Christmas in Ghana

12/16

Because most of the other volunteers have left for other countries or have returned home, outreach today was only Anthony, Birgit and myself. We treated well over 100 kids. One little boy, about 10 years old, sat down and showed us a cut on his upper thigh. The showed another similar one on his shoulder and another, even worse, on his back. I asked him what did that and he told us that it was from a knife. I then asked him who did it and he said that it was from his mother. Unfortunately Ghana does not have the same services for situations like this. Telling an authority would only make the situation worse and only serious situations allow the child to be taken from the home.  When I got home Delphine had one of the puppies in her room. He had been stumbling around and was very thin. She kept him in her room and took care of him all night. We found out he has worms.

12/17

This morning Katja, Birgit, Anne, Jamie, Saka, Delphine and myself left for Axim. We took a tro to Takoradi and then another tro to Axim. We ate at Zanzibar for dinner and stayed in the Frankfaus hotel.

12/18

This morning we left for Beyin to visit Nzulezo, the stilts village. We pay a fee for the canoe and guide and then a fee to take pictures. We took 2 canoes for the 7 of us. It was a little over an hour canoe ride through stream, marsh, jungle, open lake and finally up to the dock at the village. 

my canoe

the jungle

the village

The entire village is built on the stilts above the water. We were told these were people from Mali escaping from people from Senegal. They have lived on the water here for over 600 years. There is one long “main street” and houses, a school, hotel, and gift shop. I did not see much else in the town. The people of Nzulezo do not work. There is a town chief and they take a trip every 5 days to a farm across the river to bring back food. Money for the town comes from donation, gift shop purchases and the government. The people drink the water straight from the lake, where they also use the bathroom, shower, and dispose of trash. The lake water is red from the vegetation and probably also from the waste they put into it. We met with the chief and gave a small donation for the village.

the main street in the village

the school

on the main street

Then we headed back to Beyin, where we ate lunch. The food on this trip has been a lot of Jollof rice and chicken. I normally enjoy eating chicken, but eating and seeing the chickens running around while you are eating their relative is a little disgusting.

12/19

This morning we left Axim and went to the Ankobra beach resort. Oh My Gosh! This place is right on the beach, palm trees come right out of the sand and over the water, lounge chairs moved to where we wanted them, tables on the beach, welcoming drinks and fruit, wonderful food, beautiful rooms, friendly staff, and just all around perfect place. We sat on the beach all day and played in the ocean.

me on the beach

me and birgit

this was a pet of the woman that owned the place...Bambi

The restaurant makes all their own food and uses local organic products. The menu said even the pastas were homemade. For lunch I had zucchini soup with bread and for dinner pasta carbonara with real cheese and a salad with balsamic vinaigrette and for dessert we had pineapple rings fried in some wine and topped with coconut and brown sugar…mmmm…

12/20

Jamie, Birgit and I the morning before the left

This morning we headed back to Kumasi. After searching for one hour, we finally got a taxi to take us from Kejetia-where the trotro dropped us- to Atonsu-where we live. We came home to find the little puppy was healthy! We have named one puppy Fluffy (I chose the names), another Terrorlita, and the sick one is Arthur. :)  

12/24

While I have told myself that Christmas is just not happening this year, today finally felt a little like Christmas. This morning Delphine and I went to the internet café. We were dropped in the middle of Kejetia. It was every man for himself. You just had to walk and pray you don’t trip or fall because you would get trampled! People were shoulder to shoulder and back to back. I was afraid my backpack would get ripped off and me and I would never find it. We finally made it to the internet. After a little timet here we did our Christmas shopping. We got gifts for the Projects Abroad Christmas party and for each other for tomorrow. The supermarket was packed as well. When we came home Agnes made a lunch/dinner for us. She and her daughter-in-law spent today making food for tomorrow. The house smells so good! This night Projects Abroad had our Christmas party. We played a white elephant Christmas game and ate cookies, ice cream, candy canes and other desserts.

Birgit and I at the Christmas party

12/25

This morning we woke up and ate breakfast. Then Christine, Delphine and I exchanged Christmas gifts. We gave the family gifts we brought from home as well. We then spent all day playing cards, Yatzee, and Oware-an African wood game. We had a nice relaxing day.

12/26

Today Ben did not have to work, so we had our family Christmas celebration. Agnes had another son’s daughter there, Ben’s other daughter was there, and two family friends. Ben grilled out. It was a very American scene. We had grilled chicken, steak and bratz. We also had rice with tomato sauce and noodles. The family gave Delphine, Christine and me a Kente scarf!

me on the porch waiting for dinner

Maabenaa, Ben's friend, Christine, Roselyn, Me, Agnes and Junior, Delphine, Ben and Samuela

12/27

Today I returned to work in the hospital. On my week off, I missed some exciting events! An eleven-year-old girl was admitted with severe gangrene on one of her legs. It started as probably a little cut and then got infected and maybe turned into a boil. The mother was using herbal treatments for her. When the treatment was not working and it was too late the mother brought her to the hospital. The girl had her leg amputated, but then died soon after surgery because the gangrene had already spread to most of her body. The doctor at Atasemanso is opening a restaurant now and has been coming into the hospital very late the past few days. Also many patients have been discharged and most are probably waiting to come in until after the holiday season. SO it has been fairly slow…