By Emily Barden
Wednesday February 1st, 2012
And so begins the month of February here in Accra, Ghana! As
a team we began our morning with the usual surprise breakfast, prepared by the
beautiful Grace and Vida. They have been such creative cooks in the kitchen and
so gracious to take care of our needs from day to day. On this day we had MORE
amazing pineapple and mangos and some hot porridge with bread and eggs.
After breakfast, we made our way over to the Manna Mission
Academy to share morning devotionals with the school children in their chapel
service. As we approached, we were greeted by the sound of drums and voices,
singing praise and worship songs in beautiful harmonies. We spent time in
worship, watching the children dance and sing with quite impeccable rhythm.
They began a conga line, dancing and clapping around the auditorium during
their worship song; so of course, we had to join in. It was so much fun to see
them all laughing and clapping while we danced with them. After worship, the
pastor welcomed us to the stage and Hays, Grace and Bethany had the opportunity
to share a little bit of their hearts with the audience. They presented
personal devotionals to the children; who all seemed very receptive and ready
to learn from the girls.
From there, we all divided up into our different assignments
for the day and made our way to the hospital. I had the opportunity to get to
know some lovely ladies in the “lying in” ward during my assignment in labor
and delivery. I met four women who were all waiting to have their babies, and
two women who were lying in with their newborn baby girls. Time flew while we
sat and chatted. The women were so enthusiastic and had such colorful
personalities.
Nian was in pharmacy for the day learning about different
kinds of malaria medication and got to meet Kingsford, the intelligent
pharmacist at Manna Mission! Grace, Bethany and Julianne chose to spend the day
helping with the well baby clinic in the hospital. They also had the
opportunity to see a little girl have her dressings changed on a “soup” burn
all over her arm. The day was filled with lots of babies and mothers coming in
for their one-week check ups. We slowly figured out that all of the women
wearing white were all of the new mothers. Here in Ghana it is customary to
wear white for a few months after you have your baby.
Kaitlin and Rachel went to the Academy to teach all of the
school children about hand washing and infection control. As it goes with most
young kiddos at school, they all ended up playing a game of “heads up 7up” for
the remainder of their time. Matt spent his time for the day in the lab,
becoming familiar with the various tests and processes used in the mission
hospital and entertaining the techs with his goofy sense of humor.
Hays saw a total of 85 patients in the “out patient” ward
during her 3 hours at the hospital. She checked in the patient’s to the
hospital, took vitals and made friends with everyone awaiting the doctor. While
Ms. Poore floated to various areas of the hospital, Dr. Catts spent time
working on the curriculum for the future Manna Mission College of Nursing. Because
of Ms. Poore and Dr. Catt’s resources, we are able to partner with Manna
Mission to make a curriculum with them for their developing school plans.
By noon we were all together again eating lunch and making
plans for school work that needed to be done that afternoon. Each team began to
make plans for what we would be doing our projects on during our stay here in
Ghana. Team Amazing (Emily, Julianne, Kaitlin, Nian, Rachel) has chosen to
teach young girls and boys about puberty, purity and the changes that come with
becoming an adolescent. Team Awesome (Hays, Bethany, Grace, Matt) chose to research
the labor and delivery practices of the people here and teach on healthy
methods for delivery and ante-natal care.
That evening the Ghanaian soccer team was playing Guinea in
the playoffs. A few of us were able to join the Ablorh’s at their home to watch
the game and hang out together. Hays, Bethany, Grace, Julianne and I had fun
with our new friends as we watched their favorite sport and cheered on Ghana as
they moved onto the next round. As we left, Jeremiah gave us a tour of their
beautiful home, and Bethany finally got to hug a palm tree in the front yard.
Standing in the Gap
It has now been ONE WEEK since we left Tulsa and said
“adios” to the comforts of home in the United States. It’s hard to believe that
after 7 days, our mission house has started to feel like home. We have already
seen so many beautiful faces and felt so welcomed by everyone that we meet. We
begin every morning at the hospital doing devotions and prayer, led by the
hospital staff. It is inspiring to see the love these people have for Jesus and
His grace. After one week, I have already learned how to welcome God into every
corner of my day and to give thanks in new ways.
