hours teaching them the numbers 1 to 100. The children were ecstatic when they each received a sticker at the end of the activity.
Jacqui and Lucy were met yet again with the challenge of controlling huge classes, made even more difficult by the fact that many of the children only speak Twi (the local dialect) at home.
WEDNESDAY
Today Kiah and Katie were in theatre cutting and folding over two thousand pieces of gauze for the hospital. Alice was in the antenatal clinic again and was instructed to give a breast-feeding class to over 30 women in the waiting room.
Sally, Hannah and Nina continued to monitor Judith. Each time she experienced an ’attack’ the girls held her hand, reassuring her as she curled over in pain until the spasms settled.
Jacqui and Lucy spent the day teach students about capital letters, vowels, counting and basic principles of English.
We attended the weekly ’Obroni’ meeting with other volunteers, drinking Coke and cooling down with Chocolate Fan Ice (which seriously rivals the taste of chocolate paddle pops). We also bid a sad farewell to our good friend Mikaela, promising to contact her if we were ever in Europe.
In the afternoon, Nina and I enjoyed a game of soccer with our 6 year old host brother and his friend. We decided on playing ’boys against girls’ and soon gathered a small crowd of spectators, as well as a goalie and an aggressive local girl named Priscilla to join our side.
Today we boarded a Tro-Tro (bus) to the west coast of Ghana for our second weekend adventure.
We’ve all come to enjoy these long bus rides as they allow us to see multiple villages and the Ghanaian countryside.
Like a dog with its head out of the window, we are attacked by the most incredible array of smells. There is no single ’scent’ of Ghana, rather it is a constantly changing amalgamation of burning trees, rich cocoa, cooking rice, cow manure, ginger, petrol fumes, city smog and rain soaked dirt.
When we finally arrived at the Lou Moon Lodge we knew we’d discovered paradise. Lou Moon Lodge is everything we dreamed of and more. It boasts an amazing restaurant and a secluded beach lined with palm trees and air conditioned beach shacks. The rooms are very luxurious and include air condition and hot water (yes, hot water!).
FRIDAY
After a wonderful nights sleep at Lou Moon, Lucy, Sally, Naomi and I enjoyed a morning swim in the warm Ghanaian ocean before meeting the group for brekkie.
We spent the rest of the day doing a range of activities available at the hotel - beach volleyball, archery, soccer, ping pong, badminton and canoeing.
Kiah, Hannah and Sally ventured into town to visit the Axim Fort, while the rest of us read, slept, and chatted in the shade of the palm trees upon purple cushioned beach chairs.
SATURDAY.
Today we drove out to Ghana’s only stilt village. Three Ghanaian men took us to a nearby jetty where we were loaded on to two thin wooden canoes.
We paddled for an hour, hoping to spot a crocodile or monkey. Unfortunately we only spotted a small green snaked curled upon a thin reed.
Finally we reached the stilt village. It’s a small, housing 550 people in wooden huts and walkways; creating an entire village that hovers five metres above water. We left our canoes and climbed up a ladder into their world, amazed at the sound of television, laughter and shouting.
We were granted a tour of the school which held 150 students, followed by question time with the 'chief' of the village. The chief was quick to propose marriage to Hannah, promising to make her a wooden canoe of her own and the title of 'Queen'. He also offered us a bottle of Gin - the village's main product and source of income.
A canoe trip and taxi ride later, we were back at Lou Moon for an evening spent swimming in the warm ocean, napping and reading.
It is now Sunday and we are about to head home on a Tro Tro for four hours. It has been an incredible weekend away, and we are feeling refreshed and ready to return to Swedru with even more energy and excitement than before.
Until next time,
Camille ’cornrows’ Gray
(And the Ghana girls)
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