June 22, 2010
There are ton of things I still can’t figure out, but I have one that’s weighing a little heavier than the rest. Many of the doctors have been irritated with me for taking up a half hour of their time because there are pregnant women, some of whom are in labor, swarming the clinics and hospitals. That seems totally reasonable to me, especially since most of them didn’t know that they had to participate in an interview until an hour or so before. (Side note: they have secretaries here, but they don’t seem to do the same things as the United States secretaries.) The thing I don’t understand is that they don’t seem to be as excited about medicine and the science behind medicine and invested in patient safety as doctors in the United States. I know that the United States is famous for being lazy, but one of the things that I love about the medical field in the United States is that it does a pretty good job of drawing in the people who are very passionate about medicine. I’ve been discussing the medical admissions process with people from England, Norway, the Netherlands, and Switzerland and they go to medical school when they are 18 or so and then spend 6 or 7 years in medical school. I like the United States system because it allows more time for exposure to the field. When I was 18, I didn’t think that I wanted to be a doctor. It wasn’t until I was 19 that I decided on medicine, and that would have been too late for me in Ghana or any of those countries. So… anyway, it doesn’t seem like these doctors are living, breathing, and sleeping medicine. I guess that’s not good or bad, it just is.
Also, one huge turnoff of practicing medicine in the United States is that there are so many rules. Many doctors are terrified of being sued. Many more are afraid of breaking rules, even if it would be beneficial to the patient. Being in research, I have learned to hate the rulebook. Sitting through 3-hour meetings about how to handle lab rats and use dogs in research (neither of which I do) has driven me crazy, but I have to do it. Here, though, it seems like the system could benefit with some rules. Patient confidentiality: no way. In my interviewing adventures, I have intruded on at least 5 appointments (the doctor who is helping me led the way). These doctors tell me to sit down and wait until they’re done with the case, and then they continue talking to the women about prolapsed uteri or the best contraceptive of choice. Also, all the examining rooms are connected and air conditioned (they are lined up in a hallway that is open to the air), and Sabina (the doctor who is helping me) and I have walked through all of them to get to patients. It’s very bizarre to me, especially since these are all male doctors talking to women about reproductive issues. That is usually almost as confidential as mental health issues.
Another potential confidentiality issue: Forget the computerized medical records movement. The hospital here is using 6” x 9” packets (made out of the same material as blue books) that say “patient record” on them. As far as I can tell, the patient is responsible for bringing their record from the nurse to the doctor. I can’t tell if the patient is allowed to bring the record home with them, but I have seen thousands of patient records lying around, on desks, bookshelves, benches, everywhere.
My personal philosophy about patient confidentiality is that we need to lighten up a little and understand that everyone is human. My (very naïve, I’m sure) belief is that if everyone were able to be open about their diseases or conditions, those things would be less stigmatized. I understand why, in the United States, with media and tabloids and stigmas, medical records must be kept confidential. I guess my complaint about the system at this hospital is that it allows for so much error. Patients can pick up the wrong packet. The packets are hard to identify immediately, making alphabetical filing a nightmare and creating a situation where it is very easy to lose a record. Patients can lose the packet. Patients could alter their medical record, maybe to get drugs or a desired opinion from the doctor. Anyway, I think it is scary that patients have more than read-only access to their medical records.
The title of the post is what one of my earliest interviewees said to me. We later realized that the interviews only take approx. 20-30 minutes, but he kept telling me that he made a ton of money and didn’t have time for me. I thought it was a strange thing to say to a student researcher.
Ghanaian proverb of the day: It is the fool's sheep that break loose twice.
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Monday, June 14, 2010
Pictures
Ok so I wanted to upload images. But the connection must be too slow or something. I would have just uploaded Eva's pictures, and she's put some on her blog. SO... here's Eva's blogsite: http://www.evaghanawild.blogspot.com/
xxoo,
Erika
xxoo,
Erika
Sunday, June 13, 2010
“Like everyone says, ‘no woman, no cry.’”
Friday, June 11, 2010
These past three days have been really productive. I have interviewed 13 doctors and they have all been very nice and insightful. I have a total of 85 interviews to do, so I only have 72 left!!! Transcribing the interviews is already really hard because the Ghanaian accent is so strong. (Side note: Ghanaian is pronounced “GHA-nee-in” and not “ghah-NAY-in”).
