Sheila Goes Ghana 2022

I realized yesterday that I had said I was going to do a full post on malaria so here it is. Malaria is rampant in Africa. The parasites live in the salivary glands of the mosquitoes. So when bitten, chances are quite good the person will get malaria. If untreated, the parasites quickly multiply in the bloodstream which can lead to organ failure, brain swelling…death. Everyday in the clinics, it seems that at least half of the patients are there for malaria testing due to their malaria flu-like symptoms. Of those tested, the test is positive about 50% of the time. Thankfully, malaria is treatable and the patients go home on medication. That is of course, patients who have enough money to pay for testing and treatment. Those who lack money either don’t bother to go to a clinic or are turned away at the clinic door💔💔… (may I say one more time, just how incredibly lucky we are to have been born in the United States)!?!

One of the nurses at the Atimpoku clinic asked Me how we do our malaria testing in the US. She was stunned to learn that we don’t do testing because our mosquitoes don’t carry malaria. Kind of makes Me appreciate “just having Lyme ticks”. 😳

We do free malaria testing/treatment at our Volunteer House and in the schools for the local community. It is not uncommon to find patients waiting for us on the front porch in the morning before we leave for clinic or in the afternoon when we get back. The test is a simple finger poke. If positive, we send them home with their 3 days of malaria medicine and Tylenol (Paracetamol here). It really is gratifying to know that we are able to provide this simple life-saving service that they might otherwise not be able to afford.

All of us volunteers take Malarone (an antibiotic) daily to prevent malaria. Before I arrived here, I was not too jazzed about taking this antibiotic every day for 6 months…. but now that I know what I know, I take that red pill with my multivit everyday without the least bit of hesitation.

We have screens on the windows at the Volunteer House and we sleep under mosquito nets. But the poor, do not have screens on their doors/windows and often use the mosquito nets given to them to protect their crops…they choose to risk malaria in order to have healthy crops to eat/sell. Ughhhhh, what an awful choice to have to make.

This malaria problem is definitely a factor in the average lifespan being as I said in an earlier post, somewhere in the mid 50s/early 60s. I can’t begin to tell you how many times I’ve asked someone here what they did on the weekend and they say they went to a funeral. I hear that WAY too often! In fact, I know that one of our wound care patient’s funeral was today. And on my 25 minute Tro Tro ride to my weekend hotel, we drove past 2 more funeral processions-many people in red+black, filing down the street singing/drumming and moving the coffin to the music. Another person in Ghana “Called to Glory” as they often say.

And now for something completely different (if anyone caught that Monty Python reference, unlike MP, sorry but I’m keeping it clean in this blog😘) …. So twice a week, we continue to jump on the back of motorcycles and head out into the farmlands to do wound care for patients that can’t make it in to clinics or are too poor to travel. One of our stops is a village where a group of kids work the farms with their parents. They are absolutely adorable and are by far my favorite part of the week!! These kids farm Mon-Fri and go to school on Sat. They often accidentally strike their legs with the machetes and get some pretty deep wounds when they cut the skin right off their ankles! Life is hard for these kids yet they are full of life, curiousity and smiles.

Oh, also- I had shown a picture of a Bodhi tree in a field a few weeks back. I think these trees are absolutely beautiful and massive! They are only about 1/2 as tall as our Giant Redwoods but still quite impressive. I wanted to give you some perspective here so you can see this ain’t no New England Sugar Maple! That is Kirsten+ Claire (aka my Ghana daughters) at the base of the tree….look how tiny they appear!

Well that’s a wrap for this post. There is a full moon rising over Africa tonight….sending it your way with Big Love.

XOXO Sheila

After work, I got a soft latex foam pillow at Market Day in the next town!!🎉🎊🎊🎉 Tomorrow is my 4 week anniversary of many things here including “sleeping” on a pillow that feels like a hard bag of lumpy potatos!! I had spotted the foam pillows on a Tro Tro ride earlier in the week and finally had a chance to stop. The local staff here at the Volunteer House had a good chuckle when I got home saying that I paid the “Abroney Up Charge” of 57 cedis. Well firstly, that shopkeeper was not having ANY negotiations with this Americano but I wasn’t leaving without that pillow. AND, I paid the equivalent of $5.70 American dollars (aka nothing since everything here is SO cheap). So I told the staff that I was going to have a GREAT 5 more months of sleep with my Perfect 57 Cedi Pillow! No regrets!! 😴🥰

Now a random staff lunch break update from clinic today. A man came by with grilled smoked salmon in a bowl on his head. A few people bought those but the big hit was the next guy with the horseshoe-shaped fried catfish. The staff literally reaches into the pan, takes a whole fish and eats it from lips to tail-bones and all!😲Before this trip, I fancied myself an adventurous eater, maybe even a Foodie. But I am rethinking that because these days, I feel like a toddler that only eats mac and cheese!

