TAMALE

Warm greetings from Tamale!

I write to you with a sweaty back and sticky spacebar in Tamale, Ghana (so please excusemycongealedwords. Ha ha!) My resident colleagues and I are enjoying a lazy Saturday afternoon after a crazy week on the wards.

First off, sorry for not blogging better. Here it is halfway through the rotation, and I am posting for the first time. We have been busy on the wards during the day and spending time with our attending doctors in the evenings until late. This group of attendings is leaving today/tomorrow in 2 groups. We will remain in Tamale for 2 more weeks, working on the wards with our Ghanaian colleagues, teaching med students, caring for patients, and learning as much about tropical medicine in this West African context as possible.

Honestly, this time in West Africa has been one of the hardest. I think knowing more of what you COULD do for patients now makes it harder not to have the available resources to make all of those things happen. Sometimes, these situations just require more creative thinking. Other times, they require some extra effort on our part. Still other times, there is little we can do in the short-term, and this really frustrates me. I pray God helps turn this anger and frustration into something productive, so that I do not wallow in a place of cynicism or worse, despair.

I am again amazed by the beauty of Ghana's people. No where else on Earth have I met such loyal, loving, hospitable people. It has been so much fun to reunite with old friends and make new ones.

We are going to church with one of our friends, Maame Mercy, from the Blood Bank tomorrow. I am looking forward to introducing my resident friends to a Christian Ghanaian church service! Have a great weekend.