If you have a Bank of America debit card (like me), getting money will be a cinch in Ghana!
Barclay’s Bank ATMS are located all over the country, and will satisfy your withdrawal needs of all varieties. There is even one on campus, located across the street from Akuafo Hall, on the main road.
Once you arrive in Ghana, you probably won’t need money. In fact, for the first few days, all your meals and such are provided for. You can bring some US dollars to change at the airport, and I would recommend doing so because the airport has the 2nd best exchange rate in the country (#1 is the US Embassy, something we don’t have access to...). If you plan to change at the airport, bringing big bills will get you a better exchange rate than with 20s.
If you bring all cash, you can open a bank account at a bank on campus with the help of the assistants at the EAP office. Some people did this and were able to keep their money safely stored.
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
My Volunteer Experience at the Legon University Hospital
The Legon University Hospital consists of five buildings. There is an out patient clinic, a pediatric ward, two general wards- one for the general public and the other for the educated elite- namely professors and students from the university across the street, a maternity ward, a unit for emergencies and accidents, and a dental unit. The concrete structures, covered in yellow paint that is now peeling from either the daily humidity of the weather, or the from the various ticks of time. Regardless though, the hospital looks a little worn down. Each directory sign is overshadowed by large advertisements from the drink or product that has sponsored the development of the sign. However, despite the conditions of the facilities, nurses in pristinely white and freshly pressed white outfits parade around, reused file folders and ball point pens in hand. Doctors are scattered in various consulting rooms around the hospital, and you can tell where there are cause benches and lines of people crowd around these rooms, all waiting to see the same physician, hoping that today, the doctor will stay long enough to see them.
There’s the parking lot and out-patient clinic of the hospital.
Outpatient Clinic!
Sign in the OPD, leading to all the rooms.
The hospital’s only ambulance. I’m not sure how it works since for all five months I was there, all the landlines of the hospital were down and not working. As I was leaving, Ghana Telecom was purchased by a private British telecommunication company, Vodaphone. I heard about a national ambulance service, but no one could comment on how it worked or if it worked at all. :T
General Ward B.
Emergency and Accident’s Ward. There wasn’t even a sign labeling this building.
Nurses at the Children’s Ward.
Dr. Woode, the pediatrician.
In the Maternity Ward. This is where mothers and newborns are placed after they give birth. There are 4 mothers and newborn pairs to a room. It was empty today, so I took a picture.
It’s a really small hospital, but the nurses and doctors are all really nice. Despite being understaffed and underfunded, the hospital staff is pretty good at providing services to the local population, and about giving treatments even when patients can’t pay. Since it is affiliated with the University of Ghana, it receives funding from the government and from the university, which is enough to keep it running I suppose. While it may look a bit run down, so much happens in this place everyday, it was a really great place to volunteer and help out.
There’s the parking lot and out-patient clinic of the hospital.
Outpatient Clinic!
Sign in the OPD, leading to all the rooms.
The hospital’s only ambulance. I’m not sure how it works since for all five months I was there, all the landlines of the hospital were down and not working. As I was leaving, Ghana Telecom was purchased by a private British telecommunication company, Vodaphone. I heard about a national ambulance service, but no one could comment on how it worked or if it worked at all. :T
General Ward B.
Emergency and Accident’s Ward. There wasn’t even a sign labeling this building.
Nurses at the Children’s Ward.
Dr. Woode, the pediatrician.
In the Maternity Ward. This is where mothers and newborns are placed after they give birth. There are 4 mothers and newborn pairs to a room. It was empty today, so I took a picture.
It’s a really small hospital, but the nurses and doctors are all really nice. Despite being understaffed and underfunded, the hospital staff is pretty good at providing services to the local population, and about giving treatments even when patients can’t pay. Since it is affiliated with the University of Ghana, it receives funding from the government and from the university, which is enough to keep it running I suppose. While it may look a bit run down, so much happens in this place everyday, it was a really great place to volunteer and help out.
Sunday, June 7, 2009
Beautiful Volta Hall
Here are some pictures of the all-girls hall at the University of Ghana.
Each hall has their own slogan. Volta’s? Home of Ladies with Vision and Style. :)
Main Entrance to Volta Hall. The windows on top belong to the Volta Cafe- Volta Hall’s internet cafe. it was free for most of the year because it was undergoing repair.
*NOTE: if you want some side money, you can work for Jonathan and make ten cents a page typing up. other people’s homework. :)
Volta Hall Main Courtyard and Main Dining Room/Study Hall in the back.
Courtyard walk way to the rooms.
Residence Hall style dorms. Each room has two bunk beds and sleep 4 girls. All 4 girls share 1 desk, which is often times used as the “cooking table.”
Walk way to the executive suites, where they housed the foreign students and the Ghanaians who wanted more privacy in their room.
Window looking into our room.
My room! My roommate had the room in the back.
My roommate, me and [some of] our neighbors! :)
Each hall has their own slogan. Volta’s? Home of Ladies with Vision and Style. :)
Main Entrance to Volta Hall. The windows on top belong to the Volta Cafe- Volta Hall’s internet cafe. it was free for most of the year because it was undergoing repair.
