One week Medical Mission in Ankaase

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 authoritative power on issues such as location of events so we took it all in stride.

Picture of an interesting plant at Agona Swedro

We had mobile clinics on 2 days (Friday and Saturday) and saw approximately 230 patients with 14 confirmed cases of malaria via rapid testing. I am impressed with the rapid screening of malaria and thankful for its usage in saving lives. In addition, we diagnosed a 15-year-old male with schistosomiasis, a form of parasitic infection caused by parasitic flatworms. The disease is characterized by abdominal pain, bloody stool and urine. I don’t know the prevalence and disease burden but Dr. Gongwer remarked that is it a common disease especially among teenage boys. We educated the town folks about informing the community health personnel about testing the local river for parasites. Most of the infections occur when people swim in rivers or lakes contaminated with flatworms. We also saw an 80-year-old patient with a chronic dislocated shoulder. We estimated she had the dislocation for approximately 30 years. That was intriguing.

With Dr. Gongwer in Beseadze. The blue tarps are screens for physical exams requiring privacy...

We travelled to Accra on Sunday and met with the Presiding Bishop of the Methodist Church and his administrative council. The presiding Bishop is the head of the Methodist Church in Ghana. This meeting was focused on building partnerships with mission teams and following up on projects started or completed by such teams. This is an area that needs improvement and I am glad that meeting was held. The Bishop jokingly informed me during introductions that Methodists in Ghana do not grow a beard like mine.  He performed my parent’s marriage ceremony about 30 years ago as a junior pastor. I thought that was very interesting.

After the meeting, four of us checked into a guest house to spend the night while the rest of the group travelled back to Agona. We had to leave for Kumasi because of commitment to an upcoming health conference. We left Accra for Kumasi the next day (Monday) and were stopped on the way by cops with AK-47s at a check point. They informed us that they were performing random searches for locally made weapons used in armed robberies. Our driver (Mr. Agyeman) thinks we were stopped because of my beard. According to him, the cops suspect individuals with a beard as having ties with terrorist organizations. I think he is right because the cop frisked us and searched the vehicle extensively before allowing us to leave. That incident was just bizarre. I guess it is time for the beard to go.

On Tuesday March 1, we travelled to Ankaase and visited the Methodist Hospital. I will be at this hospital for the next 12-14 months learning about tropical diseases in Ghana and hopefully applying my nursing and public health knowledge and skills.  Ankaase is approximately 45 minutes from Kumasi but I will be staying in this village while serving at the hospital. There is a huge need for medical personnel in this village and almost everywhere in Ghana. The problem is compounded by the Ghanaian government’s failure to adequately compensate and employ health workers.

One of the hospital’s management personnel informed us that they haven’t received reimbursement for claims submitted for the past 9 months. It’s a miracle for a hospital to survive under such conditions. But there’s a ray of hope…

where I'll be serving...

Thank you for your prayers and support and for following these posts. Please, remember us in your prayers. We need strength and guidance as we face daily challenges, especially in the health sector.

Update on patient with low Hgb - We visited with the patient with low Hgb from Akrobing. She was receiving her third unit of blood and her Hgb was 6.6 at the time. She has been diagnosed with uterine fibroids and will under going surgery on Wednesday, March 2 2016.  Please pray for a successful and uneventful procedure.