Africa 4

Life in the hospital...This is a picture of us seeing patients in the men's ward of the hospital. This is a pretty typical set up for a ward. There are usually about 10-12 beds in a ward, and as you can see they are pretty close together. Usually a family member or friend is sleeping on the floor beside the patient's bed, if not under the patient's bed. There is no cafeteria and limited nursing staff, so the family takes care of bathing and feeding the patients. There are usually only 2-3 nurses for 25 beds so they are busy just getting out the meds and collecting labs and vitals.

The next photo is a clinic day...this is only part of the waiting room, with an average crowd. Several hundred people are seen each clinic day, which is Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. We never know how many people we will need to see, as they do not end clinic until every person has been seen. We have been seeing patients together. We average about 25 per clinic day, but the full-time doctors here can see over 75 at times.

The next photo was taken when we went with Tommy Harrison, a missionary pastor / hospital maintenance man / farmer, out to a Sunday service in a local village. The service started with about 45 minutes of singing, clapping, and dancing. The praise songs were in the local language, so we only took part in the clapping and dancing. Tommy gave us a chance at the beginning of the service to share why we had come to Ghana and their village. Then Tommy gave a message on the death of Jesus on the cross (Easter is coming up!). After the service, there was a lady with a new baby that she wanted "named". They looked to us and we chose Ester. They wanted a Biblical name that was not too hard to pronounce. The photo is of Angela and Ester.

The last photo was taken at Nakpanduri, a village about 30 minutes away. We had stopped for a drink on our way back from the escarpment (see the last post) and when we went to the small store, a lady recognized Chuck. He had treated her child last year in the peds ward. She was very excited to show him how well her child was now. So, they all took a picture together. She is a beautiful healthy girl.

Charlie Barrier arrives in Nalerigu tomorrow, so please pray for a safe flight from Accra to Tamale and safety on the road the rest of the way. We are excited to have him come and we already have an EGD lined up for him tomorrow! He is bringing supplies for the hospital like sutures and bandages and supplies for us like gatorade and granola bars. Thanks again for your prayers...they are needed and appreciated.