Experiencing Life

Life has been pretty busy since I last posted. In the past 3 ½ weeks, I’ve traveled essentially the whole of three countries: Ghana, Togo, and Burkina Faso. Although I initially didn’t plan on doing such extensive traveling, it has definitely been one of the best decisions I’ve made. I’ve learned so much in the past few weeks; I’m sure it’s more than even I realize at this point.

Northern Ghana

There are certain trends that history and modernization have carved out in West Africa. In general, the coastal south is predominately Christian and the north, Muslim. This is largely due to the path of European exploration and colonization. The Western Europeans, mainly Britain and France, came by boat along the coast, bringing with them their Christian teachings. The Muslims brought their teachings down with the caravans of salt through the desert from the north.

In Ghana, the capital, Accra, is in the middle of the southern coast. There are signs of modernization everywhere. At times, I even look out the window and think I could be driving along a road back in the States. Then I look out the other window and know I am definitely in Africa. People wear a combination of traditional Ghanaian fabrics and modern styles like clothes you would see in most Western nations.

Our trip throughout Ghana commenced with a 12-hour bus journey to the north. I watched as the landscape turned from the flat coast to the beautiful hills of central Ghana. Along with the landscape, the people and villages changed too. In Tamale, a larger city in the north, I noticed how many more women were wearing the traditional fabrics. Everywhere I looked my eyes filled with the bold colors and patterns.

Our first stop was Mole National Park, where we saw wart hogs (Disney took some liberties to beautify Pumba), antelope, and elephants. We stood about 30 meters from a group of five elephants. Later we toured Larabanga, a 100% Muslim village that sits right outside the park, and stayed at the Salia Brothers Guesthouse. One of the Salias won the opportunity to go to a leadership course at Columbia University in New York. He has done wonders for the village of Larabanga from building the tourism market in a dignified way, to settling disputes. He offered great insight on the effects the formation of Mole National Park had on the surrounding communities. Although the government drew the line on the national park right along the edge of Larabanga as not to displace the village, they still cordoned off their farmland. The people are used to going into their backyard to kill their dinner but are now told that it is illegal to kill these protected animals. Even though they did not have to leave their homes, the park had and still has great effects on the community.

On our way back to the south, we stopped at a place in Nkoranza called Operation Hand in Hand, which is a community for homeless disabled children. It sits on an expansive, beautiful piece of land behind the town’s hospital. It was started by three Ghanaians and one Dutch doctor. (The Dutch doctor is also the woman that introduced health care insurance to Ghana!) Hand in Hand was one of the highlights of my trip. It’s so great to see a community like this in an area where people usually discard children born with disabilities. Hand in Hand is set up so that one caretaker has from one to three children that they essentially parent. They become families, living with the children. They have a workshop where the kids make and string beads, and weave fabrics on looms. Their days adhere to a strict schedule to allow the kids they stability they need. There are game rooms, a siesta room, and they watch a movie every night at 7:00. There is a government-funded school on the premises specifically for the disabled children, and they have begun to take kids from the town as well. We stayed in the guesthouses that they have built as a way to generate income. They also sell the products the kids make in a shop.

Our next stop was Kumasi, the second biggest city in Ghana. They have a huge market with almost anything that you would want to buy. They had beautiful fabrics! I’m in love with all the different colors and patterns. Although I’m used to it, I still hate walking through the meat section of the market, with fish scales flying and raw meat covered in flies. If you’re one for people watching like I am, the market is the place to do it.

It was amazing to see the north and see the cultural differences throughout the nation. It’s so much more peaceful outside the bustle of Accra. At the end of it all though, it was good to be back home. For a day anyway.

Togo

One jollof rice and chicken dinner later, we were back on the road heading east towards Togo. Overall, I really enjoyed my time in Togo, but not being able to speak much French, I wasn’t able to talk to people much about their culture. I was just moving through a country and observing, rather than experiencing it the way I have been in Ghana.

We visited Togoville, Togo’s namesake, in the east first. It is known for its animist beliefs (Voodoo). Our guide explained many of the fetishes and how they are used. He mentioned that if someone gets a snakebite, they place him in front of a particular fetish and leave them for three days. I asked if they believe in/ use western medicine, but he never answered me directly. Dr. Paul Farmer said the in Haiti they might believe someone cursed them and made them ill, but they trusted western medicine to treat them. I was wondering how medicine was integrated into the Togoville community, but alas, could never get a straight answer.

In Tamberma Valley in the north of Togo, we visited the Tata villages. They are a very specific type of compound unique to the area. The people came from Burkina Faso long ago and settled here. The village was one of the most amazing things I’ve ever seen, but it is really hard to explain with out pictures of the compounds! I’ve been sitting here trying to figure out how to explain them but can’t seem to do them justice, so I’ll have to do it with pictures when I get back.

Burkina Faso

Because of the rainy season, much of what we planned to see in the southwest was going to be inaccessible due to poor roads. The capital of Burkina, Ouagadougou (pronounced Wag-a-doo-goo), is a very interesting city. Burkina is the third poorest nation in the world, and much of the old city reflects that. The current government, however, has come up with a plan to rebuild the city completely. They just bulldozed large portions of the city and replacing the old with new buildings, none less than four stories. This resulted in random sections of the city being piles of dirt, then an oasis of bright lights and shiny buildings. The main boulevard was so clean and the buildings so big, boasting their neon lights. It was incredibly nice, but it also felt incredibly out of place. (Especially the Palm Beach Hotel in land-locked Burkina)

The remainder of our time in Burkina was filled with the Gorom-Gorom Thursday market and camel rides in the desert. The market is famous in West Africa and very different from any I had seen thus far. Most of the men wore turbans, each different fabric representing their ethnic group. The Tuareg wear indigo and the Bella (the Tuareg’s former slaves) wear black. The Fulani men wear a two-toned blue/indigo turban, whereas their women are distinguished by their elaborate, colorful dresses and distinct accessories.

Back in Accra

Both Togo and Burkina were so different from Ghana, from the food, to the buildings, the transportation. This is largely due to the French influences versus the British influence. It’s been really interesting to see the effects of the colonization and modernization in different countries.

I know I’ve learned so much over my whirlwind tour through three countries, but I’m still processing it all.

Revisiting the Operating Room

I made an observation in my last post about how the draping, or lack there of, in the OR here allows the face to show. I said it brings the humanity back to the practice. But there was a part of me that held that thought and tumbled it around in my brain. Of course, there’s a reason other than being cold and heartless that we drape the face in the States. Ironically, a few days later, I was reading How We Live by Dr. Sherwin Nuland, and he addressed exactly that issue. Reading his description was like reading the words out of my mind, but he puts it so perfectly, I’ll let him explain: “There are reasons both medical and emotional that surgeons drape an incision site so closely that nothing else human can be seen, as well as hide their patient’s sleeping face behind a cloth screen. Those reasons go far beyond the prevention of infection, and the most critical of them is to maintain detachment from the intimidating reality of what they are doing to a man or woman made very much like themselves. The greater the danger, the greater the need for distance. Never is that more true than when we are fighting for a life.”

Next Up

A week from Saturday I will be going with a doctor that is coming over fro the States to help set up a clinic in a village outside of Accra. I’m really looking forward to comparing a rural medical setting to the urban, government hospital that I’ve been working at in Accra.

When I get back, I’ll have less than a week before I go back home. I can’t believe it’s almost over already!