Kelly: 1 - Malaria: 0

September 13^th – 15^th

Oh how crazy the past few days have been.  On Monday night, I went to bed with a slight fever.  I informed my staff, and waited until Tuesday.  By Tuesday morning I still had a fever so I went to school to talk with the staff.  As the day wore on, I began to feel better so I went to Twi class, and listened to the lectures.  A former SIT student from this very Ghana trip was actually visiting.  She went on the trip in 1999, and is now a minister on sabbatical, hence the amazing traveling! She is only visiting Ghana for a few short days, and is then off to other countries in Africa.  Anyway, it was very exciting to hear from a former student.  She knows exactly what we are all going through, and gave some great advice. It was also nice to see that some survived the trip, and liked Ghana so much that she promised herself she had to come back!

So I continued on with my day, until I got home to Auntie Maggie's house.  I felt very hot, sweaty, and tired.  I took my temperature, which turned out to be 103.3, and decided to call Papa Attah.  Papa had Auntie Grace, the homestay coordinator, meet Auntie Maggie and me at a post office.  Auntie Grace drove with me to Garden City Hospital in Kumasi.  I knew I had to go to the hospital, but I was emotionally holding up pretty well for a while.  As soon as we arrived at the hospital, rain started pouring outside.  There was thunder and lightning, and it was literally the hardest I have heard it rain since I've been here in Ghana.  The lights were flickering in the hospital, while I was having trouble communicating what my symptoms were, and I just started crying.  I was also frustrated because anyone who felt my body just kept telling me that I didn't feel warm, yet I was burning up!  And then there was confusion with my last name, and everyone at the hospital kept calling me Elizabeth instead of Kelly. 

Right away, a nurse told me that she was going to admit me for the evening.  I went into a private room with a bathroom and 2 beds.  The room was pretty nice, with lots of windows.  Soon a doctor came in to see me.  The doctor thought I should be tested for malaria, and I went to the lab.  I had my blood drawn for the test.  The odd thing about hospitals in Ghana is that no one wears gloves.  I never felt like anything was dirty, but the hospital does not seem quite as sterile as those in the US.  I went back to my room and received 10 pills for my first malaria treatment.  Auntie Grace brought me some cream crackers for dinner because I had almost no appetite.  She spent the night with me, which was very kind and helped out with my fear.  I received the results back the same evening, and sure enough, I had the malaria parasite present.

The next morning, I had a headache but felt a little better.  I still had a low fever, and took some more treatment.  Auntie Grace brought me breakfast, and I slept almost all morning.  Auntie Maggie brought me lunch, and I slept quickly after lunch.  I was supposed to be discharged at 3:00 PM, but I ended up being very tired and cold.  I got so cold that I was shaking, and had goosebumps everywhere.  The nurses took my temperature, and decided I needed a malaria injection…in my bum.  One shot in each cheek.  I really hope I don't ever have to experience that again.  My bum is still sore from those shots.  Anyway, the shots brought down my fever, but I was told that I had to stay at the hospital for another night.  Later that afternoon, Kwame, one of the SIT staff, came to visit me.  I sat up and talked with nurses and Kwame for about an hour.  This was a really fun conversation.  The nurses were all in their early twenties, and were for the most part, all Muslim.  The nurses wore blue and white dresses, and the "big nurses", or nurses with a higher degree, wore white shirts with blue pants.  The whole afternoon chat made me feel a lot better, and it was nice to have more interaction with people my age.  Auntie Grace brought me dinner later in the evening, which was white rice with some sort of fish and pineapple.  I really missed America food while I was in the hospital.  I do like the Ghanaian food, but when you're sick in a foreign country, sometimes all you want is familiar food.  And all I wanted was my mom's teakettle tea.  But I survived, and slept the night.  The lights were kept on the whole night, which was sort of frustrating.  And people came in all night long.  A nurse slept in my room to keep me company, which was very nice.  At one point in the night, I woke up and saw a man mopping my room.  The hospitals are just very different here apparently.

I woke up around 5:00 AM to find someone bringing me warm water to bathe with.  I had a shower in my bathroom with cold water, but it was running water, unlike my homestay, so I was pretty excited about using it.  I ended up just using the cold water shower because it felt better anyway to use cold water, and an actual shower head.  I received another set of injections in my bum to help the malaria, ouch, as well as another set of treatment.  The doctor came in to visit, and was concerned that I may have typhoid fever as well.  At this point, I was getting very frustrated and confused. I just wanted to know what I had, and what was going to be done about it.  I had another little mini breakdown, and called my mom.  This was actually probably the best thing I could have done to get answers, however.  She called SIT, and talked to Yemi who said that I was being treated for malaria and for preventative typhoid fever.  He also told her not to worry.  I was told by Auntie Maggie that I was going to have to stay in the hospital until Friday morning.  All I wanted was to go home to change my clothes, and be by something sort of familiar.  Plus I felt like I was missing out on a lot of great experiences, like an African Priestess' shrine. 

I was feeling better and really could not sleep very much.  And I was getting tired of just laying down.  Auntie Maggie left, and I slept until around 2:00 PM.  At about this time, I realized my phone was going to die.  I borrowed a charger from one of the nurses, except when I was going to charge my phone, the power went out.  So I just lay in bed, and waited for someone to come visit me.  Kwame and Papa Attah came, and told me they wanted to speak to the doctor also.  Papa Attah told me that I should be walking around the hospital and getting fresh air.  This was my first stay in a hospital, basically ever, and I honestly was not aware that it was all right to just get up and wander around.  Especially in a hospital in Ghana, where I really had no idea where I was going.  But I walked up to the main room with Kwame and Papa Attah, and waited for the doctor there.  Auntie Grace came to bring me dinner, as well.  Papa Attah and I went in to speak with the doctor, and he said that I could be discharged as long as I did not have a fever.  I was so relieved to be able to go back to Auntie Maggies, and be alone for awhile.  I took a taxi home, and ate Auntie Grace's dinner at Aunite Maggie's house.  I have a lot of pills to continue to take, and I have to get a check-up on Tuesday.  For the most part, I am feeling much better, and I will continue to get rest until I feel completely better.

