day 3

we visited with First Lady of Ghana, Mrs. Mills, whom Sally met at Women Deliver conference last year in DC. Mrs. Mills was lovely, very authentic. she loved sally!.

we spoke about healthcare, the conference, education, children and a myriad of "girl talk" subjects.

first lady insisted that we had to visit Hakim, a Lebanese sliver shop. Lovely jewelry. The proprietress was so excited to see Sally, she thought she was Helen Mirren. We had lunch in the embassy area at Frankie's.

Views from the road... the condition of the roads are kidney busters...but lots of time to shop along the way and view how people make a living. Ghanian people are so friendly and polite, busy and entrepreneurial.

Interesting to see the Army doing target practice right along side the road. There is some major construction projects going on along with the bad roads. I loved the picture of the small dog sitting next to the oil tank.

By the way, the reason that my hair looked so dorky, my hairdryer burned up on the first day (even with converter)..literally smoke coming out of it.. we just stood in front of the giant fans.

Day 2

delivered the medical supplies to the clinic. The clinic/hospital provides multiple services. Primarily general medicine but today there were many pregnant women since Tuesday and Thursday are maternal classes. THis is a private hospital, considered very good. FUnding is provided via government insurance and private insurance by large businesses, like Barclays Bank.

Doris Anash was our contact, very committed to the young women coming for prenatal classes.  After Doris left to send off her sister back to Claremont, Californai, we spent time in the hospital side. THey have 2 private rooms and then 2 large rooms with 6 beds each. We observed how they conduct in patient services...very small and lots of sitting, we definitely did not need our sneakers.  Patients families bring food and buy the meds so definitely cuts down on the running around.

We are still figuring out how we can be of service since the approach and what is expected of nurses is different. Tomorrow we meet the First Lady of Ghana.

We did take time to walk with to the local school where the other volunteer, Sebastian, was working. The children are so beautiful and fun and full of hugs. I wanted to spend so much time there, but i was still tired from the flight.

day 1

Long flight from JFK to accra. we meant an interesting businessman, Michael Watson, who is in ghana reviewing business opportunities for american investors. He knows Dr. Farmer.

Our host met us at the airport on schedule.  met with torrential downpour. But it was a 2 hour ride to the "house" , way out of Accra. The road to our place is very muddy. strong smell of DDT for mosquito. We will see if we can manage in a VERY rustic place.

For example, when we got to the house after a 2 hour drive, there wasn't electricity nor running water. So i just took a nap. The water bureau only pumps water on Sat & Sun so everyone stores it in a 2 story PolyTank in the driveway and then pumps into tank on the roof which provides pressure for our daily cold shower. Since we are at the equator, a cold shower worked out just fine.

Our first dinner was french fries and one small piece of chicken. It was ok since we were tired and it was hot without air conditioning. so we just needed to get used to the warm temperature and the natural air conditioning that occurs when sweating...isn't that what Bikram yoga is?

Few more photos from our neighborhood.

Preparing for Ghana

I was surprised how many additional items were needed before going, mosquito nets, DEET, towel, before leaving. This should be the equipment that i can used for new adventures. Look forward to landing on Monday.