I guess I would like to start by saying what a truly great experience Ghana was. In retrospect, it is something that I believe has had a great impact on my life. I left Canada at the age of 19, bound for a destination that I had only dreamt about to embark on an experience that would shape my life and education.
I think that the single most important experience that I have taken with me is definitely my work placement. I decided early on in the program that my work placement was going to be in the health field, and hopefully at a hospital. After having met with the nurse in charge at the Savelugu Health Clinic, I realized that her drive and determination for the advancement of her people could be aided by my own research and experience. I started working in the hospital in early January.
Life in Savelugu was defiantly a challenge. I was the only foreign worker in the area, cut off to most of the outside world. My days were simple, and filled with hard work and challenges. In the mornings I would work with the midwives, helping in their daily clinics for pregnant and nursing mothers.
Mostly we did routine examinations, check-ups, followed by a short education session. Many days were interrupted with medical emergencies and other sorts of trauma. Some days I would go out with the outreach nurses traveling to remote communities to assist and educate the mothers.
In the afternoons I would conduct my own research centered on health nutrition. I managed to take on the immense task of computerizing all the health records for the 8 health centers. From there I decided to analyze the material and find the top diseases that seemed to be related to nutrition deficiencies. Along with the nutrition officer for the district, the outreach workers and the staff at the Savelugu Health Center we came up with a program to help alleviate nutrition-borne diseases in the area.
My work placement was definitely a huge challenge. I had many highs and lows in Savelugu. Frustrations and annoyances. But in total it is something that I will never forget. The friendships forged, and the life I led while there has influenced my life and the direction it is taking. I think that my time in Ghana provided me with self-confidence, learning tools and an experience in which any young adult would be changed. Three years later, and overseas once again, I look back on my time in Ghana in a sort of bliss. I was young and inexperienced, thrown into a melting pot so out of my domain, that I did not even realize it. But I made it through, and am definitely a better global citizen for my time spent there.