America is PLUSH

Kumasi is a wild city that is clearly overpopulated from a first world point of view. On Saturday we had the opportunity to go to the central market in Kumasi. I would guess that it consists of a square mile of small shops selling clothes, electrical wires, fish (that has been sitting out in the sun for hours), handmade sandals...EVERYTHING! I would guess that there are tens of thousands of people packed into that one square mile.

Walking to and from the market was also an experience. There are people everywhere. It is extremely common to see homeless people on the streets, some even openly breast feeding. The cities here have so many people that they at unable to keep up with the waste and not enough money to maintain their roads. Because of this, there is a constant smell of diesel exhaust and burning chemicals. Ditches are lined with trash and filled with sewage, either drained in from homes or from people using the ditch itself as a bathroom. Those ditches are then pumped into the ocean! Not a day hasn't gone by that I haven't had meals that consist if bread, rice, spring rolls, eggs, and freshly butchered chicken.

On Monday our work began at one of the local hospitals near our hotel, Treasureland Hotel. We set up a community clinic where we taught the locals on 3 subjects; HIV & AIDS, Oral and Hand Hygiene, and Malnutrition. Much of the information we shared was unknown to the locals. About 100 children showed up to receive their toothbrush and toothpaste and to play with the "Brunies", the white people. We then got the opportunity to work in the hospital, which is a prepay hospital that does not accept any form if insurance. I was placed at the front desk where I got the pleasure of chatting with some of the nurses on duty. They taught me some of the language and asked if I would ever consider moving to Ghana if the opportunity presented itself...
Soon after we started talking, I noticed a patient who was not being helped, but was seizing in her chair, unconscious, and running a fever. I quickly ran over to here high got the attention of the nurses to pay attention to her. Her vitals were taken, and she was quickly whisked away to the doctors office. The people in this country have so little, yet they are so happy. Their hospital wouldn't even be considered to be a safe place for a public restroom back in the US. This happens all over the world, while American hospitals opt for "state-of-the-art" facilities with marble floors and walls with flat screen televisions strewn throughout the hospital. It makes you wonder where our priorities really lie...

On Tuesday we went to A different Medical Center. Me and a few others were assigned to a group and sent to our first rotation, the pediatric ward! I am good with kids and I like them, but nothing could have prepared me for what I was about to see... The pediatric ward consists of 2 large rooms with about 30 cribs. The majority of the children there have been diagHnosed with malaria. We followed the nurse around for about 30 minutes while she administered medication, started and IV, recapped a needle with the improper technique, etc. I noticed one child in particular who did not look well. He did not have a consistent breathing pattern and was using his his accessory muscles to breathe. We took a listen with the stethoscope; he sounded terrible! We believe the poor little guy has bacterial meningitis. EEK! Several things go through my head... This kid has meningitis and he is being treated with antibacterials with an IV and that's it? And... I should probably keep my distance, because I DO NOT want bacterial meningitis. The family is in charge of keeping the patients in the hospital fed, well mannered, and clean. I handed out lots if wet wipes!
The reproduction rate in this country is really high. The maternity ward is always full. Most of the time, beds are still bloody and messy from previous births while the current birth is taking place. When some if my fellow students witnessed a birth, the nurses placed the newborn, not cleaned, in the corner of the room ON THE BARE FLOOR while they stitched up the mother! Of course, we didn't let it stay like that. But how often does this happen all over the world? It's heartbreaking to hear about.

Today we taught a class of midwife students the three subjects mentioned earlier and BLS CPR. In this part of the world, it is considered attractive to carry some extra weight because it means you have enough money to eat often. The class of about 75 midwives started referring to me as "sexy Ben", which made me pretty uncomfortable. They LOVE us here and want our picture, and names for Facebook.
I am loving the fresh fruit and vegetables that we are able to purchase from the windows of our bus.

Today I had fresh, ripe bananas, mangos, coconut, oranges, and avocado! It is so delicious. However, as US citizens, everyone thinks we have an unlimited source of money. We have people outside the gates of our hotel trying to sell us paintings, shirts, bracelets, etc, as we walk by. The moment our bus stops and a window is open, 10 or so women selling fruit are at our window yelling for us to buy from them. When we walk the streets, we are hammered with crowds of salesmen and followed until we get back on the bus. Then they just knock on our windows until we leave.

I am beginning to realize how lucky I am to live in the US. How comfortable my life there is, and how easy everything is to get. I am still not homesick, and ready to take on the next 3 weeks or so!
-Ben