Praise and Prayer request

The blood pressure monitors mentioned in the last post were officially presented to the hospital on Monday April 18. Below are some pictures of the presentation. Again, we are very thankful and appreciative of the generosity of Dr. and Mrs. Skaggs. As previously mentioned, these monitors will help us tremendously in hypertension management.

Presenting the monitors to the hospital. CEO, Mr Amankwaa received them on behalf of the hospital.



I presented the monitors on behalf of Dr. and Mrs. Skaggs. Mr. Francis (materials manager, on my right) and Emelia (ER charge RN in white dress ) together with 2 RNs from the ward, joined the presentation ceremony


As I made my 10-minute walk to the hospital on Friday, April 15, a young man (George Bediako) approached and shared with me the good news about the birth of his baby boy. This new dad was saddened by the presence of a cleft lip on his child and requested help/advise from me. Fortunately, his wife (Jemima Boampong) had given birth at the Ankaase hospital. After work, I went to the maternity ward with the dad to visit the newborn and the new mom. Thankfully, they were both in great condition.

A picture of the newborn with cleft lip

After consulting with the doctor I work with, I learned that cleft lip can be fixed by the “big” hospital in Kumasi. We relayed this good news to the dad. He was worried that his child will be stuck with the deformity for the rest of his life. At this time, I don’t know the details of the surgery or cost involved but I know that this family needs your prayers.  George is a pastor of a local church and had been seen at the Emergency room a few weeks ago for migraines. This baby hasn’t been named yet. Please keep this family in your prayers and ask God to provide strength and peace as they go through this difficult time. Most people have a knowledge deficit of certain medical conditions and can be easily scared.  Cleft lip is one of those conditions. Others even blame it on witchcraft, wizardry or a curse.

Another picture. Please keep this family in your prayers.



We are currently managing a 3-month old with staph infection. The mother is a 15 -year old girl with no family support. She has been at the unit since Thursday April 14 and has not received a visit from any family member. The ER staff raised some funds to help feed her and clothe the baby. The hospital has also been helping with personal items for the baby in addition to feeding the mom. The baby’s medicines are also being purchased by donors. We are thankful for God’s hand on this baby.  Please keep them in your prayers. The baby’s name is Nhyiraba while the mom goes by Jennifer.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Image
The Beard must go…. The past week has been very busy albeit interesting. Esther (my sister) visited on Wednesday and advised me to shave the beard I’ve been growing. Apparently, having a beard in Ghana is associated with being a Muslim. She is scared of men with beards. Nevertheless, she hugged me so that was nice. We had a good visit and it was good to see her again. Esther and I at the mission guest house in Tanoso. She says the beard must go ;)  The team spent 4 days (Thursday – Sunday) at Agona Swedro (Central Region) with clinics and crusades held at Beseadze (about 30-minute drive from Agona). Agona Swedro is in the Central region and about a 2.5 hour from Kumasi (Ashanti region). The location of the clinics and crusades was between a shrine and a mosque. In Ghana, shrines are used by traditional believers (they worship tress, stones, rivers and animals). Therefore, we found it interesting that such a location was approved by the chief. But, the chief has aut...
Read more

One week Medical Mission in Ankaase

It’s been a while since I posted anything on here. Lots have happened since my last post including a recent marriage and job transfer to the Philadelphia area. The Lord has been good to us. On September 21, 2018 I joined Randall Brooks, Dan Chettleburgh, Leigh Scott and Linda Forbes, physical, occupational and recreational therapists from South Bend (Indiana), at JFK for a flight to Ghana. We traveled to Ankaase to work on improving function for stroke patients. We will also be working with  patients with musculoskeletal injuries/pain. The team's Facebook page and pictures can be assessed   here    The journey to Ankaase was uneventful. We arrived on Saturday September 22, 2018  1 pm local time and settled in the hospital’s guest house. Currently, Ghana is 4 hours ahead of eastern standard time. After a brief resting period, we toured the town and took in the sights and scenes. On Sunday September 23, we attended a community church service that was ...
Read more

Preventive Healthcare

Image
On Friday May 19, 2017 I joined community health nurses (CHN) from the hospital and traveled 3 miles Northwest of Ankaase to Dumakyi, a small farming community, to conduct vaccination screening, also known locally as a health outreach program. Dumakyi lacks running water, electricity and basic public transportation. Residents, mostly cocoa farmers living in mud thatched houses, walk to the hospital, 3 miles away, when they are sick. The distance and lack of transportation discourages them from bringing their children for scheduled clinical review and obtaining the required vaccinations. To combat this problem, CHNs visit and vaccinate the children right in their backyard. CHNs setting up under the teak tree. Some students milling about the place before class. We arrived at 9:30 am on Friday morning and set up office under a teak tree in front of the local primary/middle school. Despite bringing the free vaccination exercise to the community, parents are still reluctant to...
Read more