First day at work

  Cape Coast, Ghana
Thursday, April 3, 2008

Cape Coast hight street

So I started work today. I met with the Director of Health for the Cape Coast district yesterday, and he was extremely intimidating. Looking over his spectacles he asked me 'What exactly can you do?' and I replied after a few terrifying seconds 'I'd like to assist your health workers in education and implementation of healthcare'. He nodded his head and picked up the phone. A few minutes later a young woman came into the office, and was introduced as the Head of Nutrition for Cape Coast. She then walked me around the offices and clinic on the way to her office. We sat down and set out a plan. I would spend 1 month in each of Cape Coast's six health clinics.
 
So today was my first day at the EWIM clinic. I arrived at 9 am today and the woman I was supposed to meet, and who had supposedly been alerted to my arrival, was out of town teaching. I was instead taken straight to the Reproductive Health Section and   ushered into a room full of mothers with tiny babies. I was told to sit next to a young nurse and to help her do registration. She welcomed me and asked me my name while her co-nurses giggled and discussed the Oberini (white person) in Tri. I smiled and introduced myself and quickly sat down next to the friendly nurse called Emiam. She then quickly explained what was going on. Mothers were bringing their infants and toddlers in to be weighed and inoculated. There was also counselling being provided in nutrition.
 
One by one the babies were hung in a white bag from what can best be described as a meat hook attached to a scale. They were weighed and the amount was recorded in several books and in the child's own health booklet. This had information on the name of the baby, the mother and father, the date of birth and the weight taken every month from birth until 1 year of age, and had all the records of inoculations. The nurses on the whole were professional and worked quickly, despite the sweltering heat and lack of any breaks. I helped fill out forms at the administration table, and at one point made myself useful by acting as a translator for a woman from Cote D'Ivore. But there were many moments where I sat there listening to everyone speaking in Tri and thought what the hell am I doing here! But then Emiam tapped me on the shoulder and asked me what I thought about tattoos while pointing at a woman with one on her arm. 'I don't know what you mean?' I said. Emiam shook her head and said, 'You know tattoos, do they cause skin cancer?' I replied that as far as I knew they didn't, and that sun exposure was the cause of skin cancer. I did however rattle on about the risks of blood transfused illnesses like HIV and Hep-B and she began to nod her head in agreement.
 
At 1pm the crowd dissipated and the nurses began packing up the equipment for the day. I joined them in their staff room and sat there in uncomfortable silence as they spoke in Tri and shot glances at me. About 10 mins later I broke my silence by asking them what they would be doing tomorrow. The head nurse Ellen told me they would be travelling to the countryside to do outreach and agreed that I should go with them. They then began asking me tons of questions about where I was from and why I was in Ghana and once they felt they were satisfactorily answered I was treated to smiles from everyone and a slight feeling of inclusion.
 
I then went to observe the nurse who handles planned parenthood and she told me about the contraceptives she provides and how the payment system in Ghana works. She invited me to come work with her the next day, which I was very pleased by but had to politely turn down as I was more eager to do community outreach.
 
Earlier that day I had bought a bike from the guy across from work for 40 Ghana Cedis. About 10 minutes into my journey home I got a puncture and was relegated to walking home, bike alongside. I got many strange looks and about 45 mins later I approached a busy junction and asked some guys if they knew where I could get my bike fixed. One guy offered to show me the way and walked me a couple hundred yards to the local bike shop (more like shed full of bike parts). The shop owners were very helpful and replaced my inner tube and tire for 7 Cedis (which I was later told by my housemates was overpriced) and when I realised I only had 3 on me they nodded their heads and said it would be OK if I paid the rest later. So off I went the rest of the ride home to collect money and freshen up.
I went back later that day and bought a bike lock and settled my bill, and was relieved to have found a local shop that had friendly staff that would service my bike in the upcoming months. 'You're crazy Oberini, see you later' they said as I walked off.