There are a lot of things I can’t figure out, and I have seen a few troubling trends, but I don’t have time to write about them and I don’t want to offend anyone, so those scraps of ideas will be in the next entry and will be edited better. This one will be slightly more upbeat.
Anyway, I am really enjoying a lot of aspects of this country. Everyone says hello or good morning on the street, and I am constantly reminding myself that you can’t start a conversation with, “excuse me, where is the ATM?”… First, you need to say, “good afternoon! How are you?” I imagine that if I were an American businessman, I would be really annoyed that it takes so long to ask for directions or buy bread, but I am not usually running anywhere, and it is nice to have instant friends. There are so few white people in Ghana and Ghanaians waste no time in shouting “obruni” (white person) at you, but they are also very eager to help you and to teach you things about their culture.
I also really like how the birthing process seems more natural here. I’ve never been attracted to water birthing or the “doctors are evil and snatch babies so let’s give birth at home even though my pregnancy is high-risk” theory, so my reaction to this hospital’s practices surprised me. It is very cool to walk through the lying-in ward and see 8 newborns sleeping in a bed with their mothers. No IVs, no monitors, just mother and child (mostly girls, with already-pierced ears). It seems so natural. It is refreshing to see a very human scene in a non-sterile fashion. I know it’s not rainbows and butterflies—the national maternal mortality rate is terrifying and there are women scattered all over the floor of the ward because there aren’t enough beds for all of them. In the past 3 days, I’ve seen about 150 women who look like they are ready to burst. They are lying on the benches, in every chair, on the curb, in cots outside the operating theatre. Yesterday I saw a very pregnant women in a bed by the operating theatre and she was moaning and grabbing the IV pole—clearly in pain. The nurses completely ignored her and kept watching the World Cup channel. I don’t think it was out of cold-heartedness—I think that’s just how things are. You fight through the pain. The nurses don’t stoop to the level of pain. Women have been giving birth way before C-sections and epidurals and episiotomies. I guess they can handle it? It was a little unnerving though.
Right now I’m living with Eva, a rising UofM M2, in the Kumasi Catering RestHouse. She’s one of the most enthusiastic, optimistic, and appreciative people I have ever met. She is doing facility assessments of 8 rural district clinics; 4 that have obstetricians and 4 that don’t, so she will be traveling all over. (I don’t envy her for that…) This Wednesday, she’ll be moving to the Agroyesum clinic, a Catholic district hospital. I’m not sure where I’m going to live when she moves—the doubles are 75 GhC (Ghana Cedis – pronounced ‘seedies’), which is about $60. My budget allows for $25 a night, but I have no idea how long I need to be in Kumasi. I need to do 31 interviews in Kumasi and 54 interviews in Accra, so I’ll probably need more time in Accra. The rooms are $8/night at the hostel in Accra, so it should even out. Anyway, the head of Ob/Gyn at the Kumasi hospital is really adamant about getting Eva and me to move to the medical student hostel but I’m not sure whether that is on the KNUST (Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology) campus or at KATH (Komfo-Anokye Teaching Hospital). Right now I can walk to the hospital which is where all my interviews are, so it is really convenient. Both hostels are in Kumasi but I definitely don’t want to move to the University campus because I’d have to take a cab every morning, and I’m not really sure how to do that! Anyway, I have 13 of the 31 interviews completed, so maybe I’ll be done by next week and then can move to Accra. Who knows. Probably not. Ghana time is KILLER. I watched the opening ceremonies and half of the first game of the World Cup today in the Ob/Gyn office, only to be told an hour later that there were no more interviews today. I went home and took a much-needed nap (yes, Rachel, I was very grumpy afterwards).
I’m really glad I listened to the first Twi cd before I came. They definitely speak Twi here, but it seems to be a mixture of Twi and English (pronounced Chreeee and Bruofu, respectively). Eva and I met a guy selling acrylic paintings on canvases and he has tried to teach us how to speak a little Twi. So far, no marriage proposals like we expected (white people apparently tend to flatter themselves), but he did mention that there was ‘chemistry’ and if he came to the United States, he would be able to identify me immediately. Yea RIGHT! He showed us where to buy fruit, and at least by Ghana standards, he hasn’t been too hell-bent on making us buy any of his paintings. (So far, I like his paintings the best, and I’ll probably end up getting one. Some of his are really gorgeous.)
