coordinating the dental clinic has afforded me the unique opportunity of speaking with hundreds of ghanaians every day. some of my thoughts:
-- mensah, lartey and adjei seem to be the smith, jones and johnson of ghana...and the only last names i can now consistently spell on my own without my translator.
-- the kids here are unbelievable...have yet to hear a single child whimper or complain while getting dental treatments/extractions. kids back home would have to be coddled, coaxed and eventually bribed to behave. and ghanaian kids often come to clinic by themselves, bringing a signed permission slip from their parents.
-- schooling in ghana is now free but that's a recent change, so many adults don't know how to write or spell their own names. about half of the patients i register have to use their thumbprint instead of a signature.
-- some of the women here have their name and hometown branded/tattooed? on their forearms (handy for me when they don't know how to spell their name). i asked my interpreter sampson about this and he said that some women are afraid that they'll be killed or hurt in a traffic accident while they are away and no one will know who they are. they do this to be sure that their body gets back home...sort of a permanent ID card, i guess. (he said that guys don't seem to have the same concern)
-- about a fourth of the patients i register don't exactly know how old they are so they guess. one 70-ish woman i registered answered "older than 60" when i asked her age. others will give me an age that is obviously not accurate but i usually write down whatever they say because i don't want them to feel bad about the fact that they don't know...
-- lots of women are named after virtues...some of the most common first names are comfort, wisdom, blessing, gifty and patience.
speaking of, peace is doing great...i visit her every evening and she looks better and better. if it weren't for her NG tube she'd probably be going home by now. she has to be fed through it for about three more days (decreases chance of her incision getting infected) and then she'll be able to eat regular food again, which she's really pumped about. i asked her what her first meal will be when she gets home and she said "rice and a BIG piece of meat!" she wants me to take some pictures with her before she leaves so hopefully i'll have some posted soon.
# posted by Jenn @ 3:03 PM