February 29th, 2016 - Some Insight on the Local Music and Poverty in the Area

Good Evening everyone,
I write good evening intentionally because the people that do speak English here never say hello, they only say good morning, good afternoon, and good evening depending on the time of day. It is actually a very friendly and welcoming way of greeting one another. Anyway I sit here writing at seven at night in order to explain an artistic aspect of the culture, along with an altogether understanding of the aspect of poverty in the places that I have traveled thus far.

Just in the last thirty minutes or so, I was sitting on the rooftop of my apartment building to here an oncoming car playing music that was far too loud to be the radio. As it got closer I realized that it was the well-known campaigning truck of one of the local regional politicians that is running for office in the upcoming election. His way of gaining attention and spreading the ideologies that make up his political platform is through the use of a three axle pick up truck with a DJ that sits on the roof of the truck with a turn table and laptop playing the most popular songs in Ghana. In between the songs, and sometimes overlaying the tracks, a woman speaks in the local dialect to explain what the politician plans to accomplish throughout his time in office. Music, and dancing, means everything here.

As I walk down the busiest street in Cape Coast, the street that connects the Castle and the Kotocraba Market center there is music playing from all directions. People are dancing in their shops and on the streets, and even dancing on their motorbikes as they pass the speakers that line the streets.Sometimes people don't even need music to dance. For example, when coming back from our weekend trip to Kokrobite a five year old girl, with no music playing, stood in front of our taxi dancing for a minute or two before finally moving out of the way. And don't be fooled, it is not just on this street that there is loud music playing at all times, it is everywhere. Yesterday at the swim meet that I attended with Reymo and my flatmates there was music playing so loudly next to my ears that I had to avoid walking in front of the speakers.

Across the street from my apartment building the owner of one of the local shops sets up a speaker tower that blares music into my room at night. Once again he plays the local favorite songs that are a part of the music genre known as hiplife. Some of the most popular artists are Bisa Kdei, Atom, Sarkodie, Shatta Wale, Poppykojo, and many more. I definitely suggest checking out some of the music that they play, its all that we listen to here when we attend events around the different cities that we visit. The song Mansa by Bisa Kdei is the most popular and most played song in the county and has been since November.

As for the poverty in the area, I must first explain the overall understanding of poverty in Ghana in general. Ghana is a country with a relatively well established middle class, only having a percentage of twenty percent of citizens living below their standardized poverty line. There are few people that I find begging in the street, but because I am an Ibruni (White man) little kids sometimes ask for one cedi, which is the equivalent of 0.25 cents just because they think I will give it to them. There are several people that live around my apartment that are unable to buy clothes and lay in the ditches on the side of the road, naked, to sleep at night. But there are really only two or three people that I have come across that live this type of lifestyle based on their socioeconomic standing. The most common aspect of begging that takes part in Ghana is not actually characterized as begging. In the more touristic areas, such as the Castle, Big Millie's in Kokrobite, the Castle in Elmina, and other places where Ibrunis hang out there are a lot of people that own small art shops. The men and women that own these small shops take part in attempting to get you to buy their things because they are so persistent and deliberately in your face. In many cases, if you try and talk with the people at these shops they won't let you leave until you purchase something so it is best to avoid them or avoid talking to them as much as possible. As I said though, on a daily basis I rarely run into people trying to sell me anything or trying to beg for money.

Separately from the aspect of poverty, there are a lot of people that make their money selling certain goods on the street for travelers from specific areas of the country. There are people that sell water, that sell clothes pins, people that sell shoe shine, dog muzzles and chains, bread, boiled eggs, plantain chips,fan ice (ice cream in a plastic bag), and stickers at stop lights and junctions between Accra and Cape Coast only to name a few of the items that I have seen so far. It is of great convenience while traveling, but these individuals make almost no profit off of the things that they sell causing them to work very long hours to make enough money for them to survive from day to day.