The title of the post, “Like everyone says, ‘no woman, no cry’” was said by one of the street vendors. He sells paintings. Apparently he also teaches painting at the orphanage and he went to the University of Ghana for a few years to study art, but Eva noticed that the paintings were all signed, “Frank” and he told us that his name was something like, “Akimbwafa” or something like that. He caught us as we were leaving Vic Baboo’s Café, which is a pretty safe bet for travelers. We saw a TON of obrunis there—4 white people! Anyway, this guy sets up shop right outside of Vic’s and gets the obruni crowd. After he showed us all of his work (despite our saying over and over that we weren’t looking to buy anything tonight), he launched into this Eminem and Bob Marley quoting rant about how we are all connected and we all love each other and we’re one spirit. Then he told us he was going to give us a surprise and give us 42% off the paintings. “We’re really not looking to buy anything” didn’t do anything—he started saying, “no, that’s okay. I just wanted to show you so if you respect my culture (‘cultaaaaaah’), you would show me and buy one” etc. He was very nice and taught us some Twi and said he would teach us how to drum. Apparently it’s a pretty hopping street on Saturday nights.
I have tons more to write, but a combination of NO INTERNET ACCESS ANYWHERE (AHHHHHH) and sleepiness is persuading me to stop rambling. Oh, and COMMENT!!! Even if you just say hi, it makes me feel like someone is actually reading this blog!!
Ghanaian proverb of the day: Rain wets a leopard’s skin, but it does not wash out the spots.
These past three days have been really productive. I have interviewed 13 doctors and they have all been very nice and insightful. I have a total of 85 interviews to do, so I only have 72 left!!! Transcribing the interviews is already really hard because the Ghanaian accent is so strong. (Side note: Ghanaian is pronounced “GHA-nee-in” and not “ghah-NAY-in”).
There are a lot of things I can’t figure out, and I have seen a few troubling trends, but I don’t have time to write about them and I don’t want to offend anyone, so those scraps of ideas will be in the next entry and will be edited better. This one will be slightly more upbeat.
Anyway, I am really enjoying a lot of aspects of this country. Everyone says hello or good morning on the street, and I am constantly reminding myself that you can’t start a conversation with, “excuse me, where is the ATM?”… First, you need to say, “good afternoon! How are you?” I imagine that if I were an American businessman, I would be really annoyed that it takes so long to ask for directions or buy bread, but I am not usually running anywhere, and it is nice to have instant friends. There are so few white people in Ghana and Ghanaians waste no time in shouting “obruni” (white person) at you, but they are also very eager to help you and to teach you things about their culture.
I also really like how the birthing process seems more natural here. I’ve never been attracted to water birthing or the “doctors are evil and snatch babies so let’s give birth at home even though my pregnancy is high-risk” theory, so my reaction to this hospital’s practices surprised me. It is very cool to walk through the lying-in ward and see 8 newborns sleeping in a bed with their mothers. No IVs, no monitors, just mother and child (mostly girls, with already-pierced ears). It seems so natural. It is refreshing to see a very human scene in a non-sterile fashion. I know it’s not rainbows and butterflies—the national maternal mortality rate is terrifying and there are women scattered all over the floor of the ward because there aren’t enough beds for all of them. In the past 3 days, I’ve seen about 150 women who look like they are ready to burst. They are lying on the benches, in every chair, on the curb, in cots outside the operating theatre. Yesterday I saw a very pregnant women in a bed by the operating theatre and she was moaning and grabbing the IV pole—clearly in pain. The nurses completely ignored her and kept watching the World Cup channel. I don’t think it was out of cold-heartedness—I think that’s just how things are. You fight through the pain. The nurses don’t stoop to the level of pain. Women have been giving birth way before C-sections and epidurals and episiotomies. I guess they can handle it? It was a little unnerving though.