Sweet Dreams Everyone!! Me and 57 Cedi Pillow are calling it a day. Hope you had a great one💗

This past weekend we found the monkeys!! No not the Band, the furry ones. We headed about 3 hours North to a wildlife monkey sanctuary. The drive in the States probably would have been an hour but here there are no Road Crews. Pavement is minimal but potholes are plentiful (and massive). Yes you have been reading correctly, there seems to be little to no governmental oversight for: healthcare, roads, trash, water, emissions, power (there are frequent/random power outages) etc etc etc. These people/villages are often left to fend for themselves and make do with what they have… which is not much. Yet we meet SO many happy, welcoming, seriously God-loving people here. It really is a marvelous sight in light of the fact that it seems like they could easily feel forgotten by God in these conditions yet instead it seems to strengthen their faith. Almost everything here is centered around God/Jesus….churches everywhere, Jesus stickers decorate most of the Tro Tro vans (I’m actually quite grateful for that given the way they drive-aka God help us survive the drive😇) and even the gas stations are named things like “Glory Stop”.

So I digressed….back to the Monkeys, sorry for that squirrel moment!! At the Sanctuary, the monkeys live free in the jungle. They understand that the humans come in with bananas to feed them. So eventually, after a short hike and some loud calls by our guide, they arrived!! Some were very skittish and would grab the bananas and run- so we were told to hold them tight (the bananas that is, not the monkeys). Others would jump on your shoulder to sit and eat. It really was amazing!!!! But truth be told, no matter how many times the guide said “the monkeys don’t bite”-yes Sir, sometimes they actually do!… (and several of us have the nips and scratches to prove it!) I don’t honestly think they mean to bite you but sometimes they mistake your thumb for a banana (Rob, don’t even say it) or they nip your hand trying to dig deep into the peel. Thankfully rabies isn’t an issue there (unlike so many other communicable diseases).

We stayed overnight up there because we were excited for a waterfall hike the following morning and of course excited for the AC at the hotel. But there was a 24-hour power outage soon after we arrived so we didn’t have AC, WiFi nor even a fan. Wonh, wonh!!

The waterfall is on the Volta River in Wli (pronounced Vlee), the locals call the falls Agoomatsa. At 260 ft high, it is the tallest waterfall in Ghana and the tallest waterfall in West Africa. There are Lower Falls and Upper Falls to hike to.

Now before you say, “Wow Sheila, I can’t believe you did that!!! (!!!!!!!!)”….well don’t….because I didn’t😁

When we woke up that morning it was absolutely pouring and forecasted to rain most of the day. The guide told us it would be too slippery aka dangerous to hike to the upper Falls. All of the other volunteers will be leaving soon so this was their only chance to go to the Falls. They hiked in the mud + rain to the Lower Falls and said it was quite beautiful. I, on the other hand, will be here for 6 months so Hell No was I joining that moist excursion! I stayed back and read a book. I’ll go another time with a different group on a sunny day when the views are visible and footing is better on the rocks. I kept thinking of the time we hiked Tumbledown Mountain in Maine with the 3 kids in the pouring rain when they were little. We drove home in our underwear, wrapped in towels with the heat blasting. That was cute and funny back then but no need to do that again!

Now I am the Last (wo)man Standing in the Volunteer House from the original 5 that I had started with in Ghana on Aug 14th because Eddie from CT left yesterday. I called him the Mayor of Yabooland (Yaboo is another word the kids affectionately call us fair-skinned folks…Abroney or Yaboo). He was very entertaining and will be missed…Good luck Abroney!

Oh, there is one more thing I keep forgetting to share. Remember I said that Joyce the midwife has a 5yo niece that often comes to clinic? Well, Sophia is normally quite shy but she loves to dance. This was her dancing to the African music at my hotel 2 weeks ago after I gave her a swimming lesson. She really knows how to shake what her Momma gave her!!

Big Love to all of You. Sincere thanks for all of your wonderful comments and for being right here with Me 💗🤗💗

That’s what I said last night when our 3 new volunteers arrived…but none of these 20-somethings got the Guns and Roses reference!!…. hopefully many of you generationally-aligned peeps on this blog did😁

Started the week with a new baby boy and ended the week with one too!! This delivery was very smooth and easy (at least from the perspective of someone who didn’t have to do the pushing) so he pinked up quickly and breastfed like a champ!