As for another cultural explanation for today's post I have chosen to write about the local system of travel from city to city. I have acknowledged some of the different ways of travel, being bus, tro-tro, share and drop taxi, but its more about the way they drive that I have taken to explain in this post. When traveling from Cape Coast to Elmina we take a drop taxi because it is a twenty-five minute drive and we can split the fare between the four people that we are traveling with. The total per person is five cedi, which is $1.25 by American standards. This is pretty expensive for transportation so we won't pay more than that to travel. When we went to Kokrobite and Accra we take a tro-tro, or mini-bus. These tro-tros range in amenities by two standards. There are "ford buses" and a normal non-categorized tro-tro. The "ford buses" are usually made by ford and have air conditioning and less seats that any other tro-tro. It is a more luxurious ride and costs a little bit more than the other tro-tros. To travel from Cape Coast to Accra on a "ford bus" it costs 20 cedis, takes about three hours, and I usually travel with a total of twelve passengers on four rows of seats. To travel from Cape Coast on a regular tro-tro it usually costs 13 cedis, takes three hours, and I travel with 32 people on six rows of seats. The regular tro-tros are bigger and place people in every place you can find throughout the bus. It is actually a lot of fun and I don't have a preference between a "ford bus" and a regular tro-tro.

A quick example, yesterday I rode back on a tro-tro with the swim team from Accra. We sat comfortable in each seat with about thirty people. The driver drove it in three hours, almost got in three oncoming collisions, one rear end collision, and drove 50 kmhs over the speed limit the entire time. The reason we almost got in three collisions is because there are almost no traffic laws here so people pass people at any time that they please. The big trucks drive at 75 kmhs so we could easily over take them. The driver yesterday was particular bad at passing which explains why we almost got in so many wrecks, but all of the drivers drive as quickly as the one did yesterday. The other tro-tro drivers I have driven with are just good drivers, where the man yesterday was the worst I have ever experienced. Just a little insight on traveling here in Ghana.

Have a good week in the cold states while the weather continues to warm up here with a change of the seasons. The sun has gotten much, much hotter over the last two weeks and will continue that way through the dry season. Wish me luck

First Month in Ghana - Some Pictures Taken by Pauline

February 28th, 2016 - Just Another Week in Ghana

           Throughout the past week or so everything has continued as normal throughout my life here in Ghana. Following my analysis and explanation regarding the different traumatic injuries and/or sicknesses I continued to visit the hospital pediatrics ward every day, but Friday, from eight in the morning until two in the afternoon. I did not attend work on Friday because it was the last day that Noah, my best friend here, had left in Cape Coast. He flew back to his home town of Copenhagen, Denmark on Friday night at 9:15. He left by tro-tro, or mini-bus, for Accra around one in the afternoon last Friday so we spent the morning together with the other people I live with that participate in the same project that  I do, Dora, Zaskia, and Lukas, and ate a last good-bye breakfast.

            As for my recent travels, on the weekend of the nineteenth of February I attended a University party with several well-known DJ’s from the capital city of Accra. There were news crews there filming the event as well as a lot of different groups of people that all attend the University. I went with the four people that I mentioned in the last paragraph and will my new apartment mate Reymo, who works for the NGO that I have explained in a previous post.

            After attending the University of Cape Coast party outside of town the five people now here with my organization all went to Stumble Inn in Elmina for Noa’s last weekend. It was one of his favorite places in Ghana, so as he wished we went to spend the night early Saturday morning through Sunday evening. Once again this place has a nice Africa feel, great prices, and stays relatively low key throughout the weekend as long as it is not a holiday. We slept in a dorm room Saturday night with two girls from Austria. Both spoke German and were nice girls to hang out with and meet on our travels.