Right now I’m living with Eva, a rising UofM M2, in the Kumasi Catering RestHouse. She’s one of the most enthusiastic, optimistic, and appreciative people I have ever met. She is doing facility assessments of 8 rural district clinics; 4 that have obstetricians and 4 that don’t, so she will be traveling all over. (I don’t envy her for that…) This Wednesday, she’ll be moving to the Agroyesum clinic, a Catholic district hospital. I’m not sure where I’m going to live when she moves—the doubles are 75 GhC (Ghana Cedis – pronounced ‘seedies’), which is about $60. My budget allows for $25 a night, but I have no idea how long I need to be in Kumasi. I need to do 31 interviews in Kumasi and 54 interviews in Accra, so I’ll probably need more time in Accra. The rooms are $8/night at the hostel in Accra, so it should even out. Anyway, the head of Ob/Gyn at the Kumasi hospital is really adamant about getting Eva and me to move to the medical student hostel but I’m not sure whether that is on the KNUST (Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology) campus or at KATH (Komfo-Anokye Teaching Hospital). Right now I can walk to the hospital which is where all my interviews are, so it is really convenient. Both hostels are in Kumasi but I definitely don’t want to move to the University campus because I’d have to take a cab every morning, and I’m not really sure how to do that! Anyway, I have 13 of the 31 interviews completed, so maybe I’ll be done by next week and then can move to Accra. Who knows. Probably not. Ghana time is KILLER. I watched the opening ceremonies and half of the first game of the World Cup today in the Ob/Gyn office, only to be told an hour later that there were no more interviews today. I went home and took a much-needed nap (yes, Rachel, I was very grumpy afterwards).
I’m really glad I listened to the first Twi cd before I came. They definitely speak Twi here, but it seems to be a mixture of Twi and English (pronounced Chreeee and Bruofu, respectively). Eva and I met a guy selling acrylic paintings on canvases and he has tried to teach us how to speak a little Twi. So far, no marriage proposals like we expected (white people apparently tend to flatter themselves), but he did mention that there was ‘chemistry’ and if he came to the United States, he would be able to identify me immediately. Yea RIGHT! He showed us where to buy fruit, and at least by Ghana standards, he hasn’t been too hell-bent on making us buy any of his paintings. (So far, I like his paintings the best, and I’ll probably end up getting one. Some of his are really gorgeous.)
The title of the post, “Like everyone says, ‘no woman, no cry’” was said by one of the street vendors. He sells paintings. Apparently he also teaches painting at the orphanage and he went to the University of Ghana for a few years to study art, but Eva noticed that the paintings were all signed, “Frank” and he told us that his name was something like, “Akimbwafa” or something like that. He caught us as we were leaving Vic Baboo’s Café, which is a pretty safe bet for travelers. We saw a TON of obrunis there—4 white people! Anyway, this guy sets up shop right outside of Vic’s and gets the obruni crowd. After he showed us all of his work (despite our saying over and over that we weren’t looking to buy anything tonight), he launched into this Eminem and Bob Marley quoting rant about how we are all connected and we all love each other and we’re one spirit. Then he told us he was going to give us a surprise and give us 42% off the paintings. “We’re really not looking to buy anything” didn’t do anything—he started saying, “no, that’s okay. I just wanted to show you so if you respect my culture (‘cultaaaaaah’), you would show me and buy one” etc. He was very nice and taught us some Twi and said he would teach us how to drum. Apparently it’s a pretty hopping street on Saturday nights.
I have tons more to write, but a combination of NO INTERNET ACCESS ANYWHERE (AHHHHHH) and sleepiness is persuading me to stop rambling. Oh, and COMMENT!!! Even if you just say hi, it makes me feel like someone is actually reading this blog!!
Ghanaian proverb of the day: Rain wets a leopard’s skin, but it does not wash out the spots.
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
I like your movement.
Monday, June 7, 2010
Last night was probably one of the top ten sleeps I’ve ever had. I went to bed at 8:00p (that’s 4:00p Ann Arbor time!!) and woke up briefly at 1:00a to heavy rain. Fast-forward to 7:30a when I wake up (feeling awesome). Shower. Brushing teeth is going to take some getting used to… Because you can’t drink the water, you have to rinse with bottled water and juggle stuff to make sure it doesn’t get wet. I had to do this in Peru, but I think my limited experience with sterility in the lab and hospital has made me paranoid.
Right now we’re waiting for Kofi to come. We think he said that he has a meeting here at 8:30, but he wasn’t clear whether the meeting was with hospital people or with us, or both, or neither. Deep breaths, no biggie. I’ll just keep writing.
