Ghana Adventure

patients often stayed 1-2 weeks (or longer!) on the ward while they recovered from their surgeries. in the US, many of the same surgeries would be done as outpatient procedures, but in Ghana there are no home health nurses, outpatient physical/occupational therapists, or even local clinics where stitches can be removed. therefore, patients stayed on the ship from beginning to end...until stitches were out, therapy completed and they were 100% ready to take the often long trip home.

one result of this system is that many patients are feeling pretty good a week after surgery and they start to get bored just lying around every day. so the ship has an "adopt-a-patient" program where crew can sign up to spend time every day with a single patient...reading with them, playing games, etc.

1st pic: empty ward, waiting for patients to arrive.