Road Trip!

Kofi and I with my Godparents

Former U.N Secretary General Kofi Annan`s House!

A mountain! According to my Dad it is Ghana`s version of the Appalachians

My 3 weeks in Accra really flew by, I could not believe it was already time to head to the Northern part of Ghana. Before leaving, my Dad, Kofi and I met with my Godparents for the first time. It was wonderful to meet them. They were very close friends of my parents and played a huge role as mentors to both of them, and also organized my parents' wedding. I really enjoyed visiting them, it has been rare (actually non-existent) for me during my life to hear people reminisce about my parents' wedding or even to meet true mutual friends. I really liked hearing stories about my parents from like 25+ years ago. The next day (Monday of Week 4) I finished up my shopping for my mom, brother and friends. I bought necklaces, bracelets, keychains, dresses, a flag, futbol jerseys, carvings and so much more! I went shopping at a marketplace in Osu and it was lots of fun. That night my Dad had some nursing students flying in from Michigan, so we went with him to meet them at the airport. These nursing students were taking a rural community health course that had an international option, so the students on the trip along with their course instructor had chosen to do their hands-on portion in the rural community clinics of Tamale, Northern Ghana. It was so funny when they got off the plane and started sweating and complaining of the heat, Kofi and I had looked at each other and been like: "Oh I didn't find it that warm this evening. It's actually kind of cool right now". Kofi and I had really gotten used to the weather. That night we all stayed at the student hostel at the University of Ghana Legon campus. The next day, after breakfast we all set off for the north in a bus. Accra is along the coast of Ghana and our final destination, Tamale, is in the center of the Northern region of Ghana. We drove north and spent a night in Kumasi which is about halfway between Accra and Tamale (about a 6-7 hour drive). The countryside was beautiful! There was so much greenery! Lots of trees, hills and mountains! Although it was a long drive it was wonderful to see so much of Ghana`s countryside and small towns along the way.

African Union Day

During my last week in Accra (3rd week of my trip) I celebrated the holiday African Union Day. It falls on May 25th and to celebrate I went to watch a charity futbol match at the Accra stadium! It was so exciting! Stars from all over the world played to help raise money for peace initiatives all across Africa. It was Africa 11 (the best eleven players in Africa) versus World 11 (the best eleven players in the world...) It wasn't really the best players in the world but there were some renowned European stars I believe, however I don't follow soccer so I really don't know. I did however recognize most of the famous African players from Ghana's national team that played (so well) in the FIFA world cup. They are SO goodlooking in real life :). The game was great, sadly Africa 11 lost but it was all in the name of charity which was nice. I went to the game with one of the doctors that I worked with, and since he is a doctor he was able to actually go into the lockerroom of the players, meet and take picutres with all of them! AND later that evening before going out for sushi (of all things) my friend was able to get myself and a couple of girls staying at the hostel, into the hotel where the stars were staying! I got to meet Michael Essien who was the captain of the Africa 11 team and whom the charity game was actually named after! He plays for Chelsea and is one of the best soccer players in the world. I also got to meet Saloman Kalou (another Chelsea player) and this Spanish star who's name I have no idea. It was SO cool! They were such nice guys and obviously VERY attractive, we had a lot of fun meeting with them.  It was a great way to celebrate and to spend my last week in Accra before travelling around Northern Ghana.

Last Week at the Hospital

The Gynaecology Operating Room

The Gynaecology Clinic

The Blood Bank

So my last week at the hospital was a sad one, but also the peak of my hospital experience. On Mondays my team was on duty from 8:00am to more or less 12:00p.m the following day. The team was split up covering the obsetrics clinic, gynaecology clinic, maternity ward and the labour ward. I spent time shadowing in all areas, and obviously the labour ward was the COOLEST. It was incredible. I was lucky enough to SCRUB IN on TWO C-SECTIONS! It was the single most amazing thing EVER. I got to hold clamps, dab at blood and help squeeze out newborn babies!! I couldn't believe it! I loved every moment of the labour ward and working at the hospital in general. My entire experience at the hospital was unforgettable, all the doctors I worked with were great and all the patients were such strong beautiful, women :)

Visting Grandma's House

Kofi and I at Kakum National Park on the Canopywalk

My Cousins

Harvesting Plantain (Left to Right: Auntie Theresa, Auntie Agatha and Grandma)

Plantain!

