Energized students and hopeless patients

We had class this morning in the hall of the Pink Hostel. Some of us needed to pull out a mattress to stay comfortable. Lynley taught us about definitions of health, global regions, and cultural explanations of disease causation. It is nice to have such an entertaining teacher!


Morning class

Only Lynley could make a three hour class in the hallway fun

Improvising with a mattress

If I remember correctly, the week of end-of-year testing in elementary school was exhausting. Sitting in your seat with a pencil and a million questions for hours basically wiped me out. I could hardly wait to go home and take a nap. Well, this week is final exams for Gray Memorial Basic School. The children here couldn’t be more different than the above description. As soon as we pulled up the school in our taxi, the children were sticking their hands through our windows and opening our doors to welcome us. They had gone mad! The energy level was a billion times higher than usual for some reason. Shantel and I taught a lesson about how to be a good friend, Nikki and Kathleen taught about the continents, Lacey, Brayden, and Janessa talked about patriotism, and Cameron and Bailey taught about the planets. In most of our classes, the students were acting like monkeys and Cameron literally got trampled by his third graders. After school was out, all the students decided to play games for a half hour. They. Stayed. After. School. What a sharp contrast from my experience in elementary school ha ha! When we began to walk out the gates, dozens of students followed us out to the street, holding our hands, kissing our arms, and jumping on our backs. They swarmed around us like busy bumblebees while we waited for a taxi. As I tried to get in the taxi, I couldn’t get them to release my hand and feared that my arm would be chopped off in the door. They even had the stamina to run after our taxis for a while! We love our kids!

Shantel and my class showing off their unique thumbprints and magnifiers

Megan playing games after school hours with our awesome students

Leaving Gray Memorial with the whole school escorting us out

We had one of our rare free afternoons today. Since I am a pre-nurse, I was curious to witness the differences in health care. I grabbed Bailey, Hilary, and Cameron to come with me to the SNITT hospital. This hospital is considered to be one of the “richer” hospitals in Accra. When we arrived near the front entrance, we were already nervous of what we would find. After explaining to the front desk receptionist that I was a nursing student, she let us right in to wander around wherever we would like. We looked around to find ourselves in the middle of the consultation room, equivalent to the emergency room in the U.S., where there were five doors with doctors or nurses to examine patients and either admit them or deny them. The hospital consisted of two wards: Ward A-the female ward (maternity, labor/delivery, pediatric) and Ward B-everyone else. We walked up to Ward A to see several women waiting on chairs next to several empty incubators. I am quite sure that those women were waiting to deliver their babies. A nurse was willing to take us through Ward B and show us around. He took us through every single room, introducing us to patients, telling us about their full diagnosis, dates of discharge. Apparently, there are no privacy laws here. There were only 10 rooms in each ward. Some of which were private for a hefty price and some of which were shared with four beds crammed in next to each other. I was appalled by how they had no separation of infectious disease. We walked through screen doors to the shared rooms that held patients being treated for malaria, tuberculosis, sickle cell anemia, and CVAs. All that separated them was a filthy curtain. Everything was dirty, contaminated, and old. We didn’t see one pair of Latex gloves being used, one sink to wash hands in, one hand sanitizer, one restroom. Cleanliness and sterility seems to be nonexistent. We saw a patient receiving a blood transfusion that appeared to have very dirty blood. All the dressings on wounds were brownish and soaked with blood and various fluids. There was no limit to how many visitors a patient could have. No organization as to what was going on. We didn’t see any records, identification bracelets, or documentation in any room. I asked the nurse how the payment was managed at SNITT. He told me that there is a $300 deposit before admittance. Well, $300 is more than a typical Ghanaian’s average annual income. After being treated and before discharge, the patient is given a final bill that must be paid before leaving. Without insurance, I can’t imagine how anyone can afford this but especially someone living in Ghana. Every patient that we visited seemed to be dying.

A gurney just sitting outside the building

Notice how there is no emergency or operating room...

The consultation room...where all patients go to be admitted to the wards

Sign for a small female ward that only holds about 10-15 women

We were all extremely shaken by the experience. It made us truly appreciate the efficient healthcare we have the opportunity to receive in the United States. Personally, it made me want my nursing degree more than ever which will enable me to practice nursing in a country where they thoroughly wash their hands in between patients and where I can help patients live long, healthy lives. Walking through the hospital humbled us significantly and made us realize that we will never depreciate healthcare in the U.S. again.

Written by Ashlee Stewart