            Last week, I also moved rooms from a bigger room in the apartment to a much smaller room that only has a bed inside along with a shower and a toilet. The toilet touches the end of the bed and when the shower is turned on the whole room gets wet so I tend to use the bathroom that is in the outside of the hallway. I had to move rooms because they are preforming construction in my room to fix a crack in the wall. Estimated completion time ranges from five days to three weeks, and it’s looking more like it will be three weeks because they only work for forty five minutes each day. The job could be completed in a couple hours, but Ghanaian time holds a form grip on the construction industry.

            Last weekend my friends and I stayed in Cape Coast on the Friday night and attended Oasis with all of the twenty volunteers that are here through different organizations. Fun night, but early night home because five of the volunteers, including myself, left for Accra the next morning at nine. Accra, being the capital city, is home to six million people. I had yet to travel there. Caroline, Camilla, Laerke, Peter and I all took a tro-tro there in the morning together to stay at the Ramada Inn on the beach in Accra. Caroline and Laerke are both from Denmark and here teaching through projects abroad. Camilla and Peter are from Denmark and Scotland respectively and are both here volunteering in nursing. I work with Peter at the Cape Coast teaching hospital The Ramada is a nice hotel with more amenities than some of the other places here in Ghana. We were able to sleep with air conditioning, which I haven’t really felt since I got here, and sit by the pool during the afternoon. At night we met some projects abroad volunteers that are stationed up north in the hills of Accra. They are there teaching. We met them at a nice restaurant downtown that was across the street from a KFC! This KFC is the first fast food restaurant I have seen here. The restaurant we ate at had real food too, with a steak and French fries being my meal of choice. This steak was also the first beef that I have had since I have been here in Ghana.

            I ended the night early once again in Accra because I was to arise at six in the morning on Sunday to meet Lukas, Dora, Zaskia, and Reymo at a military base in Accra at seven to help coach Reymo’s swim team in a regional swim competition. I have been volunteering with him on my own time after work throughout the last week or so, we all have. This way we are able to spend time with kids and really get to know them outside a hospital setting. They range from five years old to eighteen years old and there are thirty of them that participate in the lessons. I absolutely love these kids, and I am known as Uncle Lins amongst the group. The kids are taught in a seven meter long pool in Cape Coast that happens to be in one of the wealthier kid’s back yards. Today in Accra the kids entered, to compete in, an Olympic sized swimming pool of fifty meters for the first time. We stood up against some very wealthy and funded teams from Accra, but definitely held our own coming in first in several of the heats. And keep in mind that some of these kids had only ever been in a pool of seven meters before to train on their own. Great kids.

            Now I am on my way back home to Cape Coast on the bus with all of the kids that competed, my roommates, Reymo, and several of the parents of the kids from the swim team. The mother’s provided us all with food and water today.

            Lastly, I want to explain an aspect of the local culture that has to do with the food that we eat. There are many traditional, local dishes that we consume. We eat a lot of soup, goat meat, chicken, fish, rice, and beans. But the part that I want to explain is actually a “side” to the normal meal. There are four or five types of food that are added to soups, and served alongside the main courses. They are fufu, banku, kanke, and rice balls. The first three food items are created from Cassava, and plantain. Banku and Kanke are made from those two items and are fermented. These first three food items are either served with soup, or served alongside a dish, and are used as a “spoon.” Traditionally people here eat with their hands, so fufu, banku, and kanke are cupped in between the thumb and four finger to scoop the meal into the mouth. And the craziest part of all is that the food is known to taste terrible, so no one chews it. It is really just practical, cheap, and nutritious to a certain extent. It fills you up pretty quickly. Rice balls are balls of rice that are put into the soups that that have here to give a little filling. They are delicious and actually one of my favorite things to eat when in combination with the local soups.

            And as for the hospital, there is one new and interesting case that involves a ten year old boy that has been diagnosed with HIV, tuberculosis, malnutrition, and uncalled for seizures. This boy, Sherrif, has been on oxygen for over a week now and falls in and out of consciousness during the day and night. When he is conscious he suffers from seizures that none of the doctors have been able to explain at this point in time. The combination of HIV, tuberculosis, and malnutrition have weakened his immune system and is giving him a hard time when trying to fight the infection through the use of broad spectrum antibiotics. We hope he will pull through towards the middle of this week.

