It's been a few days! I wanted to blog last night, but we had our first rain in Kpando so I did not venture to the internet cafe. I couldn't get on the internet with my modem at the house.
It was so nice having rain! 2.5 months is a long time to go without rain. If the sky was always blue here I think I'd enjoy it more, but there is always this yellowish haze from the dust. The rain came down pretty heavily for about an hour. While it rained, I sat outside reading my kindle on the covered porch. It cooled off a bit which was nice. However, once it stopped rainy it was so so muggy!!!
The 3 days at the Marquat hosipital were so so slow this week. Celestine still came to work, but was often in one of the other rooms resting or getting IV medication. I only had a few outpatients come to the clinic. The mother returned with her child who has Cerebral Palsy. She brought a toy so we were able to work on rolling and turning her head a little more. I really just reinforced what I told the mother on Wednesday and made sure she could demonstrate everything to me. I told her this is going to be a life long disability and so the mother cannot neglect doctor appointments and therapy sessions. I think she understood! She seems very active in her daughter's care.
I am so happy to say the small boy who sustained burns on his legs has made so much progress in the past week. I was really nervous when we saw him last week that I found out about him too late. Just in 1 weeks time of exercises and ROM to his legs, he can get the left leg fully extended. The right leg is only lacking about 10 degrees from full extension. I was so impressed with his progress that I didn't feel the need to perform PROM on him on Friday. I showed him a hamstring stretch and had him perform quad sets. I'm not use to working with such little legs! :) The boy is such a cutie!
I feel redeemed to some extent. I felt useless with a few patients recently even though I know it wasn't my fault. I feel I have positively impacted this boys life. Now he will return to walking and running once his burns heal!! Also, Celestine and the nurses now understand the importance of PT with burn patients. Celestine will not be a therapist when I leave, but at least she now knows the importance of some therapy techniques!!
Today, I woke up at 3 am to take a trotro at 4 am to Tema for a conference on Autism. The course was at Pastor Allan and Patsy's disability center. About a 100 people came for the conference! It was a great turn out. There were 5 speakers with different health care backgrounds explaining about Autism and various treatments for Autism. Intellectual disabilities are not quite yet acknowledged in Ghana. Often times people with these disabilities are labelled as crazy, wicked, or possessed. The mother is told she sinned and that's why her child has these problems. This conference helped bring awareness to the problem and help professionals and caregivers know how to treat these children better so they can live productive lives!
I learned some new things myself. I don't work with a lot of people who have Autism in the US, so it was neat hearing the information. This trip has been a lot of fun for me because I've had a chance to use my education to the fullest extent! In the US, most therapists now specialize to some degree. I've been a gypsy in my career (and maybe my personal life too, haha!) and so I've worked in many settings. I haven't quite settled into my therapy niche. This trip has allowed me to experience even more as a therapist.
I was excited to network with some of the people at the event. I hopefully created some new friendships/partnerships with Ghanaian organizations and NGOs. Also, I met some new therapists and providers who could maybe help out with some of the programs that Step FaR and Therapists Without Borders would like to continue in Ghana.
It's funny because I'm a very reserved person, but I think I've done a pretty good job at least attempting to work with people or establish connections. I guess Ghana is helping me get over my shyness. I stick out a lot here so its pretty hard to be a wallflower. Haha! :)
I'm staying with Allan and Patsy this week. They are going to help me go around to meetings with people and the various hospitals. I had a wonderful dinner of fried chicken, potatoes, green beans, and baked beans!!!! Oh how I missed American food!!! I'm about ready to take a hot running shower! It's been a month so you don't know how wonderful that will be!
Have a great weekend!
Love, Kari
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