I had high hopes for Thursday; Alisa, a fellow PCV, and I
were asked to teach a family planning and contraception session at the local
clinic in Juaboso. The first and second Thursday of every month is Child
Welfare Day. Pregnant women and women with babies up to five years old come to
clinic to weigh their children and get them the necessary vaccines. Last
Thursday we arrived around 9am along with other mothers and their children.
Many more came after we arrived. Yet, and this still astonishes me, we were scolded
for being late. Did I mention we are in Africa? In all the meetings and events
I have attended, never once has a Ghanaian been on time. I guess everyone but
Ghanaians must adhere to “American Time.” So this Thursday, we made sure to
arrive on time, at 8am, like the nurses had asked this time. So we
arrive…8:30am rolls past and still no nurses…weird. They finally arrive around
8:45-9am. There was no mention of being late or making us wait. Life goes on.
We started off with a story about contraceptives. BCS has
given us several materials, including the Trigger Sketch Manual, which has
different stories about health and family planning. I read the story, which was
in English, and one of the nurses translated. The women seemed to be really
interested in what we were saying, but the nurse didn’t always translate back
to English, so I’m pretty sure we missed out on a lot of what was being said.
After our talk, I sat with the nurse in charge of logging the babies’ weights.
Every mother is given a booklet for their baby when they are born. The booklet
records the baby’s weight over a period of 5 years, as well as all the vaccines
it receives. After the babies were weighed, I was handed the booklet to chart
their weight and to verify that their vaccines were up to date. If they needed
a vaccine or a Vitamin A booster, I put the booklet to one side. Most children
actually needed their Vitamin A supplement, and I got to administer it! There
were two types of Vitamin A tablets…a red one and a blue one, kind of like the
matrix. Children under 6 months received the blue one, and everyone else was
given the red one. The tablets were little squishy things with liquid inside. I
was given a small lancet to prick the ends of the tablets, which I then got to
squirt into many unhappy mouths. As soon as they saw me coming, most of them
started screaming bloody murder. Through a combined effort, the mothers and I
held the babies and opened their mouths. I’m sure they loved me. If they
weren’t already afraid of white people, I’m sure I pushed half those babies
across that line. Luckily we went to market afterwards and were able to feel
better about ourselves over a semi-cold beer and meat-on-a-stick.
On Friday I finally got Pineapple vaccinated. You don’t need
to worry any longer, Mom. I won’t be getting rabies anytime soon. Apparently
Pineapple and I made history in Juaboso; Pineapple is the first cat to be
vaccinated against rabies in the Juaboso area. Not really sure how I feel about
that, but at least she won’t be getting rabies. Pineapple is a trendsetter I
guess. The vets all laughed when I told them Pineapples full name, which is
Akosua Abrobe Pineapple. Pineapple came to me on a Sunday and the Sunday name
for a Ghanaian girl is Akosua. Pineapple in Twi is abrobe.
This morning, Saturday, I went with some members of BCS and
my LNGO (local NGO) to Kwafukaa, Alisa’s town. They are starting a Community
Health Committee and wanted to discuss their plans to the chief and elders.
Alisa and I were both under the impression that we would be going to a durbar,
otherwise known as a community meeting. Instead we went to the chief’s palace
and sat through a two and half hour meeting, all in Sefwi. Luckily the man
sitting next to me translated every 10th word, so I’m pretty sure I
almost got the gist of the meeting. At least Alisa was sitting across from me
so we could make “Is this seriously happening right now?” faces at each other.
I did get to ride in a real air-conditioned Ford Explorer though. At the end of
the meeting Alisa and I took some pictures of us “teaching” to make it look
like we did real work, look for the tagged pictures of me on Facebook. There
was a board with health issues labeled so we posed in front of it, pointing at
various pictures, pretending like we were talking to a crowd.
This evening I walked around town with one of my JHS
teachers, Frimpong. We went to visit several girls in my girls club at their
respective houses. Basically we wanted to ask the parents about the girls’
habits and life at home. I think we visited eight girls in total. Most of the
conversations were positive, but we found a few girls to be troublesome at
home. Some parents were saying that their daughters are disrespectful and won’t
do their duties when they are at home. What on earth could they be talking
about? I was obviously never like this…just ask my parents! In all seriousness
though, I think most of the girls are at the age of teenage rebellion and their
parents are just frustrated, but there are definitely some deeper seeded issues
in some of the households. Hopefully my girls club will be an outlet for some
of them.
Tomorrow a colleague is coming to register the cocoa farmers
in my village, so I hope it goes smoothly. We’re also going to show a
documentary called “Emmanuel’s Gift.” It’s about a Ghanaian man who is
handicapped but bikes from Accra to Kumasi to raise awareness about his
disability. It’s in Twi and English so I think my town will enjoy it! It should
be a good event…Insha’Allah.
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