Though I missed some things with my SIT group, I feel like I also gained the cultural experience of a Ghanaian hospital!  It was a scary experience, but also a great learning experience.  I made friends with the nurses, and a couple of them asked me to be their friend on Facebook.  One nurse wants to do henna on me, and gave me her phone number.  They were all very nice, and took great care of me.  In Ghana, it is culturally customary to greet anyone you meet.  But instead of just saying hello, you must ask how they are doing, etc.  This was somewhat odd in the hospital, because everyone who walked into my room said hello and asked how I was doing.  Then they usually asked me how my health was.  I was often confused whether or not to say how sick I was or wait until they asked me about my health.  Oh, the cultural shock.

Auntie Margaret and the Beautiful Kumasi

September 11, 2011

I have arrived in my Kumasi homestay, and everything is going great so far!  My homestay mother picked me up yesterday afternoon.  She is actually a grandmother, who is strong, beautiful, and just awesome.  She came up to our group and introduced herself to everyone, while I was secretly hoping the entire time that she was my homestay mother. And she was!  We live in an area of Kumasi called Boukoum.  I'm not sure of the spelling yet, but the pronunciation is correct.  The area is much different from Accra.  One interesting thing about Kumasi is the great influence of Islam.  In Ghana, the farther North one moves, the more Muslims generally live in the cities.  There are Mosques everywhere in Kumasi, and a lot more Arabic writing around.  I even can hear the call to prayer from my homestay!  The one thing I really do like about Ghana is how noisy everything is.  I fell asleep listening to chatter, goats, drumming, and singing.  This morning I heard a gospel choir, and currently I can hear music that resembles a marching band.  In Kumasi, there are also trees, grass, and open spaces.  Our house is very large, and much more open to the outdoors.  Whenever I eat meals, I eat on a back porch that is beautiful and completely open to the air.  Boukoum has a large quarry for stone, so I think a lot of the jobs here are in that industry.  Becca, another SIT member, and I live within walking distance from each other and will go to school together.  I think we are within walking distance, but I will have to wait to see on Monday for sure.

Yesterday, my homestay mother showed me my room, which has a huge bed and is very big!  Then we walked over to a restaurant/bar in the neighborhood.  I met my homestay mother's daughter, brother, granddaughters, grand nieces, and general friends.  We had some Guinness and Star together.  This was probably my favorite time thus far in Ghana, because everyone was cheerful and happy.  The weather was beautiful, and it was very nice to relax.  My homestay mother is named Auntie Margaret, and her daughter is Julie.  They looked at pictures of my friends and family, and were really excited to hear about my life in America! This was a really welcoming experience.  Julie thought my dad was really attractive, and told me that she wanted to come to America to marry him! This morning when I woke up, she called me daughter and reminded me of how much she liked my dad, hahaha. 

On the walk home, I met many more of Auntie Margaret's friends and family.  Her granddaughter, Anita, who is 10, walked me home as well.  Anita taught me a song in Twi before dinner! I want to write it down with her sometime today so I can remember the words.  Anita has an older sister named Evelyn who also sat with us.  Auntie Margaret's house is beautiful! She has a large gate on the outside, which actually keeps the goats in! She has many many goats wandering all around the house.  Yesterday, Anita let me hold a baby goat.  This was such a cool experience!  The goats wander outside of the compound but know exactly where they sleep and get fed.  One of the goats is pregnant, so maybe I'll even get to see some newborn babies.  At my homestay in Accra, I was used to be awakened by roosters in the morning.  Here in Kumasi, the goats woke me up! They kind of squeak at one another, and I heard one of the mothers looking for her two babies. 

Yesterday for dinner, I had plain rice with spicy red sauce, chicken, and salad.  Auntie Margaret kept telling me to eat and eat and eat.  She said she never wants me to go hungry, which definitely will not be a problem in this house.  I really like having a more motherly homestay mother.  She loves to hug and fuss over me, and she constantly calls me her daughter.  It's nice to have someone taking care of you, especially when you are so out of your comfort zone.  This morning I got to sleep in, and I ate spicy sausages with eggs and bread for breakfast.  I also had black coffee, Nescafe instant.  This was a nice surprise because I have been missing black coffee a lot recently!  The only downside to my meals is that I eat all alone.  People walk by and chat with me, and Auntie Margaret checks on me, but I am usually alone.  The Ghanaian culture, especially in urban places, seems to not eat meals together very often.  I do miss American meal conversation, as well as just sitting at the table after the meal is finished. 

Auntie Margaret is a very interesting woman, and I'm excited to learn more about her.  She has a farm with cocoa and many other things, but says it is too far to travel to with me.  She raises goats, and has a very large family.  She said that she was married when she was 19 but divorced at the age 22, and because of the stigma with divorce, has not remarried since.  She is also very religious, and is taking me to a Methodist church in her neighborhood.  Yesterday we were talking about snow, and she said she spent time in London and Germany, where she was able to see snow for the first time!  I think she will have great stories to share, and I'm excited to speak with her more.