Volunteering in Leklebi Duga Health Clinic

Duga Health Clinic is a small healthcare facility providing basic services such as diagnosis and treatment of minor diseases, dispensing medicines, routine vaccination programme, antenatal and postnatal care. The medical staff includes one medical practitioner, two nurses and housemaster. One of the major services provided by clinic is childhood routine immunization according to the Immunization schedule. Me and Jana, the other volunteer and  coincidentally my namesake, assist medical staff while providing vaccination. Ghanaian vaccination schedule is similar to European one, although it includes BCG vaccine against tuberculosis and yellow fever vaccine, which are not routinely given in European countries. Important part of childˈs health assessment represents the monthly weighing of children under the age of 5. The measurements are entered into Weight-Age diagram which helps to indicate the risk of becoming underweight or malnourished. We weigh children using an old type of scale (we have to „hang“ children on a string, that is attached to scales), which makes kids nervous and tearful. Unlike my previous experiences in dispensing medicines, the most prescribed drugs are not lipid-regulating or antihypertension drugs but antimalarials. We diagnose minimum three cases of malaria daily, fortunately there is an effective treatment available in a form of the combination of Artesunate 100mg and Amodiaquine 270 mg (2 tablets daily for three days) or the combination of Artemether 20 mg and Lumefantrine 120 mg (4 tablets initially, followed by 5 further doses of 4 tablets each given at 8, 24, 36, 48 and 60 hours). Medical practitioner operates with a limited list of medications which involves less than 50 items. For example the only available drug for high blood pressure is bendroflumethiazide and the selection of antibiotics is also quite narrow. Those patients who require more specialized treatment are send to the district hospital in Hohoe. In a case of emergency there are no ambulances available in the area, the only way of transport to the hospital is by taking taxi, tro tro or motorbike.

We participated in the programme called Ghana National Immunization Days (NIDs from 22nd to 24th of October). Our task was to visit every house in Agbesia and give polio vaccine to every child aged 0 to 59 months. Polio vaccine is taken orally (two drops). We also gave vitamin A oral liquid preparation to every child from 6 to 59 months. The other part of programme was to search for any cases of guinea worm infection, when we asked people if they had seen anyone with this particular condition (we showed them a picture of a quite nasty looking guinea worm infection). Fortunately it seems that there are no new cases of the infection in Agbesia. The number of vaccinated children was recorded to the tally sheet and we managed to give polio to more than 200 children. 

Life in a Ghanaian village

After a week in Accra I was moved to a village called Agbesia in Volta region, where I joined other volunteers from OSDA. They all come from Germany and they are supporting teachers in local junior high school and senior high school. They teach ICT (information and communications technology), however the schools are lacking computers and there is often a power blackout. It is extremely difficult to explain students how to send an e-mail or create a text document without using an actual computer. Moreover, pupils are also missing text books, for example in one class with 30 students there are only 4 text books available. The Ghanaian teachers are still using canes as a form of physical punishment. The typical school day starts at 8.00 am and finishes at 2.00 pm with an hour long lunch break. Students wear uniforms, which were purchased by OSDA and the organization plans to raise money for the footwear as well. Although there is still so much work to do, volunteers are trying their best to improve conditions and the level of education in Agbesia. One of the volunteers is positioned in a local health clinic, where she works together with the medical staff. The major health issue is malaria, which is responsible for the most cases of hospitalization in Ghana. Malaria test kits are available in clinics and pharmacies. The test helps to indicate if you are positive or negative in less then 15 minutes. The health clinic I work for is located in Have, which is a small town near Agbesia. My duties involve dispensing of prescribed medications, counseling patients and assisting the other medical staff. The clinic is very busy, providing care for 50 to 100 patients a day. I will mention more about my work in a different post.
In my opinion, the village seems like a much nicer and healthier place to stay comparing to Accra. There is less garbage in the streets, lots of fresh fruits and vegetables from local farms and very friendly atmosphere. Agbesia is surrounded by farms and rainforests and the major attraction is Aflabo waterfall. Me and other volunteers went to see the waterfall and it was amazing. The pathway to the waterfall leads through the rainforest and through the small caves. It requires good hiking shoes but our friend from local village went barefoot. When we came back from the trip village people cared to mention that the local forest is full of poisonous snakes and their bite can kill within 3 minutes. Good to know!

                              Agbesia primary school and kindergarten.

                             Simone is teaching ICT (and sometimes German). There are no 
                             computers in the class.

                             The school playground.

                             Agbesia rainforest. 

                               Aflabo waterfall.

                               The villagers in Agbesia live in modest conditions.

                               Two stripes in the test indicate malaria, one strip means negative result.

                              Kids in Agblesia are always happy to meet "javu" or white person in ewe 
                              language. 

First days in Ghana

Upon my arrival to Accra Airport I was welcomed by the two members of OSDA who took me to my temporary residence in Accra, the OSDA house. It is a humble place with garden, where you can fetch fresh coconuts, bananas (or rather plantain trees, which produce banana-like fruits, but they are more starchy and less sweet) and mangos. The residents of OSDA house are members of the organization and they have different roles within the organizationˈs structure.  My mentors Sarah and Mr. Brown are helping me to understand the work of OSDA and they are introducing me to different aspects of life in Ghana. First thing I learnt during my welcome dinner was that Ghanaians like to eat together from the same plate and they only use hands. It was bit of a culture shock for me as European accustomed to eating with spoon, knife and fork. However, it is the Ghanaians way how to express that they care for each other, something between the lines „sharing means caring“. I was introduced to the making of traditional dish called „fufu“. It consists of soup or stew made of different kinds of meat and mixture of spices and herbs (tastes similar to guláš). The other part of dish is made of cooked plantains and cassavas (root of a plant, tastes like potato but sweeter). It has to be mashed in a wooden mortar using a  heavy pestle. The preparation takes quite a long time but the resulting meal is delicious. 

After few days in Accra I experienced several regulated power cuts. This way  government tries to safe money and reduce spending, for example street lights are very rare in the streets of Accra and some parts are regularly suffering from fuel shortages. Without fuel and electricity many business cannot work. I visited the company supplying sachets of drinking water, but the production had to be stopped because of power blackout. People are not happy with the current situation and they hope that the general election in 2016 will bring some positive changes.
I was struck by how courteous Ghanaians are. They ask a complete stranger to join their dinner (this has happened to me multiple times) and they don't want anything in return. Ghanaians are very sociable, they like to dance and play music till the early hours of the morning. I joined drum festival, where people were dancing to the rhythm of drums. The room was extremely hot and steamy nevertheless it was a unique experience.


                               The Drum Festival

                              The OSDA house

                             The Independence Square (Black Star Square)

                           Me and Sarah in the Black Star Square, enormous empty space with no
                           particular use. 

                          Making of fufu (mashed cassava, plantain eaten with soup or stew).

                         Mosque. Majority of Ghanaians are Christian, about 15% of the population
                         is Muslim. Most people retain traditional beliefs alongside Christian or
                         Muslim beliefs. 

                        Inside tro tro, the most popular form of transport in Ghana.

                         The Ministry of Food and Agriculture in Accra. The majority of Ghanaians
                          work in agriculture. Ghana is the world's second biggest producer of cocoa.

                         Safety comes first.

                           My visit in the factory producing sachets of drinking water. The production 
                           was stopped due to the power blackout.

                              At the Accra beach. The seaside is beautiful but is littered
                              with trash and only few places are kept clean for swimming. 

                           The Government in Accra.