I set my alarm for 5:45 to give myself plenty of time to finish packing and get my suitcases down four flights of stairs and out to the parking lot before breakfast at 6:30. Starting at midnight, I woke every half hour in a panic that I’d slept through the alarm. I finally gave up at 5:00, exhausted from the up and down and clock-checking. I don’t know if it’s the Malarone for malaria prophylaxis or just my craziness, but it was a bizarre night.
The drive from Accra to Ho took about four hours on narrow rocky roads. We passed through many small communities with plywood houses and roadside stands selling mangos, pineapple, bread and beaded jewelry. I rode next to Henry, an Op Smile Ghana board member since it’s inception in 2011. He’s also a member of the Lions’ Club and when Op Smile Ghana formed, the Lions’ Club partnered with them and continues to raise money to support missions. Henry told me that for the 25 million residents of Ghana, there are just 3500 physicians and 200 dentists. Medical and dental education are subsidized in Ghana, and students come from all over Africa for the free education. Most of the young physicians, however, leave the country to practice. Those who stay generally specialize and practice in the cities.
Another factor contributing to the shortage has been the EU. Since English is the official language of Ghana, large numbers of the young doctors go to the UK after graduation. With England pulling out of the EU, that avenue may close, and with Trump tightening immigration, the other big path out of Ghana may be closing as well. The Ministry of Health is not counting on the doctors staying and is looking at developing a program to train medical assistants to be the “doctors” for the rural areas of the country.
Sitting behind me on the bus was a lovely woman who is an OR nurse. I really enjoy her; I’ve worked with her on a couple of past missions. However, she is one of those non-stop talkers and managed to keep up a monologue for the entire four-hour trip. In addition, her laugh, which punctuated her monologue every few minutes is a dead ringer for the laugh of Dustin Hoffman’s character, Mrs. Doubtfire. If you don’t remember it, I’m sure you can find it on Demand.
We were booked into a beautiful hotel overlooking Ho, but when we arrived, we found that the President of Ghana and his entourage had arrived that day unannounced and had taken about half the rooms. Half the team is now at another hotel about 30 minutes away. I’m one of the lucky ones with a room here; the others will have to move back once the President moves on.
We went to see the hospital today and it’s built in the open-air style that is also common in Latin America. Tomorrow and Saturday we will screen about 400 patients and then will have to choose only about 125 of them for surgery. However, by the end of the week, each resident will have done lips and palates from start to finish and at least two or three will be accredited.
The drive from Accra to Ho took about four hours on narrow rocky roads. We passed through many small communities with plywood houses and roadside stands selling mangos, pineapple, bread and beaded jewelry. I rode next to Henry, an Op Smile Ghana board member since it’s inception in 2011. He’s also a member of the Lions’ Club and when Op Smile Ghana formed, the Lions’ Club partnered with them and continues to raise money to support missions. Henry told me that for the 25 million residents of Ghana, there are just 3500 physicians and 200 dentists. Medical and dental education are subsidized in Ghana, and students come from all over Africa for the free education. Most of the young physicians, however, leave the country to practice. Those who stay generally specialize and practice in the cities.
Another factor contributing to the shortage has been the EU. Since English is the official language of Ghana, large numbers of the young doctors go to the UK after graduation. With England pulling out of the EU, that avenue may close, and with Trump tightening immigration, the other big path out of Ghana may be closing as well. The Ministry of Health is not counting on the doctors staying and is looking at developing a program to train medical assistants to be the “doctors” for the rural areas of the country.
Sitting behind me on the bus was a lovely woman who is an OR nurse. I really enjoy her; I’ve worked with her on a couple of past missions. However, she is one of those non-stop talkers and managed to keep up a monologue for the entire four-hour trip. In addition, her laugh, which punctuated her monologue every few minutes is a dead ringer for the laugh of Dustin Hoffman’s character, Mrs. Doubtfire. If you don’t remember it, I’m sure you can find it on Demand.
We were booked into a beautiful hotel overlooking Ho, but when we arrived, we found that the President of Ghana and his entourage had arrived that day unannounced and had taken about half the rooms. Half the team is now at another hotel about 30 minutes away. I’m one of the lucky ones with a room here; the others will have to move back once the President moves on.
We went to see the hospital today and it’s built in the open-air style that is also common in Latin America. Tomorrow and Saturday we will screen about 400 patients and then will have to choose only about 125 of them for surgery. However, by the end of the week, each resident will have done lips and palates from start to finish and at least two or three will be accredited.
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