            That is all for this update and I will be back online in the near future. Wish me luck. And I know that my grammar and spelling is not always correct throughout these posts, but keep in mind that it is intentional in order to best explain my experience here in Ghana.

Pediatric Patients At Cape Coast Teaching Hospital, Ghana

Hello to all,
Now that I am almost completely adjusted to my new lifestyle here in Ghana, I am able to use my computer more often and keep everyone updated on my whereabouts and my new, everyday lifestyle. As I promised I will take this post to explain some of the ailments that the children in the pediatrics ward are diagnosed with at this very moment. I have been stationed in the pediatrics ward for three weeks and one day today. Below are some of the most interesting, on-going cases throughout the three week period.

Moses (7 years old)
-Moses entered the pediatrics ward just over two months ago. He has spent the two months, each and every day, undergoing care at Cape Coast Teaching Hospital. When Moses entered the ward two months ago the doctors were not sure what to diagnose, but it was very apparent that he had a "skin-eating" bacterial infection of his right arm. After a week or so, still not aware of how or what bacteria was causing his skin to disappear, the doctor's resorted to a removal of his skin in order to stop the spread of the infection and the bacteria throughout the rest of his body. Until I arrived in pediatrics three weeks ago, Moses was on broad spectrum antibiotics to kill the last of the infection. His arm was skinned down the muscular layer and he undergoes bandage changes about every three days. When I arrived three weeks ago, on the day I arrived, Moses went for surgery to undergo a skin graph in order to allow his arm to heal. Since then, he has suffered several infections that have contributed to the fact that he must go for another skin graph in a week or so. I have been able to assist with bandage changes, which now cover both thighs, his right calf, and of course his arm. Due to a lack of monetary funding Moses is unable to afford the correct dosage of pain medication causing the bandage changes to be particular painful. Today, Moses is suffering from another infection in his bicep due to an air pocket that was formed during a bandage change due to the lack of attention given at the time.

Veronica (8 years old)
-Veronica entered the pediatric ward just before I arrived three weeks ago. Veronica was hit by a car and suffers from severe skinning of her legs and her back. In order to fix the skinning, Veronica went for surgery to acquire a skin graph around the same time as Moses. Just like Moses she is unable to afford the correct pain medication, which, of course, calls for very painful bandage changes.

Janet (6 years old)
-Janet, another victim of a car on the treacherous roads here in Ghana, suffers from a severe injury to her right foot. Her injury, although not less severe than Veronica's invites a little more attention. When Janet was hit by the car two weeks ago she became trapped underneath it as it moved, thus shearing off one half of her foot. When the bandages are removed we are able to study the different bones that make up that half of her foot. She too suffers from little funding. When changing her bandages last week I was asked to hold her down so that she did not fight the change. My ear was close to her mouth, and her screaming caused me to fall dizzy and have to step away from the change for a couple minutes to recover. She is expected to go into surgery for a skin graph in the next couple of days.

Yusef (5 years old)
-Yusef, of course a victim of a car, also suffers from an injured right food. He suffered from a similar situation to Janet, but fortunately was not trapped underneath the car following the accident. Yusef's foot was skinned to the bone, but only suffers from minor orthopedic problems. He went for a skin graph today after undergoing wound cleansing and antibacterial treatment for one week and a half just like the others. Yusef has also been diagnosed with a severe case of autism. He is the happiest child in the ward at all times, including during his bandage changes. When we approach his bed every third day he hands us the bandages, undergoes no pain medication, and does not make a single sound throughout the change. He sits and looks at his wound, shaking until we are finished, laughs, and then says good bye each and every time.