I promise that this blog will not be so surface-level and detailed in the future. Right now I’m writing it so I can keep track of the date and all that stuff. Since I’ve been in the room for most of the time I’ve been in Accra, there aren’t any huge culture-shocks or ridiculous things on the street to report. I will need to work on my personal statement tonight but for now I just want to stay organized and not freak out about medical school. Depending on the speed of the internet connection, I’ll probably be able to post a picture or two for each entry. I don’t think internet cafes are wireless, so it will probably be a hassle to put pictures and stuff up, but I’ll try.
The title of this post, “I like your movement” was something that a guy said to Eva and me as we were exploring around the hostel. We appreciated the directness, thanked him, and kept walking.
Last night was probably one of the top ten sleeps I’ve ever had. I went to bed at 8:00p (that’s 4:00p Ann Arbor time!!) and woke up briefly at 1:00a to heavy rain. Fast-forward to 7:30a when I wake up (feeling awesome). Shower. Brushing teeth is going to take some getting used to… Because you can’t drink the water, you have to rinse with bottled water and juggle stuff to make sure it doesn’t get wet. I had to do this in Peru, but I think my limited experience with sterility in the lab and hospital has made me paranoid.
Right now we’re waiting for Kofi to come. We think he said that he has a meeting here at 8:30, but he wasn’t clear whether the meeting was with hospital people or with us, or both, or neither. Deep breaths, no biggie. I’ll just keep writing.
I promise that this blog will not be so surface-level and detailed in the future. Right now I’m writing it so I can keep track of the date and all that stuff. Since I’ve been in the room for most of the time I’ve been in Accra, there aren’t any huge culture-shocks or ridiculous things on the street to report. I will need to work on my personal statement tonight but for now I just want to stay organized and not freak out about medical school. Depending on the speed of the internet connection, I’ll probably be able to post a picture or two for each entry. I don’t think internet cafes are wireless, so it will probably be a hassle to put pictures and stuff up, but I’ll try.
The title of this post, “I like your movement” was something that a guy said to Eva and me as we were exploring around the hostel. We appreciated the directness, thanked him, and kept walking.
Akwaaba!
Sunday, June 6, 2010
Akwaaba to my blog!! I think the easiest way for this blog to stay organized is for me to write in either bullet points or chronological order. We’ll start with the chronology of the last 20 hours.
Saturday:
3:30p—my bags were PACKED in the car. An hour early.
4:30p—we pick up Eva and drive to the airport.
7:30p—I get on the plane to Atlanta.
11:30p—I get on the plane to Accra.
… fast-forward 11 hours. Not the best night’s sleep ever, but it’s fine. Side note: I think I might have airplane-induced RLS,
Sunday:
2:30p—(now we’re on Ghana time. 4 hours later than Michigan time.) We land. Get through “customs” and grab our bags. Kofi and Dr. Anderson were waiting for us at the airport. About 15 Ghanaian guys try to help Eva and me with our bags, even though we have Kofi who knows what he’s doing. We pay them, drive to an air-conditioned restaurant, drink some bottled water and establish an action plan for the next few days.
4:00p—We check into the international student hostel. It’s near the Teaching Hospital, which is where I’ll be doing stuff in July. Kofi introduced us to Ella, another UofM student who has already been here for 4 weeks. It was so great to see someone with a shirt that said “Michigan Volleyball” on it. It turns out that she went to Greenhills and knows Hannah. What a small world. When Eva wakes up from her nap, Ella, a grad student at Brown, Eva, and I will walk over to His Place, a restaurant down the street.
Anyway, we’re only here one night. Tomorrow we’ll fly to Kumasi and meet Dr. Anderson there, where he’ll introduce us to the hospital directors in Kumasi and then take us around to the clinics that Eva will be evaluating. That will probably be helpful because I think I’ll be traveling to those clinics at some point to interview the Ob/Gyns who work there.
Now on to scattered bullet-pointed thoughts:
• I like Accra. It reminds me of Lima, Peru in that it is dusty and filled with pollution from the cars, but there’s something about the city that makes me feel a little more optimistic. There are kids washing cars and selling things at every stoplight, just like in Lima, but they don’t seem as desperate. Maybe it’s because these kids speak English, and I’m sure I’ll see much more poverty in other places, but this place seems like it’s developing, not like it has tried to develop and then has been squashed down and stunted.
