I will never, for as long as I live, stop marveling at the miracle of life. I got to start my day off bright and early bringing two babies into the world… I should say watched two babies be brought into the world. I must quote Dr. Jean again, “It’s like Christmas with live presents.” We had only one case scheduled today, but by 6:30 this morning, there was a woman in labor and she needed a c-section pronto. Though this was her third pregnancy at 21, she had no children to show for it. Neither one was born alive. From the examination this morning, Dr. Jean determined due to the structure of her pelvis, no baby could possibly pass through alive. It was a gynecological death trap. The female pelvis does not fully develop until the age of 25, and so many women here marry early and immediately starting having babies. It really makes for some disastrous situations.
All that to say, this baby had to live. These women are strong, really strong, but not strong enough to be unaffected by losing three babies. We were going to give this little one a different exit strategy and hope for the best. Her blood work showed that she had malaria, typhoid and a low hemoglobin, which does not make her an ideal patient to operate one, but there was no option. I have mentioned several times my job title in the hospital is supervising supervisor, meaning I just watch. I don’t get tired of it because it’s nothing short of quality entertainment watching surgery however it is always nice to be able to actually contribute. Today, it was my duty to get this girl some blood. Oh and I did. I was running information back and forth from the lab and the theater, making phone calls, saying really important sounding things like “I need you to get that blood over to the theater immediately.” I really wasn’t taking myself that serious, I promise, but I did put a little pep in someone’s step today, and I felt quite accomplished.
She came out with a holler and was quickly whisked away by Matron Rose, the head nurse, to be assessed and cleaned off. Once she had wrapped her in cloth, she brought her over so the mother could see her. My eyes brimmed with tears watching the look of sure joy and relief come over the young mother’s face. Those delicate moments are addicting, and that is why I could never do anything but medicine.
The second section, the one originally scheduled for this morning was just as successful and gave us a little boy. I saw new things during this one because Dr. Jean had to move the uterus outside the body cavity to sew it back up. I have seen them before when they are shriveled up and removed, but I have never seen one in the height of all its glory. It was the best anatomy lab I have had yet. What is so great about being here is that I can ask a question anytime I want to and move, within reason, anywhere I want to so I can see what is going on inside the human body. I am learning so much.
All of this was done without electricity by the way. The power went out at 6:30 this morning and didn’t come back on until about 6 this evening. No lights, no suction, no cautery. Nothing. And yet, it many respects, it just another day in the office of Dr. Jean Young. It also means I could have solved the town’s water crisis if they would have saved the liters of my perspiration! Yuck.
I left early to meet Jonah so we could go to the administration office to see what we could do about the teen pregnancy crisis going on in Saboba. We met with a woman appropriately named Comfort who is the head of, as they say, “girl child education.” There is much I could say about the two hours Jonah and I sat with her and eventually Big Daddy Phil, if you’ll recall from the Independence Day in-your-face public announcement. I will summarize with this: God’s timing is perfect and He moves in people, from all over the world, in a similar way at the same time to make a difference and spread the love. When you find you share a dream and a vision with someone, there is something inside of you that ignites. That is what I experienced today.
I cannot describe to you how strongly I feel for these girls I haven’t even met yet, and it makes my heart physically ache to hear their stories. Realize the main reasons girls are getting pregnant is because they do not have money for food or soap, basic things, but a man will give them 5 cedis (that’s not even $5) for sexual favors so she can buy a bar of soap to do laundry for her family. Also, families don’t talk about sex. No one does, so they are left to their own to figure it out, completely blind to the psychological and physical damage they are doing to themselves. As everyone says here, “Are you getting me?”
The behavior of these girls is so bad that they have the administration as well as their teachers at a loss. Piles of folders and files were stacked haphazardly over both the desks of Comfort and Bid Daddy Phil. Pregnancy cases.
It is Comfort’s job to come up with something to fix it. The dropout rates for girls are through the roof. Their test scores are significantly lower than the boys’ and they eventually disappear into a life of anonymity and mediocrity, making it impossible for them to continue their education.
Jonah and I are just what she needed. The three of us together will work together to make an opportunity for us to talk about the issues they are facing, the importance of getting an education, the physical consequences of their behavior and ultimately, be their friend and cheerleader (that’s where I come in).
I have had some really wonderful and exciting moments throughout my life, but this today was second to none because today I got to witness the beginning stages of a long time dream start to unfold. We will meet next Friday morning with all the third year (Senior) girls of all the schools in Saboba and I cannot wait. I think I probably said over 50 times today that I do not want to talk at, I want to befriend these girls so eventually if something comes up, they would feel they could talk to me if they needed to. I am not their superior. I am an equal, a girl just like them who has faced the same issues. I despise when they put me up one a step above them because of the color of my skin, and was borderline sassy to Big Daddy Phil about how I want none of that. We’re going for relationship building here.
You know how much I adore Jonah, but my adoration for him quadrupled today. He is the most inspiring, kind-hearted, GIVING man I have ever met. He gets my heart and I was so thankful to have him there to help me explain. Though we were all speaking English, there are enough differences sometimes that make have the potential to make a conversation like this not reach its potential. He knows what I want to say and says it in a way that the other person will understand perfectly what I wanted to say. He does so many good things for so many people, but really, has no money. God always provides though.
I can already tell I am not going to want to leave in May.
I had a late lunch at Joe’s… tizit and okra soup with pork in it eaten with our hands of course. There was only one chunk of presumably meat in the pot and he insisted I try the “tissue” and holds up a small chunk. No longer fazed by these kinds of requests, I looked at it for a second, laughed and then put it in my mouth. It was pork, like the only piece of actual muscle. The rest was just fat and bone, so I was happy to eat the one small chunk of meat and left him the rest. It was very good, spicy from all the peppers and surprisingly tender.
I visited Jonah and Aggie at their house today, which I had not done yet and will do more now that I know where it is. She made us fufu tonight for dinner and it was also delicious. Again, fufu is yam or cassava pounded to the consistency of mashed potatoes, rolled into balls, small loaves really, and you eat in with soup. We used silverware because I was home, but I have eaten it just as many times with my fingers like they do. Chunk of fufu, dip in soup, put in mouth and swallow. I will always chew out of habit, but that’s the Ghanaian way to do partake in fufu.
The nurses played the teachers in soccer this afternoon. It was scheduled for 3 and started at 5… I am sorry to those of you I have made late before, but seriously, it could be a lot worseJ The good guys won 5-0, but I did not stay for the whole thing because I had an algebra lesson to give!
Thank you for your prayers and indirect investment in these people. So many good things are happening because of you. I pray God blesses you a million times over.
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