So technically, am I now a Grandmother? I’ve been referred to by many titles since I’ve been here….Sistah, Auntie, Cheelah, Mum… all of which I find adorable. But every now and again someone calls me Grandmother or Granny!!! Good Lord, I don’t care how affectionate that is, I will NOT answer to those  2 titles!! I may have a few more gray hairs in my head then I did when I was 30yo but I ain’t no 👵!!

For this birth, they had to cut an episiotomy with a pair of not so sharp bandage scissors! I had to look away because I thought I might blackout. (I can put my eyes and hands on most any wound after the damage is done but I cannot stand watching surgeries. Never could, probably never will. So it’s unlikely I’ll actually ever do one of these mini-surgeries here either as much as I would like to)😵‍💫

Instead of “Welcome to the Jungle” I could have titled this post “Jungle Fever” because it is winter here (yet all of us North Americans are melting) so I caught myself an African head cold. Haven’t had a cold in years but I do now. The staff at the health clinic keep asking me if I am on antibiotics. I’ve had to explain that colds are viruses and antibiotics kill bacteria not viruses but they don’t seem to get it. They dish out the few antibiotics they have in their stock to almost every patient with even the most minimal of symptoms. I’m really hoping that I can help them understand a more appropriate use of antibiotics before I go…it’s tricky navigating that path of educating without insulting their cultural beliefs.

As I sit here under a palm tree in our front yard writing this post, I am watching this woman walk past…

And how timely, the shop owner across our yard just approached me to tell me he has a mild belly ache (no other symptoms) at the end of his busy day. He thinks he needs antibiotics for a belly infection. I gave him a few doses of Tums. (Please people, there are alternatives)😇

Tomorrow we 6 volunteers leave for an overnight to a monkey sanctuary on Sat and then on Sun it’s a 6hr hike into some impressive waterfalls. Stay tuned for those pics!! And of course this means a hotel with a cozy bed, bathroom with running water, AC and WiFi!!! The simple pleasures are GREATLY appreciated these days!!! And if I can squeeze in my weekly WiFi call to My Cheryl, then Life Is Great again!!

Time to go fill a bucket and take a cool shower with a big ladle then sleep off this drippy nose so I can enjoy the weekend. It was pretty hot today so I’m actually really looking forward to that bucket. I don’t think I’ve gone to bed once here without showering first…. got to keep the nest clean even if I am in the jungle-gives Me some semblance of normalcy. 😇

Big Love to all of You! Thank you for all of your responses, they really are heart-warming and entertaining. Most importantly, this 2-way blogging process helps me feel less far away from you🤗

XoXo Cheelah (aka NOT Granny)😘

is Efoh? … (pronounced Aye-Fwa)

What a great start to my day!! ( well first I got an email that my credit card was hacked in the United States so it was canceled. Ahhhhh🤬 … but after that, it got great fast).

At 7am our cook Mary was knocking on my window telling me that the Midwife at the clinic was calling for Me. So I hung up with Citicard, threw on my scrubs and grabbed a PB&J to go that Mary had made for Me. Took the 1mi walk to clinic hoping the whole time that I wasn’t too late.

Thankfully, mom was not yet fully dilated (and I know that because the Midwife Giftie let me check that with her. I had never done that before). Mom labored for about an hour after I arrived. Giftie watched from below while I held mom’s hand and rubbed her back. When the head delivered, the cord was wrapped around Colby’s neck. Giftie asked Me for the clamps+scissors, she cut the cord then delivered this little man! He was quite floppy and blue for several minutes with only very weak, occasional crying. I was wide-eyed because after working in the Neonatal ICU, I was well aware that this baby was in trouble. (Terri, Denise and my other NICU/PICU colleagues, you understand the severity of this scenario.) And as I looked around, it was very obvious that there was no resuscitation equipment in this clinic!!

Giftie went to work vigorously drying the baby off and sucking out his mouth and nose with the typical blue bulb syringe that we use to clean out baby’s noses when they have a cold.

His condition did not change so she put him on Mom’s belly for warmth but no change so she brought him over to the table, (no not an infant warming table just a table) and started gentle chest compressions. I really thought I was going to watch this baby pass away. It felt so helpless not having any tools to really help save this child.

Finally, after what felt like way too long, our little Colby started crying more vigorously and began turning pink. Thank God, what a relief!!!!! I wrapped him tightly and held him close to warm him up while Giftie delivered the placenta.