• I just took a shower. I didn’t have to sponge-bath or anything—there was a rusted handle and a shower spout. The water smelled vaguely of pond-water, but I was just happy to get all the sweat and airplane off of me. I’m not picky—as long as I can rinse my hair, I’m good. It is going to be so hard for me to remember not to open my mouth in the shower.
• Speaking of drinking shower water, I am PARCHED. I still haven’t taken my morning malaria pill and it’s almost 6:00p here. I hope Eva wakes up soon so we can go grab dinner and water.
• Mom, my cell phone number is: 011-233-24-707-7555. Right now I have like 2 minutes, but I’m going to buy some more ASAP. Kofi had phones ready for Eva and me—we’re using phones that previous UofM students have used. What a relief that we didn’t have to go get phones. I was worried about that.
In conclusion… nothing spectacular has happened, which is GREAT. No lost bags, no faulty visas, no plane crashes. I’ll take it. I’m excited about this summer. I’m glad that we have the night in Accra because I don’t feel like I have to explore and memorize street names and buy groceries and make phone calls and check my email and put my clothes in drawers and get my stuff organized. We’ll save that for tomorrow night.
Ghanaian proverb of the day: A child who asks questions does not become a fool.
Akwaaba to my blog!! I think the easiest way for this blog to stay organized is for me to write in either bullet points or chronological order. We’ll start with the chronology of the last 20 hours.
Saturday:
3:30p—my bags were PACKED in the car. An hour early.
4:30p—we pick up Eva and drive to the airport.
7:30p—I get on the plane to Atlanta.
11:30p—I get on the plane to Accra.
… fast-forward 11 hours. Not the best night’s sleep ever, but it’s fine. Side note: I think I might have airplane-induced RLS,
Sunday:
2:30p—(now we’re on Ghana time. 4 hours later than Michigan time.) We land. Get through “customs” and grab our bags. Kofi and Dr. Anderson were waiting for us at the airport. About 15 Ghanaian guys try to help Eva and me with our bags, even though we have Kofi who knows what he’s doing. We pay them, drive to an air-conditioned restaurant, drink some bottled water and establish an action plan for the next few days.
4:00p—We check into the international student hostel. It’s near the Teaching Hospital, which is where I’ll be doing stuff in July. Kofi introduced us to Ella, another UofM student who has already been here for 4 weeks. It was so great to see someone with a shirt that said “Michigan Volleyball” on it. It turns out that she went to Greenhills and knows Hannah. What a small world. When Eva wakes up from her nap, Ella, a grad student at Brown, Eva, and I will walk over to His Place, a restaurant down the street.
Anyway, we’re only here one night. Tomorrow we’ll fly to Kumasi and meet Dr. Anderson there, where he’ll introduce us to the hospital directors in Kumasi and then take us around to the clinics that Eva will be evaluating. That will probably be helpful because I think I’ll be traveling to those clinics at some point to interview the Ob/Gyns who work there.
Now on to scattered bullet-pointed thoughts:
• I like Accra. It reminds me of Lima, Peru in that it is dusty and filled with pollution from the cars, but there’s something about the city that makes me feel a little more optimistic. There are kids washing cars and selling things at every stoplight, just like in Lima, but they don’t seem as desperate. Maybe it’s because these kids speak English, and I’m sure I’ll see much more poverty in other places, but this place seems like it’s developing, not like it has tried to develop and then has been squashed down and stunted.
• I just took a shower. I didn’t have to sponge-bath or anything—there was a rusted handle and a shower spout. The water smelled vaguely of pond-water, but I was just happy to get all the sweat and airplane off of me. I’m not picky—as long as I can rinse my hair, I’m good. It is going to be so hard for me to remember not to open my mouth in the shower.
• Speaking of drinking shower water, I am PARCHED. I still haven’t taken my morning malaria pill and it’s almost 6:00p here. I hope Eva wakes up soon so we can go grab dinner and water.
• Mom, my cell phone number is: 011-233-24-707-7555. Right now I have like 2 minutes, but I’m going to buy some more ASAP. Kofi had phones ready for Eva and me—we’re using phones that previous UofM students have used. What a relief that we didn’t have to go get phones. I was worried about that.
In conclusion… nothing spectacular has happened, which is GREAT. No lost bags, no faulty visas, no plane crashes. I’ll take it. I’m excited about this summer. I’m glad that we have the night in Accra because I don’t feel like I have to explore and memorize street names and buy groceries and make phone calls and check my email and put my clothes in drawers and get my stuff organized. We’ll save that for tomorrow night.
