Where I am

I have arrived at the Baptist Medical Centre in Nalerigu, Ghana.  This is the same hospital where I lived and worked in 2012-13 and have travelled back to the last few years.  I left Accra early this morning on a 6am flight.  My friend, William Haun, who now lives at the BMC with his wife Heidi and their children travelled North with me.  I am used to making this trip on my own, so it was nice to have a travel companion.  His wife is the current surgeon at the hospital.  She picked us up in Tamale, the biggest city in the North, and then we travelled by car to Nalerigu.   

Ghana is located in West Africa and has a population of about 27 million people.  The capital, Accra, is located along the southern coast.  The official language of Ghana is English, but many still do not speak English and instead only speak their tribal language.  In the village where I work the language is Mampruli.  Ghana is this beautiful and strange combination of old world tradition meets modern development.  The cities are busy growing metropolitans were you can find the latest and greatest, while just outside in the villages people are still living in huts with mud floors. 

Nalerigu is in the Northern Region of the country and is one of the poorest areas.  The Northern Region is mostly undeveloped and is inhabited by people that live in small villages that are connected by a network of small dirt roads and foot paths.  These people make their living farming small plots of land that have been passed down through generations.  Nalerigu is considered a bush village.  It has hard to estimate the population but is probably about 1-2 thousand people.

The Baptist Medical Centre (BMC) is a very well respected mission hospital that was founded in 1958 by a general surgeon, Dr. George Faile.  It is currently a 123 bed hospital that serves the surrounding population of about 600,000 people, as well as people that travel from as far south as Accra and from neighboring countries like Burkina Faso and Mali to the north and Togo and Nigeria to the East.  In a given year about 60,0000 people are seen in the outpatient clinic, 10,000 people are hospitalized, 1,200 major operations are performed and 2,500-3,000 minor procedures are performed!  I am excited to have the opportunity to return again to the BMC.  

After being picked up at the airport, Heidi filled me in on the news of the hospital and also did a checkout of the patients.  She and her family are heading today to Burkina Faso, the country to the North of Ghana, because her son has a passport issue that needs to be worked out.  They do not know when they will be back so I will be holding down the fort.  This week I have a variety of hernias scheduled, a mastectomy for breast cancer is on the books for tomorrow.  A 5 year old boy, had an accident with a gun and shot off his middle and index finger.  She completed the amputation of the middle finger and attempted to save the index finger.  Right now it is not looking like it will survive, so that might have to be amputated this week.  There are a variety of post-operative patients on the wards I will be looking after.  After arriving at the BMC today, I basically threw my bags in a room and headed to the theatre and repaired three hernias!!  I am happy that I don't have much of a problem with jetlag, but I am looking forward to a nice nights sleep tonight! 

In Accra

I have arrived in Accra!  The flight over was long and uncomfortable, so I am happy to be here.  No matter how many times I arrive in country, what always surprises me is the heat that just hits you as soon as you walk off the plane.  We de-board on the tarmac and walk to the terminal which I don't think helps the situation, but pretty much as soon as you are here you start sweating from places that you didn't know could sweat!!

I am staying the night at the Baptist Rest House, it is basically like a hostel for missionaries coming and going from the country.  When I arrived the rest house was pretty quiet and looked like I would be the only guest.  I was a bit disappointed because in the past I have enjoyed meeting other travelers who are involved in projects around the country and in the neighboring Togo and Cote d'Ivoire.  Everyone knows everyone else in the Baptist missionary community.  Since I started coming here on my own through a different organization, I don't know everyone, but constantly hear names and stories.  It is nice when we would have a chance encounters in Accra, to place the face with the name. 

I decided to take nap for a few hours while I was waiting for my friend William to arrive from South Africa.  When I awoke a few hours later, a bit hot and sticky (because I didn't realize that I could run the AC for free here!), I was pleasantly surprised to see that another physician I know from Dallas was hanging out for a few hours prior to his flight out tonight.  We have not seen each other in a few years so it was great to catch up.  After William arrived, we all went down the road for some Chinese food because why wouldn't you want to eat Chinese food in Africa!
  

I am going to have an early night tonight, enjoying the AC in my room and will be picked up at 4:45 am, to head off to the airport for my flight to Tamale.

Ready to Go!!

I am packed and ready to go with 12 hours to spare . . . a record for me!  I have two 50 lbs bags packed tight with medical supplies and a few random gifts for friends in Ghana.  My clothes all fit into the Adidas bag, which is making me slightly nervous that I am leaving something very important behind.  Last year, I forgot to bring a stethoscope, I pretty big faux pa for a doctor and so I have made sure at least that is packed away safe this year.

I am excited to start my journey.  Tomorrow afternoon,  I will fly to DC and then from there to Accra, the capital of Ghana.  I will arrive in Ghana on Sunday morning.  I heard today that the next leg of my travels, a flight in country to a city in the North, Tamale, was cancelled (no explanation why . . . when you travel in Africa you just kinda get used to the fact that scheduled things are sometimes just optional).  So right now, I am not sure if I will be spending Sunday in Accra and heading up there on Monday or possibly catching a flight on another airline.  Being flexible with travel plans has certainly been something I have gotten used to over my years traveling to Ghana!!