Giftie was very humble and matter of fact about this whole delivery but I told her several times that she saved this baby’s life. She said in her adorable Ghanian accent “Midwives Save Lives”….. and I said, “Yes, you sure did today”!

Happy Birthday Colby🍼🇧🇴

is Ndi (en dee)

Greetings from Ghana my friends. I’m so grateful to have you all sharing this experience with Me. It really is very therapeutic to be blogging with you!! Please feel free to ask questions if there’s something that I may not have fully explained or that you want to learn more about.

We continue to be well cared for and I’m grateful to say that for whatever reason, Day 11 was a turning point where I actually started to feel more comfortable and in some kind of a routine here. Up until that point, I can honestly say that several times a day I was seriously thinking “what have I done, can I do this for 6 months”? I was really struggling to cope with the numerous dramatic life changes that I have already described in the previous blogs. But I didn’t want to quit, I really want to see this thru. So I kept reminding myself that I was OK, I was very capable and I would find a way to make this work because that’s what I do. Well, thank you Day 11 when I said those same words and actually felt it!!🎉🎊 Onward….

I want to share some other parts of daily life here at the Volunteer House that I haven’t shared yet. As you know us fragile Americans cannot drink the water in many other countries- that includes using treated water for washing salads/brushing teeth etc. So the safe water here comes in bags for us. At meals, it looks like a bunch of adults drinking little kid CapriSuns (I usually drain my bags into my water bottle and drink like a big girl).

The African diet, especially in these poor villages where we are, is very heavy in carbs for energy and affordability. We rarely have salads because they’re harder to prepare due to all of the special washing. And wow do we have boatloads of white rice, potatoes, corn, pasta etc which I eat very little of at home.

But today I was alone at lunch because the other volunteers were traveling. I had told our cook Mary not to make a big fuss just for Me…but look what I came home to after clinic…. isn’t she the cutest?

Cheryl, MaryEllen, Deb (Guido)… I dare say that this girl likes to cook as much as you do!! (My idea of no fuss is Cheerios and bananas😁)

We continue to do the wound care in the rural areas a few afternoons a week. I really enjoy that. And as heartwrenching as it can be to go into these really desperate outlying villages, it is also a chance to break free of this vast red dirt area and see some greenery. I asked my driver to stop our motorcycle so I could take a few pics because on these bumpy paths, you best use both hands to hold on!

Today I had a nice treat on the Tro Tro ride on the way back from clinic. These crazy wild vans are jammed with people. A mother got on with several kids and they all wanted to stay next to her but needed to sit down. I put my hands up and signaled that I could take one on my lap. The oldest girl shot Me a glare, and shook her head NO! Then the mother took the 2 year old and plopped her sideways on my lap! I was SO excited but that little girl would not even look at Me. She kept pretending like I wasn’t there as she stared quietly at her Mother. I remembered that same look from my shy little Ameliagh when strangers would smile at her. So I knew what to do, just be quiet and don’t scare her more. A few minutes later I noticed her head bobbing as she was trying to fall asleep so I gently guided her head to my chest. Awe!!! There are few things in this world that are sweeter to Me than holding a sleeping child. Best Tro Tro ride yet! … That is until her mother told me that the child had been sick since yesterday with vomiting. ( S*#T )!!

Turns out she had also been tired and running a fever too. I asked if she had been tested for Malaria and suggested they stop at a clinic do so because it’s easier to treat if you catch it early. I’ll do another blog another day about Malaria because it is insanely prevalent here. But for now, fingers crossed and prayers to the heavens that this little girl gets better soon AND that whatever she has isn’t contagious! (8 hours later, and so far so good here🙏)

Time to close the mosquito net and get some rest. Tomorrow I head to the Afrikiko Hotel in Akosombo to sleep in a cozy air conditioned hotel on the Volta River 45 min away. I am going to try hard to do these getaways every weekend to refresh because self care is a must to stay in balance.

The hotel has a nice pool and I invited the Midwife Joyce to bring her 5yo niece Sophia to come for a swimming lesson. People here often bring their children to work. So since Sophia and Sheila start with an ‘S’ and end with an ‘a’, we are pals….at least for now… I hope she likes water!

Be well Mes Amies, stay safe and stay in touch. 💗🤗💗

All the posts are found on the home page in order of submission from bottom to top. But the most recent post will just show as a header at the top of that home page. If you want to read that newest post, then click on the header to open it. Enjoy!