I spent most of today in a car!! The traffic is so horrible here that it took us over 2 hours to get to the town where we are holding the course next week. Sam said the drive use to only take 45 minutes!!! Luckily, it was a really pretty drive. We drove north of Tema and Accra into the mountains and jungle! When its not so hazy, you can see all the way to the ocean, supposedly.
Ken went back to Kpando with his wife and I stayed behind with Sam. Sam, Reverend Joe, Shariff (Ken's cousin), and myself all drove to Kofidra (I'm spelling that wrong). We went to the hospital where we are holding the course. We met with the lead PT and the medical director. I feel like we can't even step foot in any of the hospitals without first meeting the director and administrator!!! It's sort of like having to go to the village chief! Haha! Also, we checked out the hostel where we will be staying next week. This hospital is actually paying for our lodging!
It has been interesting spending time with Ken and Sam because I've learned a lot about Ghanaian culture through them. Since they are so Americanized, they explain to me the idiosyncrasies. Ghanaians are more than willing to accept foreign aide and almost expect it, yet they are sort of stingy if you ask for a little help. Once someone has money in this country, they do not have the same desire or need to give back. Sam was telling Shariff how I am a Doctor's daughter and here I am in Ghana giving 4 months of my time. Shariff said in Ghana I would just be spending my dad's money trying to show off how rich I am. I told him that I was raised very well, but I do not expect my father to provide for me anymore and that his money is not my money. Shariff found this very interesting and wished more Ghanaians would embrace this idea. Instead many accept the gift you give them and then ask you for something more. It reminds me of the children's book, I think it's called, "If you give a mouse a cookie." Haha! It's funny. I take it with a grain of salt. For the most part the one's in need are so appreciative, but the few bad apples sometimes spoil the bunch.
It has been fun getting to know Sam the past couple of days! He is a very interesting guy!! He is an Olympian. He ran track for Ghana in the 2000 Olympic games. I think he is the first Olympian I have personally met! Through track and being involved with the paraolympics, he got a track and soccer scholarship to the US. His school was in North Dakota. Sam was talking about the customs official he encountered when he got off the plane in the US. He was expecting her to ask him a lot of questions instead she just told him that it would be really cold in North Dakota. Sam told her, "It's okay, I live in the coldest part of Ghana." Little did he know!! Haha! The record low temperature in Ghana is 60 degrees.
Sam had a lot more stories about the cultural shock he experienced! Now he lives in Corpus Christi, Texas with his wife and 2 little girls! Ken lives in Arizona. I guess they both escaped North Dakota as soon as they could. I told them North Dakota is even too cold for myself and I like winter sports!
I hope everyone has a good weekend. I'm not entirely sure what I'm doing. It always ends up being interesting in some unexpected way! :)
Love, Kari
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