Kofi helping my Auntie Josphine pound fufu

Frying plantain

Breakfast :)

Kofi, Grandma and I

Left to Right: Auntie Josephine, Auntie Theresa, Kofi, Anthony, Maame Ekuwa, Grandma, Me, Auntie Joanna and Auntie Agatha

Elmina Castle

Cape Coast Castle

The weekend after my birthday I travelled with my Dad and brother to Anomabo again and spent a night with my Auntie Mary and her two youngest children Efua and Kofi Essuman (my Auntie Mary was born on a Friday too so between them and us...it was a house full of Friday-borns). The next morning we went to church. My Dad attends the Seventh-day Adventist Church and they are Saturday worshipers so around 9:00 am we walked to church, which meant climbing up and down small hills and walking along a path for about 10 minutes while passing goats, chickens and pigs. The church (I didn't think to bring my camera) was a huge concrete structure with no fan or air conditioning (we had worked up a serious sweat by the time we reached the church because at 9:00 am it already felt like 30 degrees) and there were only about 15 or so members in the congregation. The entire 3-hour service was in Fante (the local dialect) and so naturally Kofi and I STRUGGLED to stay awake, but I enjoyed what I was awake for :P. Ghana, I have found, is VERY religious and although I don't consider myself very religious it is inspiring to see people have such a deep faith.
After church we returned to my Auntie's house, changed out of our church clothes and set off for Kakum National Park. The park is named after a river that runs through the remains of the only tropical rainforest in West Africa. It houses several rare and endangered species and to tour the park you walk along a series of narrow bridges in the forest canopy. The bridges are 130 feet high and were actually built by 6 Ghanians and 2 Canadians (woot woot!) in 1960. Apparently the bridges are strong enough to carry the weight of 2 elephants but it certainly didn't feel like it. To get up to the canopy we (I went with my 2 cousins and Kofi) had to climb up the side of a mountain; there were built-in stairs in the mountain side and it probably took 10 minutes at the most to get to the top, but to me it felt like at least 25 minutes. We were all sweating buckets by the time we got to the top, however it was totally worth it because the view alone was incredible. We didn't see any cool animals....a lot of them are nocturnal so the guide warned us we probably wouldn't see any but it was so fun walking along the canopy bridges! The Kakum National Park is another must see/experience in Ghana.
After the canopywalk we went back to my Auntie's house for a late lunch/early dinner of fufu. It was delicious of course and then my Dad drove Kofi and I to my Grandma's house where my Aunties Agatha and Theresa (from Tema) were staying for the weekend. This was the first time Kofi and I were visitng my Grandma at her home and my Auntie Joanna (one of my Mom's sisters who lives in Cape Coast) was also there waiting to meet us for the first time. I know I've mentioned before the nice feeling of visiting my family and seeing my baby pictures there and just feeling so welcome and 'at home'.....well my Grandma's house was no different. In the past when I've met my Grandma (she has visited us at least 2 or 3 times) she has always been very quiet and our conversations have always been somewhat limited because of the language barrier. She can understand English but my Mom explained that my Grandma gets nervous thinking she won't understand me when I start to speak (because I speak so fast) and so she freezes up a bit, and then doesn't take in anything I say, making conversations a bit difficult. When Kofi and I arrived at her house, I can tell you I have never seen my Grandma so happy and excited. She was talking a mile a minute saying over and over: "By the grace of God Efua and Kofi are finally home! Efua and Kofi in Cape Coast! I cannot believe it! Welcome! Akwaaba!" (which means welcome in Fante). She kept hugging us and of course brought out baby pictures, and served us food. Keep in mind Kofi and I were stuffed from the fufu we had just before leaving Anomabo so my Grandma brought us something "small", it was a plate full of fried chicken, jollof rice, french fries, vegetables, plantain....the plate was overflowing and this was something small. It was so nice visting with her, and also meeting my Auntie Joanna and her youngest son (of 3 sons) Anthony. We chatted for a few hours and then went to bed. The next morning we hung out in my Grandma's backyard where she has a small farm. She has plantain trees, sugar cane, chickens, fresh spinach and some other vegetation. Kofi and I were lucky enough to be visting during a time where she was harvesting some of her plantain! She and my Aunties used this giant machete to chop at the branches and pluck the stalks of plantain from the tree....it was very impressive. My Grandma definitely wins the Farmer of the Year Award with her bountiful crops and my Auntie Theresa wins Harvester of the Year Award with her use of the machete. That morning my Auntie Joanna stopped by again with her sons Anthony and Jude (her eldest son is studying at St. Augustine's High School, the school my Dad attended and where my Mom grew up) and my Mom's fourth sister my Auntie Josephine stopped by with her youngest of 2 daughters Maame Ekuwa. It was my first time meeting them as well and for the first time I was with all of my Mom's sisters! I wish my Mom had been there of course, it was wonderful seeing them together! After harvesting some plantain my Grandma took some eggs from her farm and along with my Auntie Agatha they prepared a nice breakfast with sausage, eggs, toast (the bread in Ghana....I'm going to do my best to bring some back....is thicker and sweeter and better) and some freshly harvested deep fried plantain (courtesy of my Auntie Theresa). It was all amazing!
After breakfast my Dad picked us up and took us to visit the Elmina and Cape Coast Slave Castles. We visited the Elmina Slave Castle first; it is 529 years old and absolutely beautiful. For the history lovers it (and Cape Coast Castle) are recognized by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site and are so worth seeing I cannot stress it enough. Elmina Castle was first built by the Portugese in the 15th century and was used as a place to sell and trade gold, silver and other tools and goods. After a couple hundred years the castle was attacked by the Dutch who then took control of the Castle and ran the slave trade from the castle. The Dutch also built the Cape Coast Castle which is just over 300 years old. When the European slave trade began to pick up speed the Elmina Castle had quickly changed from a place of trading goods, into a place to auction and sell slaves, hold in dungeons, and ship off to Europe and the Americas. In both castles Kofi and I toured the dungeons, the holding cells, the governor's quarters and the point of no return. The dungeons still smelled and were very dark with little to no ventilation. It was very interesting to see...it was like a museum but instead of fake exhibits or pictures, you were right there standing in one of the dark 8x10 dungeons where over 200 slaves truly were once chained and forced to eat (once or twice a day), sleep, urinate etc for 2 or 3 months before being shipped off. Another thing that struck me was that both castles had small museums and in addition to the exhibits of the history of Ghana and the slave trade, there were exhibits about Harriet Tubman, Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King Jr. etc. It dawned on me I guess the real meaning of African American history because their history really is the same history. I wasn't expecting to see anything 'American' but Africans, Ghanians at least, see the history of the Civil Rights Movement as an extension of their history....which it is, all of those leaders were descendants of the people that were captured and sold as slaves from Cape Coast. Visiting the castles really put things in perspective for me and made slavery seem more real and not a concept I learned in school. I also loved the architecture of the castles, not only in Ghana but all over Europe and in any former colony, the old buildings are stuning...they knew how to build back in the day. It was a packed weekend! Afterwards we went back to Accra to get ready for our last week at the hospital...

