9-10 June – Transition

Saturday was a typically boiling hot day in Ghana, but that didn’t stop me from being a productive member of society. I got up early and went to Vodafone with Abbie so we could re-connect to the world. I’m so grateful for all of my friends who happen to be online during the times I happen to sign on (special shout out to Harry Jin, Natalie Price, and Mia Sorkin who, thanks to their respective internships in Malaysia, Italy, and Germany, are much more “time zone” friendly than my friends in the U.S.).

After catching up with the world, Abbie and I took a tro-tro back to Telecentre, where I began packing in preparation for the next day’s trip to Kumasi. My packing was pleasantly interrupted by a visit from Mposo, a 2005 Yale School of Public Health graduate. One of my outstanding professors from this past year, Dr. Robert Dubrow, helped put us in contact and from there we set up a brief meeting. Mposo is originally from the Congo, but has been working in Ghana for the past few years with an organization that aims to eliminate neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) in 5 West African countries. We had a great conversation about the elimination of trachoma, my favorite NTD. Ghana has officially moved from the “eradication” stage to the “surveillance” stage – awesome!

The rest of the day was spent packing, chatting with other volunteers, and a return trip to Vodafone (as I was packing I realized I had left my flash drive there – luckily, someone had returned it to the desk. Thanks for being honest, Ghanaians!).

I went to bed pretty early because there was a van taking other Unite For Sight volunteers to Kumasi with which I was hitching a ride. The van was originally supposed to leave around 5 or 6 AM. Late Saturday night, we got word that the van would now leave at 8 AM. As Sunday morning arrived, 8 AM passed, and then 9 AM. The van finally departed at 9:45 AM (I don’t think I’ll really ever get used to Ghana time). The driver seemed a little disoriented, and we soon realized that after about 45 minutes we were traveling back to Telecentre Guest House. The driver had forgotten some supplies for the Kumasi clinics…so we finally, officially left Accra around 11:30 AM. After a long ride, we arrived in Kumasi around 5:00 PM.

I left the Unite For Sight volunteers near Suntasi Circle, where my on-site internship advisor, Dr. Thomas Agyarko-Poku, met me. We took an extremely short drive to my new residence – Lizzie’s Hotel. Lizzie’s is no Ritz Carlton, but I still feel extremely spoiled to be staying there. I have a “suite” to myself, complete with sitting room, bedroom, and bathroom. My room has all the amenities – air conditioning, a hot shower, a TV that gets one station (that only broadcasts soccer, but will luckily show the Olympics next month), and there is rumored to be Internet access soon. The room usually rents for 100 Ghana Cedi per night (about 55 USD), but my incredible advisor bargained down to only 60 Ghana Cedi per night!

After organizing my room, I took a walk around the neighborhood. Unfortunately, it was 7 PM on a Sunday, so almost everything was closed. I did find a gas station where I bought a FanChoco (frozen chocolate milk), jelly, and popcorn. I nabbed a pork kebab from a woman grilling on the way back and enjoyed a delicious dinner on my own while watching Lost.