The very first day I went into Nalerigu, Ghana I noticed the colorful yet simple illustrations on the signs outside of shops. Barber shops, saloons, restaurants, butcheries, photo studios and even cell phone booths all had amazing paintings on their signs.

I started taking pictures of the signs and while reviewing my photographs I noticed a common element. Every painting was signed either “Art by Boyz2Men” or “Art by Boyz”. I went to the town’s video rental store (they have quite an impressive selection of pirated VCDs and Nigerian films) which sported a larger-than-life Boyz painting of Sylvester Stallone from Cobra. I left a message with the shop owner to ask Boyz to come to my house. Read the rest of this entry »

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I’m breaking form here and posting three photos of the day – each taken by a Hewitt family kid.

The kids got digital cameras for Christmas so Mona asked me to give them a little art lesson about photography. I explained to them the 3 guidelines to better photos. Then they had 20 minutes to go take three pictures: a person, a plant, a place. When they came back we looked at the photos and discussed the three questions. I’ve posted three of their best as today’s Photo of the Day.

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It’s been almost 3 great months that we have spent in Nalerigu, Ghana at the Baptist Medical Centre. Last night and today we said our goodbyes and are now in Tamale waiting to catch our early morning flight to Accra.

Last night we had a dinner party and the IMB missionaries gave us a nice print of a watercolor painting of the front of the hospital.  Some folks were also VERY generous and paid for us to spend two nights at a really fancy beach resort  this next week before we head home to the US.

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I snapped this image as the stretcher was being pushed out of theater. I was very moved by the image when I saw it later in full resolution on my computer and spotted the tear under her eye.

This young girl was put under anesthetic while a visiting plastic surgeon cleaned a severe infection she has around her genitalia. There is a possibility it is a buruli ulcer which is not a good thing. Please keep her in your prayers.

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This woman is a TBA – “traditional birth attendant.” She is basically a traditional midwife who assists the young women in the village when they give birth. When I went out with Public Health on one of their village clinics this woman was key in bringing the pregnant women from the village to be examined. If you don’t get the local TBA on your side, you don’t get a very good turn out at your clinic.

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The other night while I was on call, 3 patients were brought in from the same road traffic accident (RTA – as they say here in Ghana…as opposed to MVA or MVC used in the States to mean “motor vehicle accident or collision.”) One patient had head injuries, another had a open knee wound with a fractured patella, and the third had a depressed nasal fracture with nasal bleeding.  I packed his nose with adrenaline soaked gauze and set him up for attempted reduction in the morning.

There are a couple books kept in the doctor’s lounge in the theater that explain surgeries and minor procedures for both trauma and non-trauma.  I have referenced these books on several occasions.  I opened up the chapter on facial fractures and found the treatment for nasal fractures.  I discussed the patient with Dr. Faile in the morning.  He said that he has never tried to reduce a nasal fracture, but that he was willing to try new things. Read the rest of this entry »

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It’s our last day in Nalerigu and there are some festivities going on. A lot of missionaries are in town and a new volunteer team arrived. At lunch we’re having a pig roast to welcome them and tonight ground nut stew to see us off!

Here’s Trey and the pig (postmortem):

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I went out to a remote village with three hospital employees who work in the Public Health Department. This image was taken from the inside of the deteriorating school house we used to setup clinic. The women walking towards me are pregnant and coming for an exam and medicine.

Since the scene was so bright outside the window, I used my flash with a diffuser and bounce it off the wall behind me. That allowed me to get the wall in the foreground much closer in brightness to the scene outside.

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