My 21st Birthday

Kwame and I :)

Kwame Nkrumah's tomb

Left to Right: Tulana, me, Jocelyn and Aesha

Supreme Court of Ghana

My birthday dinner

My Dad and I

May 18th was my 21st Birthday and I had a fabolous day. In the morning my Auntie Theresa delivered this amazing cake to the hostel we stayed at. The cake was on behalf of my Grandma, all my Aunties and my little cousins. Afterwards I set off downtown with my brother and 3 girls from Michigan staying at the hostel, Jocelyn, Tulana and Aesha. We toured the Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Center, the Arts Center and the Supreme Court of Ghana. Kwame Nkrumah was the first president of Ghana and the memorial site was beautiful. His tomb was there along with the tomb of his wife and there was a beautiful museum (in which you were not allowed to take pictures) which held pictures and artifacts of his entire life. It was very cool - a definite must see in Ghana. The Arts Center was also really nice - it was basically an outdoor marketplace with a lot of artwork, and clothing. The Supreme Court was also beautiful, I find a lot of the architecture of the buildings are very royal and castle like, but instead of the typical grey stone-castle-look, they're all this pretty white colour with intricate design (not just typical ivy creeping up the side). Afterwards, we went to dinner at this Italian pizza place called Mamma Mia's. In addition to myself, my dad and brother, and the girls from Michigan, 6 other Nigerian girls staying at the hostel, and a friend of my dad's joined us for dinner. It was SO good and so much fun. I brought along my cake so after dinner the whole restaurant sang happy birthday and we had my cake for dessert. To top things off, after we left the restaurant, the girls got together and bought me this gorgeous Ghanaian dress! It was SO nice of them I couldn't believe it! I of course must mention that it was the first time I was away from my Mom on my birthday and I really wish she could have been there, but it was definitely a 21st birthday to remember.

