Brief Overview of My Day

Today I saw patients in the hospital. I know what I did was helpful, but I just saw typical PT patients so I'm going to walk you through my day.

My alarm wakes me up at 6:45 am. I make it out of bed around 7 am. I take my vitamins since I'm not all that sure how balanced the meals are here. I can't afford to get sick here since medical care is not up to US standards.

I get up and fill a bucket full of water to go to the bathroom. Then I have to fill another bucket full of water to take my shower. Right now, it is getting down to 73 degrees at night so when I wake up I am very comfortable. The first cup of water I pour on myself in the shower is so cold. I have to stifle my scream!! By the end of the bucket it doesn't feel so cold anymore. I'm only washing my hair with shampoo every 2-3 days. It is just too much work to get all the soap out every morning.

After I shower, I apply my bug spray and then get dressed. I wasn't all that disciplined my first few days here since I haven't gotten any mosquitoe bites since my first night. However, I have now met 2 people with Malaria. I really do not want to get it! Even though I am taking malaria medication everyday, its not worth taking my chances.

I don't eat breakfast so I fill my water bottle full of water. In this heat it is so important to stay hydrated throughout the day. I cannot drink the water here without filtering it first. I sometimes just drink bagged water since it is easier than filtering. Instead of water bottles they have bags full of filtered water, that way you know nobody tampered with the seal. It is about the size of a freezer ice pack. If I filter the water, I have 2 ways. I have a steripen that I put in the water for 1 minute and shake the water around and it kills all the germs. The steripen uses UV light. Its pretty easy. The other thing I have is called the Lifesaver 4000. It is a water bottle a little bigger than a nalgene bottle. You poor the water in one end. Next, I pull out a pump handle on the bottom of the bottle and pump ~10 times. The pressure pushes the water through filters built into the bottle. Clean water comes shooting out once I open the top. I have to be careful not to spray it everywhere. Google it. There is a you tube video by the inventor. If you want a really easy way to make a difference in someone's life, you can donate a bottle to someone in an area of the world who does not have access to clean water.

Once I have my water, I leave the house. It takes me about 7 minutes to walk to the hospital. Its just down the road. Today I saw about 5 patients. They were typical low back pain and stroke patients so I won't elaborate. We did not go on any home visits today. Also, we didn't have any patients in the afternoon. I'm using that time to educate Celestine and Doris. I am writing a PT manual for them, so they have an idea on how to treat each part of the body and common injuries once I leave.

I walk home for lunch and then walk back to the hospital in the afternoon. Millie, the daughter of my host has lunch waiting for me when I get there around noon. She is so sweet!! I will write more about her soon so you know how the typical Ghanian teenager acts.

After work, I keep trying to find ways to occupy my time. I read my kindle. I am so so glad I bought it! Its a lifesaver! I sometimes watch the women cook. Yesterday, I watched them make bamko, one of the traditional dishes. They do not have gas for the stove right now so they cook outside. It is a dough ball that you dip into a fish okra soup. The dough sort of tastes like a dumpling. You use your right hand to dip it into the soup. I am left handed, so it was weird. So I just asked Millie the reason why you use your right hand only. I guess they think they do their business with their left. Haha! I'm just going to use lots of hand sanitizer no matter what!! :) After I eat, I try and blog or chat more with Millie. It is much slower here. There is not constant technology. People are content to just sit and wave to their neighbors or listen to the radio. They only get 1 station on their TV.

Once I'm ready for bed. I take another bucket shower or I bough camping shower wipes that come in very handy if I don't want to waste water. Right now, the pumps are not working for running water. There has not been running water in over a week. They have had to fetch it from the well. This consists of women carrying buckets on their head. I have figured out I use about 5 buckets of water a day. That is 5 trips that Millie has to take to the well. I tried to help her but she wouldn't let me carry any water. Also, I do not have the strength to carry anything on my head. When I helped her put it on her head, I split some water so I was useless. I was lifting weights in the US before I came here but I never had to be concerned with water spilling while I was lifting. Your technique gets so much better when you have to worry about that. Haha!

So then I go to bed. I try and fall asleep but I'm still getting use to all the noises! I hear goats, chickens, shee, people shouting, and the mosque at dawn calling people for prayer.

Okay, I guess this wasn't brief, but this is how my day is right now!

Love, Kari