Ghanaian proverb of the day: A child who asks questions does not become a fool.
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Visa Troubles
Hi faithful blog followers!
I've officially gotten my plane ticket!! I leave on June 5 and return on August 26.
Meanwhile, some interesting things have happened.
A few weeks ago, I woke up to my phone buzzing. Not recognizing the number, I sat up in bed and forced my eyes open and tried to make my voice sound perky.
“Hello?”
“HELLOOOHH. ES THIS ERIKAHH?”
“Yes this is! Hi!”
“I HAM FRAHM THE GHAANA CONSEEWLATE AND WE CANNOT ISSUE A VISAH AT THIS TIME.”
“Oh, okay. Um what was…. why not?”
“YOU WROTE OHN THE RECEIPT!! YOU DID NOT HAVE THE YELLUW FEVAH VACCINE! YOU CANNOT APPLY WEETHOUT HAVING A RETAHN TECKET! I CANNOT ISSUE YOU A VISAH!”
“Um okay. I’m really sorry.”
“YUS. YOU CANNOT WRITE ON THE RECEIPT. WE CANNOT ISSUE A VISA. YOU WAH NOOT SUPPOSED TO WRRITE ON THE RECEIPT!!!”
“Ok. I guess I’ll send another application when I have the other information.”
“YES. I AM SENDING YOAH THINGS BACK NOA. YOU CANNOT HAVE A VISA.”
“Ok. Thank you.”
“BYE!!”
“Um. Bye.”
Ooops.
The thing that really gets me is that she seemed the most angry about the fact that I wrote on the print-out copy of the website. This paper had no indication that it was too valuable and important to have anything written on it. All it said was, “Thank you, BOOTHMAN. Your confirmation number is ####, please include this in your application, along with the things listed above.” They weren’t concerned about my staying in Ghana indefinitely and taking their jobs (i.e. no return plane ticket) or bringing Yellow Fever into their country – side note: proof of Yellow Fever vaccination is required by law to get into Ghana. Interesting. But NO. She was upset that I wrote a little note saying, “this is where I’ll be staying, feel free to call me at this number if you have any problems, I’m enclosing proof of sufficient funds. Thank you so much.”
So much for all Ghanaians being exceptionally hospitable and amiable and loving and sweet all the time. Turns out, they’re not 100% perfect, like my pocket-sized Ghana guidebook made me think. My mom told me not to write that on here because it might offend some Ghanaians. To that, I say, every human is … well…. human, and everyone has bad days. I’m pretty sure that Ghanaians are not exempt from that. And that’s totally okay. And I’m glad that I had a hyper-accelerated opportunity to practice understanding the Ghanaian accent, especially while I was groggy and while she was talking REALLY fast. I think, all things considered, I did pretty well.
Anyway, that mistake cost me about $50 in shipping, but the Consulate was nice enough to send back my $50 bank order unscathed and uncashed. What an adventure. I am learning so much already about governments and visas. I have a feeling that my real-world education isn’t over yet.
I actually created a post to talk about something else (vaccines, I think), but that needs to wait until later. I’m tired and am trying to limit my posts to a page (single-spaced, in a Word doc.). I’m making progress on my checklist, though.
Here are the things I’ve accomplished:
- Vaccines!
- Buy plane ticket
- Done LOTS of hard work on the survey questionnaire
- Submitted a (hopefully successful) visa application
- Start eating meat :-/
- Performed a trial interview with two Ghanaian physicians who are doing their fellowship here. On a scale of 1 to awkward, it was a little beyond awkward. Some of my questions (ex: abortions, contraceptives) are a little too blunt and need to be revised. Oh well—they were very good sports about it, and hopefully I’ve worked out some of the major kinks of the process.
I still need to:
- Email program directors to introduce myself... maybe try to get the list of people I'm interviewing? (fingers crossed!)
- Keep eating meat :-/
- Finish survey questionnaire
- Learn to speak Twi ("Uti bruofu annnaaa?" "Yes, I do speak English!!")
- Write personal statement; start/finish medical school applications
- Graduate college
Ghanaian proverb of the day: “If you do not utter insulting words into a hole in a tree, the leaves of the tree will not shake.”
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Welcome to my blog!
