How things change!
on Working in Tumu (Ghana), 11/Apr/2011 10:28, 34 days ago
Best laid plans......Three weeks without a blog and then the Great Plan falls asunder. We are now back in Eastbourne having left Ghana on Wednesday 30th March on the late evening BA flight. Events can move very rapidly and they certainly did for us. In the last blog mention had been made of John's visit to the OPD (Out Patients Department) at Tumu hospital, a quick cortisone injection, antibiotics and rest. Well, three days after writing the blog John returned to Tumu hospital having not improved over the week, still weak, sleeping badly and losing weight, down from 88 to 78 kg and not very well. The Cuban medic decided that he needed to have a blood test and the results examined. Quickly had the blood test, one hour later returned with the paperwork, the Cuban doctor looked up sympathetically and indicated that he had both malaria and typhoid. A short discussion followed, course of action was written up in the patient file, but then a further Spanish conversation between the two Cubans ended up with hospitalisation and 72 hours of intra-venous treatment. See photo below!!!30 mints after admittanceSo a short while later, John was hooked up to a drip, had injections, and took many tablets. Running water was not a facility that the hospital possessed and it was vital to bring in your own bottled water and a glass. The next 72 hours were spent in the small room, without a light bulb, being injected with large quantities of quinine early Friday morning (the pain still present, nearly 4 weeks later!), searching unsuccessfully for a working toilet, receiving many visitors from the GES office, experiencing many different bodily functions at all times of the day, expecting a transfer to Wa hospital on Sunday, force-eating mushroom soup Saturday night and being discharged on Sunday afternoon. The whole experience was amplified by Marion being diagnosed with malaria on Friday as well and taking a mattress on the floor for 2 nights. A very difficult time for us which led to us making a tough decision on Sunday night/Monday morning. Because we had taken all the precautions, Doxycycline every day, mosquito net firmly tucked under the mattress every night, DEET liberally applied very evening, office sprayed by ZOOMLION, never having seen a mosquito let alone felt the bite, the rainy season and clouds of mosquitos arriving, no idea on how the typhoid was caught and unwillingness to repeat the three day experience and the ten days leading up to it, John losing 12 kg, an aggressive drug regime with multiple negative side-effects and the real medical emergency, we let VSO Ghana know that we would like to end our placement. They were very understanding when we discussed it with our programme director in Accra and the northern support VSO office in Bolgatanga and promised to be in touch regarding transport from Tumu to Bolga and onwards to Accra. So we started packing!Sink arrives with the plumberOur shower,works when everything else is turned offand there is water!The house meanwhile was undergoing its enhancements, the plumber was working Monday and Tuesday fitting a sink in the kitchen, a basin in Cal's bathroom and a toilet roll holder in our bathroom! The work on the polytank was due to start later in the week, the carpenter had completed the cupboard, table and chair. Everything was beginning to take shape, we were looking forward to a significant increase in the quality of living. The GES office was a super environment to work in, many initiatives were ready to take place and we anticipated a profitable 11 month working with colleagues. It was not to be!The toilet roll holder!The excellent cupboardWe were dejected by the abrupt change in our plans but really felt that we had no other option. We re-packed got a phone call from Bolga VSO to say that Thursday was the earliest so slowed our preparations to move on. We told Cal and Charles, our fellow Tumu VSO volunteers on Monday and they were devastated but respected our decision. We let immediate family know so that they could light the front room fire and clean up after the many parties in Eastbourne! As John was still very ill and in bed, Marion arranged to see the Director on Tuesday morning to let him know. All the ADs were at the meeting and it was a complete shock to them as most of them had been in Tamale on an INSET the week John was in hospital. That evening, the quiet rural location was shattered by the arrival of cars, motor bikes as the entire staff of the GES office arrived at our house to bid farewell. It was a very emotional time, speeches from the director and Henry, responses from John and Marion and the giving of beautiful presents. We will miss and do miss everyone at the GES Tumu office, we wake up in Eastbourne and in our minds set off for the GES office past the secondary school, the obligatory stop at the petrol station for 4 litres of Voltic, the endless good mornings, the turning right at the police checkpoint and the shaking of hands throughout the offices, the comradeship and prospect of effective and efficient co-working throughout 2011.Marion and CalJohn and CalLater on Tuesday evening VSO Bolga informed us that they would be there the next morning at 10.00am, so rapid re-pack meant we were ready that night. The car arrived on time and we made quick but poignant farewells. we soon on the unpaved road to Bolga passing schools that we had first visited only a few short weeks ago, and took a final look at the new classroom structure at the last school going in eats in Sissala East, memories.Suitcases only this timeWe were driven to the Bolga Office, met some of the VSO staff and then dropped at the Comme Ci Comme Ca hotel, a small but acceptable hotel just outside the town centre. We stayed for four nights recuperating, making a trip to Vodaphone to sort out our broadband dongle, trying to get funds out of our Ghanaian bank account and accessing our UK bank via the Barclays ATM (having forgotten the PIN code!) and sitting in the outdoor restaurant for many hours observing people, watching the soft drink supplies dwindle to Fanta and multifruit juice drink, watching the one TV channel (aside from a morning in reception when we experienced the highest watched soap in the world - As the World Turns - not to be missed although it finished last year, and finally on Sunday morning taking the car to Tamale airport. Two Bolga VSOs were good enough to print our flight document and we first hand learnt about being a volunteer in Bolga, the highs and lows.Comme Ci Comme Ca reception and new roomsOur roomWe arrived at Tamale airport in good time for the short flight to Accra on Sunday morning. We got a taxi down to the Byblos hotel in Osu and made in a brief foray to Oxford Road to buy juice and fruit. Lebanese food that evening and the TV channels had increased to 10.Tamale airportGhana from the air, Tamale football stadium?Monday morning saw us at VSO Ghana office meeting Comfort who along with Anita had made our journey to Accra and onto London possible. Anita's final act before going on maternity leave was to arrange for our passports to be retrieved from the Immigration Ministry where they had been since our arrival awaiting residence permits. We paid a vista to the VSO doctor who passed us fit for flight. There were no malaria parasites in our blood, although our red cells were low and needed to be boosted, malaria eats up red cells. Met with Jackie and Adele, 2 Accra based VSOs on Monday evening and Ruby our superb and indefatigable Upper West VSO volunteer representative on Tuesday morning. Collected our passports and flight coupons on Tuesday, although missed seeing programme director, watched Ghana beat England on the away goal rule on Tuesday evening and repacked ready for Wednesday's flight. Accra airport is a revelation, never ever complain about Heathrow or Gatwick. The flight took off on time although the second film session was curtailed by 10 minutes, so John does not know what happened at the end of Unstoppable, anyone got the DVD? Frances took two days off and met us at Terminal 5 with juice and croissants and brought us home to Eastbourne on a grey and wet Thursday morning. Kath and Steve had not only stocked the fridge, freezer, drinks cabinet but also left us a beautiful vase of flowers.So here we are back in Eastbourne. What a rapid change around, what can you say. We miss Ghana andTumuand theGESand our fellow volunteers. Thank you everyone.