Cut to: Me stuffing almost 1500 condoms in my backpack. Yep. Close to 10 lbs of rubbers.

My little sister is always one for an awkward situation. She loves a challenge. So when I asked her to check out McGill Health Services to see if they had any idea how I could buy condoms in bulk, she was game. Apparently the staff The Shag Shop didn’t even bat a lash when she asked how many $200 would buy her. Turns out condoms in bulk are cheap. Really cheap. 11 cents each cheap.

The story didn’t stop there. With a flurry of facebook jokes, tongue in cheek warnings and new nicknames, my friends laughed and weren’t entirely surprised that I had decided to give up luggage space and risk questioning at customs in the name of safe sex promotion. Why carry condoms to Ghana? Well there are many reasons. Condoms are available in Ghana, they can be easily purchased in most areas. The problem is that they are quite costly (imagine the same prices we pay in Canada when you only make $1-3 a day) and it can be embarrassing to purchase them at a small village shop. Another reason for bringing them is that giving them out can help reduce the stigma and can help normalize their use. Small clinics and NGOs rarely have the opportunity to have such a large quantity on hand during outreach programs so our donation could help them reinforce their teaching. A more personal reason for me was that during my last trip to Ghana, I heard stories of catholic institutions burning donated condoms due to restrictions imposed by their religion. It baffles me that a little latex could cause such drama.

Condoms are giggle worthy. I’ll give you that. But 1500 condoms is a comedy sketch waiting to happen. In our sketch, the punchline was smuggling them into a catholic mission hospital car complete with fully-habited reverend sister (like triple word score!) and past the Jesus statue to hide them in our house on the hospital compound. Tell her they are cookies for the kids if she asks, said the pharmacist. No need, she would never suspect good little girls like us. A series of coded phone calls and friend-of-a-friend meetings later and we found an organization who was willing to help us distribute our said wares.
So one fine afternoon, the director of the NGO, Mr.S phoned my friend, who phoned the pharmacist, who called me into his office. I was about to head in to watch a surgery but I knew that this hushed request was the call I had been waiting for. So I made an excuse, slipped out of my scrubs and headed to the pharmacy. A few formal greetings and handshakes later and I invited these new friends back to the house to collect the “things”.
Walking towards the house, the plot thickened as we bumped into the reverend sister along the path. She looked me up and down but thankfully didn’t question why I was holding my breath or what I was up to. Four years after first setting foot at the hospital, she had learned that I was prone to wandering in the company of those I shouldn’t be (aka young men- shock horror). Thanks goodness, because I am a terrible liar. A few more formal greetings and we quickly walked towards the house. Mr.S sent his assistant to get the car because we couldn’t risk bumping into her again with the large duffel bag. We loaded the goods into the car at the back gate and they drove up the ominously named Mortuary Road.
The story ends a few weeks later as we headed to a small village on outreach. We watched the kids’ faces as the public health nurse showed picture after picture of STIs and various infected body parts. We stiffled laughter at the collective gasps. We took note of which images left the audience silent. Then we watched the condoms disappear.

As we settled in the van to leave, exhausted from a full day, a man knocked on the window and asked one of the staff members something in Ewe, the local language. As I looked up, I could see a young man standing about 10 paces behind him. As I watched one of the counselors give the older man a handful of condoms, the young man grinned sheepishly. I burst out laughing as he accepted the condoms. That moment was worth every joke made about carrying 1500 condoms into Ghana.

But I digress… Life in Ghana has been good to us. The girls settled in very quickly, learning bits of the language, adopting local names and dancing at funerals.. We have sported African dresses, beads and braids and have been complimented on how well we have perfected the fine art of “chillin’” (“You people are seriously chilling!”) We have spent close to 5 days or nights a week at the hospital or on outreach for the past 3 weeks. We usually get home, get bored and head back to see what we can do. Our entertainment is constant action on the wards.

We were thrown right into Ghanaian life upon arrival. We spent the first few days in Accra where Alex tried her first bowl of fufu, Julia M tied the first baby she saw to her back and Lyne tried her hand at bargaining at the markets. All with the soundtrack of amazing local music and the shouts of “obroni” (white man).