*NOTE: if you want some side money, you can work for Jonathan and make ten cents a page typing up. other people’s homework. :)
Volta Hall Main Courtyard and Main Dining Room/Study Hall in the back.
Courtyard walk way to the rooms.
Residence Hall style dorms. Each room has two bunk beds and sleep 4 girls. All 4 girls share 1 desk, which is often times used as the “cooking table.”
Walk way to the executive suites, where they housed the foreign students and the Ghanaians who wanted more privacy in their room.
Window looking into our room.
My room! My roommate had the room in the back.
My roommate, me and [some of] our neighbors! :)
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
I got my hair done...
for less than three dollars!
So we were in the middle of Bolgatanga in the Upper East Region of Ghana. Ama had gotten her hair wet and was too embarrassed to go out so Megan and I took her to get her hair done. While we were there, I decided to get my hair braided too. I was too scared to braid everything, because i didn’t think it would look good, and I wouldn’t be able to put it down when I slept. Thus, I went for the half-braided, half-normal hair look and I must say, I really like it! :)
My scalp feels airy, and my hair feels cleaner! I would definitely recommend hair braiding for anyone who goes on trips where showers and hair-washing might be compromised. It kept my clean-freak side sane.
So we were in the middle of Bolgatanga in the Upper East Region of Ghana. Ama had gotten her hair wet and was too embarrassed to go out so Megan and I took her to get her hair done. While we were there, I decided to get my hair braided too. I was too scared to braid everything, because i didn’t think it would look good, and I wouldn’t be able to put it down when I slept. Thus, I went for the half-braided, half-normal hair look and I must say, I really like it! :)
My scalp feels airy, and my hair feels cleaner! I would definitely recommend hair braiding for anyone who goes on trips where showers and hair-washing might be compromised. It kept my clean-freak side sane.
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
A truly magical moment at the hospital..
Today, the head nurse at the surgical theatre decided I was ready. Ready to do what you say? Ready to deliver a baby of course!
WHATT?!?
I know, that’s what I thought. With no prior experience except a dozen observation opportunities, I scrubbed in reassured to know that the head nurse was standing next to me, and that the doctor was aware of my lack of credentials but was willing to guide me through the process.
All sterile and ready to go..
I hand the doctor the scalpel and watch him cut into the belly fat of the mother lying before me. If birth was not induced now through cesarean section, either the lives of the breeched twins or the life of the preeclamptic mother was on the line. As I stood there, handing over scalpels, forceps, and retractors, my nervousness and tension evaporated. Rather, my energy was focused on the doctor’s skillful hands as they cut into layers of tissue. As he told me to “hold here” and “pull-back there,” the mother transformed from a living, breathing human into a real-life anatomical map of all the systems and body parts I had been studying for so long in my physiology classes.
Before I knew it, a horizontal cut to the uterus revealed a fetal foot visible through a transparent placenta. Moments later, Dr. Michael McCarthy and I had successfully delivered a baby girl and her younger brother into their awaiting world, beginning at the hospital in the bustling, developing capital of Ghana.
Wow.
WHATT?!?
I know, that’s what I thought. With no prior experience except a dozen observation opportunities, I scrubbed in reassured to know that the head nurse was standing next to me, and that the doctor was aware of my lack of credentials but was willing to guide me through the process.
All sterile and ready to go..
I hand the doctor the scalpel and watch him cut into the belly fat of the mother lying before me. If birth was not induced now through cesarean section, either the lives of the breeched twins or the life of the preeclamptic mother was on the line. As I stood there, handing over scalpels, forceps, and retractors, my nervousness and tension evaporated. Rather, my energy was focused on the doctor’s skillful hands as they cut into layers of tissue. As he told me to “hold here” and “pull-back there,” the mother transformed from a living, breathing human into a real-life anatomical map of all the systems and body parts I had been studying for so long in my physiology classes.
Before I knew it, a horizontal cut to the uterus revealed a fetal foot visible through a transparent placenta. Moments later, Dr. Michael McCarthy and I had successfully delivered a baby girl and her younger brother into their awaiting world, beginning at the hospital in the bustling, developing capital of Ghana.
Wow.
Mishap...
Sorry for the long hiatus!!!
Usually when I am about to write an entry, I sit in my room, turn on my fan, and update on my laptop. :) Then, I save it on my trusty pen drive, walk over to the Volta Hall computer lab, and upload the entry onto blogger!
Howeverrrr, in the great month of April, my laptop slipped out of my closet and onto the hard concrete floor of my dorm room. OH noooooo!!
Unfortunately, nothing was saved. There's no place in Accra that fixes Macs. Well, there is one, but it's not certified by Apple and I am too scare of voiding any warranty so I will just wait until I get home to solve this problem. :(
Now I've been using the computer in the EAP office to finish assignments (no internet though) or sometimes, I'll pay for internet at the cafe (like I am now). There's not too much time left! Maybe I'll just give my final thoughts and pizzaz when I get home!
We made pancakes today!
We made pancakes this morning in celebration of Molly’s last day in Ghana! It tasted more like.. dough with chocolate, but with an improvised recipe and limited resources, it turned out pretty well! :)
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