Almost 2 months ago (April 18 blog post), I wrote about a 15-year-old
(Jennifer) with a 4-month old baby who was admitted to the emergency unit and
stayed over a month. The baby had staph infection with huge wounds on both
sides of the chest area, just above each clavicle. By God’s grace the baby
recovered and the wounds healed perfectly. Mother and baby were finally
discharged on Friday, May 31. After discharge, Dr. Nkansah (ER physician),
Clements (Physician assistant) and I took them to their house. We wanted to
assess the condition of the place where mother and baby will be staying. Due to
extreme hardship, Jennifer’s mother rents a 12-feet by 12-feet room and shares
this place with 5 of her kids (she has 7 children). Jennifer and her baby
joined them in the already cramped space. The room had one window that was
poorly placed thus, ventilation in the room was also very poor. The outside
environment where the kids spent most of the time was also in a bad shape
with trash and stagnant water very close to their 12 by 12 room. We are very
worried about the kids and their health.
A picture of Jeniffer and her baby
One of the kids (Bernice, 11-year-old girl)
had to drop out of school because the mom couldn’t afford the tuition anymore.
It’s a very sad situation they live in. The hospital took care of the baby’s
bill after discharge and we were grateful for that. We are looking for ways of
helping this family. I’ve been asking around for social services for this
family. There is a governmental department for social services but so far it
seems to be a non-functioning entity due to lack of funding.
We are also looking for a training program such as
hair styling or soap making for Jennifer so she doesn’t go back to selling
sachet water on the streets. We are concerned that her baby will get injured or
worse if she goes back to selling water.
If you are reading this and feel lead to help this
family, please email me at eotsin25@gmail.com.
They need lots of prayers and financial support.
On Saturday, June 11 we went back to cleaning and
sorting out medical supplies. We keep discovering very useful resources. For
example, we found a big box of tourniquets. Tourniquets are used when drawing
blood samples or starting an IV (putting an intravenous catheter in a vein for
medications or fluids). The medical staff have been cutting IV infusion lines
and using it as tourniquets because the facility cannot afford it and they (tourniquets)
aren’t readily available in the country.
Once we complete sorting and categorizing these medical items, we will
be organizing training sessions and teaching the medical staff how to utilize
them. I have included pictures of this cleanup project below...
Before sorting out. The room was almost packed to the ceiling.
Pat and Dr. Nkanssh busy at work. We had so much to do in the scorching Ghanaian heat. Pat is an Irish public health nurse who is also serving at Ankaase. She will be here for about 3 years.
After sorting out. The packed boxes are usable medical items from this room. This is the third room we have sorted out since we began this cleanup project.
Thank you again for your loyalty to the blog and for the continued prayers and support. God Bless you.
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