Less than 2 days later we were whisked away to the Volta Region to the hospital where we were welcomed with open arms, big smiles and a very daunting timetable prepared by the head nurse. Highlights at the hospital have included the Julias helping a woman deliver squatting (despite much protest from the midwife), going on an outreach excursion as part of a polio eradication program (including walking to a canoe in “schish” infested water Yummy!) and working in the children’s ward. Some of the moments have been amazing, but many are frustrating and eye-opening, like a little girl who came in severely malnourished (11 mts old, barely 4kg). With spoonfuls of sugar laced peanut butter, she slowly regained her strength and got to go home. We have seen things that were just not fair. Preemie babies that never get a chance because of lack of medical equipment. Children who are treated for malaria for the 6th time in their short lives. A woman who died after a c-section leaving her twin boys motherless. But you take a big breath and promise to get better so you can do more.

We have been tricked into thinking we are tanned, only to watch red earth swirl down the shower drain. We have dipped our toes in the ocean and run screaming from jellyfish. We have bought bananas fresh from the forest, knocked oranges and mangos from the trees for our breakfast. We have danced to the local music, showing them that white girls can too dance. We have made babies cry just because they have never seen a white person before. We have stood under the highest waterfalls in West Africa in our underwear, much to the shock of some local school kids. We have collected marriage proposals. We have hidden 1400 condoms on the catholic hospital compound and smuggled them out the back gate to an NGO. We just got up and danced in the internet café because our favourite song came on. In short, we’re working harder than ever and
having an awesome time.

4 ladies set off from Montreal. 4 Nurses ready for adventure. 4 people hoping to learn a whole new set of skills.

It is Friday at 9:09 GMT and I am sitting in the Heathrow airport waiting for my 14:50 flight to Accra. The three others are in transit. Julia M is somewhere between Dubai and Accra. Alex and Lyne are most likely enjoying a little bit of Amsterdam before their flight to Accra. We all furiously wrote our last assignment, charted our last notes for our Montreal internships and packed our bags. And somewhere in between we had our last nursing class at JAC. Ever. What an amazing way to finish our Nursing program!!!

We will be at a small, rural hospital in Abor, Ghana.

View Larger Map

A young American midwife chronicles her experiences practicing in Malawi and Ghana on her blog Babycatcher

Over 250 distinct languages are spoken in Ghana. In the Volta region the predominant language is “Ewe”. It is also spoken in southern Togo and parts of Benin.

Considered one of the more difficult Ghanaian languages to learn, Ewe is spoken by over three million people. It is a tone language meaning that pitch, tone and minor variances in pronunciation matter a great deal when learning to speak Ewe. It can also lead to comedic situations when a slight raise in tone on one letter can change the whole meaning of a sentence. Although Ewe dictionaries and grammar books do exist, they are difficult to use as many phonetics symbols and diacritical marks are used.

Even during a short stay, students will find that they will be welcomed more warmly (on top of the already warm welcome of Ghanaians!) by attempting to speak a few words of Ewe and will find that it facilitates communication and creation of relationships.

This is a great video! Really easy to follow! All of the expressions taught will be useful during our stay. (Source:http://www.easytrackghana.com/)

Here are some links which may help you get ready:

1.First time in Africa
2.Tips for staying healthy while volunteering abroad
3.Guide to Staying Healthy
4.Health and Safety in Africa

The popular music is pop, hip hop and hiplife. Hiplife music is an addictive blend of  dancehall, hiphop,  reggae  and highlife ,a jazzy style of music  which orignated in Ghana and has spread all over West Africa. Selling cheap bootleg CDs is a widespread income generator and side business among young men.  Most of the popular songs are in Ghanaian languages such as Twi, Hausa or Ewe. Nigerian music is popular in Ghana as are artists from neighbouring french countries.

Many Ghanaians do not have access to clean drinking water. The lack of a safe, reliable source of water is a major contributor to many diseases including Guinea worm, trachoma and diarrhoeal diseases. According to Unicef “Diarrhoeal diseases account for 18 per cent of deaths among children under five years of age worldwide, or an estimated 1.7 million child deaths every year – making them the second most common cause of child deaths globally.”

During our practice Ghana, we will deal with many cases of water-borne disease.
Fighting Guinea Worm

Great documentary about some of the luxury products that Ghana exports at a very high human and environmental costs.