My Weekend in Tema

The display is for Heinekens selling for about 2 Ghana Cedis which is less than a $1.50 :)

Accra Shopping Mall

Our feast (after the fufu)

Lunch at Imperial Pekking Chinese Food (Left to Right: Kofi, Reggie, Thomas, Wesley and my Auntie Agatha)

My Auntie Theresa pounding fufu

Reggie and Wesley

Welcome to Tema

Thomas, Kofi and Wesley

Fufu

Sorry about the long, long delay! I have been without internet for over 2 weeks now! I have SO much to update! About my first day in surgery....it was incredible! I didn't get to scrub in during my first day in surgery (however I did get to eventually! :D) but it was an amazing experience. Sorry for those who aren't interested in blood and guts but I was just a few feet away from the operating table and it was the coolest thing I've ever seen. Even if I don't get into medical school and do not become a doctor it will always be the coolest thing I have ever seen. I mostly observed myomectomies - which is the removal of uterine fibroids and hysterectomies - the removal of the entire uterus, and what I like most about surgery is that although we have so much technology now, the art of medicine and surgery is centuries old and the mechanisms are still almost the exact same. In North America now a lot of surgeries are done through your belly button (like the removal of your appendix) to avoid unecessary scarring but in Ghana they're still done with a simple cut, dabbing away of blood, reaching in to take out the fibroid or uterus and sewing everything back up. It was so simple and practical yet very impressive since it took such fine motor skills to neatly sew everything back up. However, consistent with the theme throughout the hospital, there is a serious lack of doctors and technology even in their operating rooms! There are only so many anaesthesiologists so only so many can be performed in one day. The machines that let you know the patient's vitals during surgery are scarce. In the gynaecology theater there were only two machines, so only 2 surgeries at a time could be performed. Then one machine broke down so what they were doing was they would perform surgery in one theater and then prep a patient in the other, and wheel the machine over to that theater to use while they cleaned the first one, to be most efficient. However in wheeling the machine back and forth the cords were becoming loose...I'm not sure exactly why but what started happening was the machine would turn on and off during surgery! So they stopped performing surgeries unless in case of a life threatening emergency - I actually missed my last day of rotation in the theater because it was closed. It was all over the Ghana news that Korle Bu is supposed to be the biggest hospital in Ghana and they can't perform surgery for those who need it but are not dying. It's quite disturbing but it's the reality they face.
So my first day in theater was Friday the 13th, on Saturday my Auntie Agatha picked up Kofi and I to spend the weekend with her in Tema. Tema is a city less than an hour east of Accra. We met her kids for the first time, my cousins Thomas (7 years old), Reginald (4 years old) and my Auntie Theresa's son Wesley (4 years old- they all live together). She showed us around Accra a bit and took us to the Accra Shopping Mall, and treated us to Chinese food. Then the next day my Aunties prepared us this delicious feast with jollof rice, grilled chicken and fish and fufu - which  is a Ghanaian staple. It's kind of hard to describe but to make fufu you pound cassava (yams) and plantain together (it's tough work) and then you put it in a bowl with soup - either groundnut soup (which is peanut butter soup) or palmnut soup which is a native nut to Ghana, or goat meat soup etc. Then you add chicken or beef or fish and eat it with your hands. It's delicious but I tried fufu for the first time when I was about 6 years old, so I'm sure it is an acquired taste. They sell this fufu mixture you can cook with water on the stove top - for those Ghanians away from home that don't have a special spot in their backyard to pound fufu with their fufu-pounding-stick. It was a terrific weekend.