Angel (3 years old)
-Angel's case is a little bit different than the others. She is not a victim of a car wreck and not undergoing treatment. Instead Angel was found in August of 2015 by a group of pigs following her parents decision to bury her alive. Angel is diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy, a mental handicap. Without any parents and without anyone to take care of her, Angel lives in the hospital. The doctors put together money each month to take care of her. She suffers from difficulty swallowing, lack of neck musculature, and does not obtain the ability to sit in an upright position due to the lack of training the nursing staff and the doctors have regarding children with the disability. In the old tradition, children with mental handicaps were believed to be related to the devil. This, is what the doctor's believe, to be the reason that her parents buried her alive on a farm outside of Cape Coast.

Blessing (5 years old)
- Blessing suffers from a broken ankle. She has spent two and a half weeks in the ward and is looking to be discharged soon. She remains in the hospital to undergo x-rays, but no bandage changes. She is a beautiful girl with pearly white teeth and a great attitude. I spent most of time with her throughout the day because she is always looking to talk, even though she can't understand me and I can't understand her.

Peter (5 years old)
-Peter suffers from lymphoma of his left cheek. He was admitted to the pediatric ward last Monday. His face is swollen due to the malignant tumor that exists in cheek. he is unable to open his eyes, eat, or talk because the tumor has completely overtaken his mouth, throat, and face. He was admitted to surgery last Wednesday to have part of the tumor removed and he is now waiting to undergo chemo therapy once he is well enough following the surgery. His teeth are pushed out of his mouth and he is completely disfigured, but completely there mentally, which makes things a little complex.

There are several other kids that have not been there for as long as the others that are undergoing treatment for malaria, meningitis, neck injuries, and brain injuries due to the fact that they have either been hit by a car or fallen out of a mango or coconut tree. One girl left two weeks ago that fell out of a coconut tree and suffered from a snapped elbow and a separated wrist. A very painful operation was preformed and she recovered after a month and a half. There are also many babies that are still waiting diagnoses because they are not keeping their weight and are suffering from malnutrition. As I come across more cases I will keep everyone updated. As I said before there are typically 20-30 patients in pediatrics, but these cases are the most interesting and the most talked about cases in the ward. I am always informed of all of the new cases as they arrive through ward rounds with the doctors, but too much writing requires too much reading.

February 19th, 2016 - After One Full Month in Ghana

Hello Everyone,
I sincerely apologize that I have not been updating my blog as often as I first promised! I have been so busy ever since the end of my first week here I have had trouble finding time to sit down and write about my experience in Ghana. All that aside, here is a little more about my experience so far.

After a month and four days here in Cape Coast Ghana I can go ahead and say that my departure date may be pushed back just a little bit longer than I thought it would be. I have loved this first month more than I could have ever imagined. I have made strong, life-long friendships with many of the other volunteers along with several of the Ghanaian people that I have met along the way. A twenty-four year old Ghanaian just moved in to the apartment across from the apartment that I live in, and he has become one of our greatest friends here. He runs an NGO program that contributes to teenage kids ability to swim and play basketball as an outlet from the street life here in Cape Coast. He has some really good ideas and is particularly passionate about what he does. Our new neighbor goes by Reymo, so whenever I discuss him that is what I will call him from now on.

Just last week Reymo invited Noah and I to play in a basketball tournament that was held at the local university, University of Cape Coast. Noah and I, without knowing what we were getting ourselves into, decided to head over and play on his basketball team. Unannounced to us it was a campus wide event with over 600 people there in support of the games! Noah and I were the only "Ibrunis," meaning whitemen, and we were able to play in full uniform for Reymo and his team. There were speakers lining the entire court that was surrounded by a five story tall dormitory where people lined the balconies to watch the game. Very cool experience.