Hi all!
This is my blog, started because I'm going to Ghana in a few months. I can't promise that I'll only write about my trip and work in Ghana, but I will definitely try to update often when I'm in Ghana. So... to get everyone on the same page, I'm going to answer some burning questions that I know you all have:
When will you be gone?
I'm leaving sometime in June and will return sometime in September. It will probably take about 3 months to finish my project. I'm not allowed to come home until I finish (kidding, kind of).
Where is Ghana?
Ghana is in western Africa. It is the closest country to the coordinates (0,0). It has the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and is bordered by Cote d'Ivoire, Togo, and Burkina Faso.
Why are you going to Ghana?
Funny you should ask. Here's a little blurb that I wrote up for one of the funding proposals:
What are some important things to know about Ghana?
Checklist for things to do before leaving:
Love,
Erika
Ghanaian proverb of the day: "When you are sitting in your own house, you do not learn anything. You must leave your house to learn."
This is my blog, started because I'm going to Ghana in a few months. I can't promise that I'll only write about my trip and work in Ghana, but I will definitely try to update often when I'm in Ghana. So... to get everyone on the same page, I'm going to answer some burning questions that I know you all have:
When will you be gone?
I'm leaving sometime in June and will return sometime in September. It will probably take about 3 months to finish my project. I'm not allowed to come home until I finish (kidding, kind of).
Where is Ghana?
Ghana is in western Africa. It is the closest country to the coordinates (0,0). It has the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and is bordered by Cote d'Ivoire, Togo, and Burkina Faso.
Why are you going to Ghana?
Funny you should ask. Here's a little blurb that I wrote up for one of the funding proposals:
Like many other countries in Africa, Ghana has two major factors working against the improvement of women’s reproductive health. The lack of sufficient medical schools and the extremely low repatriation rate of physicians trained outside the country contribute to Ghana’s high maternal mortality rate. In 1986, the American College of Ob/Gyns and the Royal College of Ob/Gyns came together and, with the support of the Carnegie Corporation, developed a residency program in obstetrics and gynecology in the hopes of correcting the abysmal maternal mortality and morbidity rates. The graduates of the program are expected to perform clinical work, teach and train other reproductive health workers, and perform independent research.
This program is a 5-year process, with FWACS (Fellowship of the West African College of Surgeons) certification awarded to successful residents upon completion. FWACS requires a 4-year program; however, an extra year is incorporated into the training during which the students spend three months in a hospital management course in the US or UK, and spend six months in rural Ghana. Based on interviews performed in 2006, this extra year is instrumental in the physicians’ training. The time spent outside Ghana helps to demystify rumors that Ob/Gyn practice in the US and UK is radically more developed than in Ghana. Many interviewees stated that the externship gave them the confidence that they were not missing anything by remaining in Ghana.
The goal of this research project is to determine the overall public health effect on Ghana of this postgraduate program. This program has already proven to be successful in the retention rate of the physicians. As of November 2006, 37 of the 38 specialists remained in Ghana. We hypothesize that these graduates have established far-reaching practices and have drastically improved the reproductive health in the areas that they serve. No detailed research has been done to follow up on each graduate’s location, education, research, and treatment of his or her patients. Through this project, we hope to perform structured interviews with as many of the 70-some graduates as possible. The interviews will give us a better idea of the efficacy of the postgraduate program.
What are some important things to know about Ghana?
- Ghana was the first sub-Saharan country to gain independence (in 1957, from the United Kingdom).
- Ghana was not colonized by the French like the surrounding countries. Not very many people speak French in Ghana (thank GOD).
- Ghana has been politically stable for a while, and is often cited as the best country to visit if you're a first-time traveler to Africa. It's one of the safest countries in Africa.
- Ghana is the size of Minnesota and has a population of 21 million people.
Checklist for things to do before leaving:
- Vaccines!
- Buy plane ticket
- Email program directors to introduce myself... maybe try to get the list of people I'm interviewing? (fingers crossed!)
- Develop survey questionnaire
- Start eating meat :-/
- Learn to speak Twi ("Uti bruofu annnaaa?" "Yes, I do speak English!!")
- Write personal statement; start/finish medical school applications
- Graduate college
Love,
Erika
Ghanaian proverb of the day: "When you are sitting in your own house, you do not learn anything. You must leave your house to learn."
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)