Hi everyone! Hope you can keep up to date with what i'll be up to for the next couple of months through this blog. I know it's a bit generic but internet it fairly limited and slow out here so thought this would be a good way of keeping in touch with a lot of people.
I am currently studying children's nursing at Manchester university, as part of our course we have an elective placement at the end of our second year. I have come to Ghana in West Africa with an NGO called Work the World who organise nursing and medical electives in a few countries around the world.
So i arrived in Ghana on thursday night after a long flight via Italy and Nigeria... I stayed overnight in Accra (capital) then got up super early on friday morning and took a very long, very hot and cramped 5 hour coach journey from Accra to where i am staying (Takoradi, along the coast). Finally got here though! I was by myself from friday afternoon till sunday morning as the 5 students who were already there had gone off travelling for the weekend. It was a bit hard at first as i was in this strange country and didnt really know anything or anyone but the 3 people who work for Work the World in Ghana were around from time to time. 3 other girls arrived yesterday (2 who i know from manchester) and the 5 other girls who had been travelling for the weekend (4 of which are leaving to go home this weekend). they are all really nice and we have got on really well so far.
The house i am staying in is the Work the World house, can accommodate up to 24 i think and this is the beginning of the 'busy' season when a lot of people have their electives so in the next 2 months there always be lots of us, from 9 at the moment to 22 maximum in june i think. the house itself is preety nice as far as ghanian houses go, it's basic but has everything you need. there is a huge lounge area and dorm style rooms with 4 to a room. Ophelia is the lovely cook, Joe is the programme manager and Alhassan is the housekeeper...they are all lovely and will see them around lots whilst i am here.
i went to church on sunday morning with ophelia which was quite an experience...everthing you would expect an african church to be and more! the singing and dancing was absolutely amazing. men and women dressed up in their best outfits dancing down aisles was fabulous, and at one point we went round for the welcome and had to shake EVERYONE's hand, and because i stood out like a sore thumb being the only white person everyone seemed very keen to come over and say hello! the whole service lasted for about 3 hours though and felt a bit faint at one point from the heat and standing up for ages but thankfully it passed..!
Today us 4 new to the house were taken to Effia Nkwanta regional hospital where i will be based for my 8 weeks on placement. We had to register, have a swine flu screening and meet the director of nursing, then got taken around the whole hospital and introduced to most people...was tiring but good to familiarise ourselves with it. It is large in terms of a hospital here but it is pretty shockingly basic, very crowded, people in corridors, not that clean and very basic resources and equipment! I will be spending 4 weeks on the children's ward, 1 week in A+E and 2 weeks in obstetrics and gynaecology. i will also be spending a week at the end of my placement in a rural village with community health workers there which will be really hard but a great experience. When we visited A+E it was absolutely so chaotic and i know that will be in particular a really tough week, we have been told a few hairy stories by the other 5 students already here about A+E, for example the roads here are really bad and there is an accident daily that comes into the emergency dept. But i know i will learn loads and it will be an experience and a half.
So tomorrow will be our first proper day on placement..quite nervous actually because it's so so different but i know i will only get out of it what i put in. also the longer you are in an area the better your relationship with the staff gets so hopefully after a week on the children's ward i will be doing a lot of stuff (and a lot of it i probably wouldn't ever do in england).
People here are really really friendly and haven't at all felt unsafe - in fact it feels safer than manchester sometimes! i do get a lot of stares because i am white, i havent seen anyother white people except the other students. we get a lot of children in particular staring and shouting 'obruni' which means white person, not a derogatory thing just trying to get your attention.
Anyway the internet cafe i am in is about to run out so i had better wrap it up, but will post on here again soon.
love ella xx
Monday, May 31, 2010
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