Another one of our friends here, Stephen (26), asked Noah and I if we wanted to go downtown to watch the futbol game at the local cinema here in Cape Coast just last week. He explained to us that the cinema is only used to host futbol games and that there is always a pretty good turn out, and that there was. There were almost 300 people there to watch the game on the big screen. Everyone was extremely enthusiastic about there favored team, there was dancing, and a whole lot of cheering and "booing" every time something happened that the fans either supported or denied.

During the month that I have been here, Noah, Lukas, Pauline, and I also took a trip to Kokrobite, a small beach town just south of Accra. We stayed in a touristy place called Big Millie's Beach Resort that was a little too busy for my liking, but still a very good time. I was able to meet some other volunteers from a small northern village that are here through the projects abroad program. It turns out that they are actually coming to Cape Coast tomorrow so I plan to meet up with them for dinner and to hang out during the night. We will probably go to Oasis, the beach resort in town where I have become particularly friendly with the staff and the owner.

Apart from attending Oasis on Wednesdays with the other volunteers that live in Cape Coast, my friends and I have been able to check out different beach side restaurants and bars. There is the Orange Beach Bar that has a nice Rastafarian feel, and a hostel just next door where the owner hosts a bonfire every Tuesday on the beach. Kobe hosts the bonfire on Tuesday because he was born that day, and he celebrates his birth by playing music with his friends, while drinking palm wine. London Bridge is also a very popular area in town just towards the beach from Kotocraba. There are several local joints that we enjoy going to with Stephen, and two volunteers name Marie and Becci who are from Germany.

During the month that I have been here I also took a trip to Elmina Beach and stayed at the Stumble Inn for two nights and three days. This Inn was much more of my style. It is quiet, quaint, and calm. Noah, Lukas, Pauline, and I all went together where we relaxed, skim boarded, swam, and ate great food for the weekend. Easily one of my favorite places here so far.

Noah and I also took a trip to Cape Coast Castle just last week to take a tour to understand the historical importance of the site that we walk past almost every day. The tour was very impressive and our tour guide seemed to be particularly moved by the history that she had to share. The Castle was taken over by four empires and used, in its end, as a slave castle to export slaves to the Americas during the existence of the triangle trade route.

Pauline left last weekend to go back home to Switzerland before she leaves for South America in two weeks time. In taking her place, two new German girls have moved into the apartment that Lukas and I still call our own. They are very nice girls and we get along well. Lukas and I cooked Wednesday night, they cooked Thursday, and Noah is cooking tonight which altogether allows for the best three meals I have eaten here in Ghana so far that we have prepared ourselves.

As for my internship in the hospital, I moved from the Intensive Care Unit to the pediatrics ward just after my last post. I have been in pediatrics for almost a month now. I have absolutely loved my time there, and have witnessed some pretty traumatic injuries. Most of the children that come into pediatrics are suffering from trauma, not from illness, although we do have some cases of meningitis and malaria. The pediatrics ward is always full of patients, sometimes there being almost thirty patients in total, so I will only discuss the most interesting cases that I am able to deal with throughout the day. The patients I will create my own post for because some of their cases are complex and will require a lot of explaining.

And now for the cultural detail of the month. As I mentioned earlier, Kobe celebrates his birthday which is one a Tuesday. The name Kobe actually means "Tuesday Born." Most Ghanaian people have two names, if not more, that describe something about themselves. Either the day that they were born, the season that they were born, the order in their family that they were born, and so on and so forth. I am still learning the different names and their meanings, but each of the names has a male version and a female version. As you can guess, there are a lot of Kobe's (Tuesday), Fifi's (Friday), and others all running around Cape Coast. Because of this, if there are more than one person with the same name you just add their other name to the end. So this means that I am Kobe Lins, because here I have decided I was born on a Tuesday even though I am not entirely sure. People asked me as soon as I arrived and I didn't have time to find out so I went for it. We have to do that every once in a while here when we do not expect some of the cultural differences that they ask about!

I think I have covered most everything important from my last month and will get back to the blog soon with more updates and an analysis of the patients from the pediatrics ward. Wish me luck in my travels.