From 9am-12pm we all participated in different activities at
the hospital. The well baby clinic was still going on, which provided multiple
opportunities for us to look after newborns. In the labor and delivery ward
there was one young woman awaiting the arrival of her first baby. By the time
we left for lunch she was 6cm dilated and having frequent contractions. Little
did we know; that later that night, the arrival of her baby girl would change
some of our lives.
After lunch JOE FOX came to the house! YAAAYYYY!! Here in
Ghana that means it’s shopping day. Pastor Seth, Jeremiah and Joe all came to
the house to pick us up. We chose the dress styles that we wanted, while Matt
stuck with a simple shirt and pants design. Once Joe had taken all of our
measurements, Jeremiah skillfully drove our whole group into Accra to buy
fabric.
As we drove into the city, we all admired the market
dresses; of course Grace and I immediately noticed ALL the soccer jersey
vendors. We are all excited to do some souvenir shopping later in the trip! So,
we got back on task, made our way into the fabric stores, and picked out all of
our colorful patterns to be used for our dresses.
By the time we all arrived back home, there were definitely
some stomach’s grumbling. We ate dinner, and some of us decided to go back to
the hospital to check on the patient’s we’ve been getting to know. I met up for
a short walk with my friend Diana who is in the lying-in ward, awaiting the
arrival of her first baby. The rest of the group went into the labor and delivery
ward to check on the woman who was slowly progressing earlier in the day.
When I finished walking with Diana I went to the delivery
room to find Matt and Rachel helping the young woman begin to give birth to her
baby!! We all joined in on the help, and after an hour and a half of pushing,
coaching, and encouragement, she finally delivered a little girl. Once the baby
was out, we noticed right away that she was flaccid, blue and lifeless. All of
us looked down at the baby girl and realized she needed oxygen and
resuscitation right away.
Those first few moments after the birth were indescribable. Thankfully
the doctor was in the room upon delivery, and the midwife had a positive
attitude about the baby’s survival chances. They brought her over to the baby basin; the doctor
immediately began to administer oxygen through the ambu-bag. Matt stepped up to
the basin and began resuscitating the baby right away. “1..2..3..4..5..” Matt counted
as he pumped the little baby’s chest with his thumbs. After 10 minutes of
praying, oxygen and resuscitation, a weak cry finally came from the little girl’s
mouth. She cried a few times until the doctor was comfortable enough to
discontinue the oxygen, but we didn’t stop praying.
They covered her with the blankets we brought from home,
began to assess her weight, and cleaned her off with baby oil. We took pictures
with the baby and brought her over to her mother. The midwife told us, before we left, that if we wouldn’t
have been there to help coach the mother through labor, than the baby might not
have lived.
God’s mercy and plan are so great, and everything happens
for His plan and His reasons.
Because there are times when you stand between life and death, and that
night, we stood in the gap for life.
Psalm 3:3-5 “But you are a shield around me, O Lord; You
bestow glory on me and lift up my head. To the Lord I cry aloud, and He answers
me from His holy hill. I lie down in sleep; I wake again, because the Lord
sustains me.”
P.S. Matt’s thoughts:
At dinner, we were all exhausted. We barely spoke to each
other due to our fatigue. There
was little we wanted to do other than relax; however, we each felt a pull on
our heart to return and check on our patients, and we chose to be obedient.
Five of us came. The other four stayed because we had initiated a chore list
for the mission house and they had duties to perform; those five where exactly
the ones that needed to be there. Emily went to feed her patient. Rachel and I
went to check on my patient with the bedsore. We cleaned his stool again and
dressed the bedsore. This evolved to a full head to toe bath. His countenance
became very peaceful after this.
Next, Rachel and I went to the labor ward so she could wash
the woman’s forehead. As we walked in, the midwife called for us to move the
women into the labor suite. The timing was perfect. We were there about 45mins
when Emily joined us. She brought the refreshing energy we needed to continue
on with coaching the woman.
After a lot of work, the baby came and I got to cut the
cord. After a moment I noticed the silence. It was heart stopping to contrast the
loud singing cry we knew should be there with the hollow silence and rush of
the medical team. I walked over and saw the doctor giving rescue breathes to
the still body with the ambu-bag. I began chest compressions and time all but
stopped when the silence was finally broken by a weak, but clear, cry.
It’s an overwhelming thing to reflect upon, being part of
saving a life. It shows how great God’s grace is and how he holds the world in
his hands. We all learned the power of obedience. Had we not obeyed that still
small voice in our hearts, the world may have never heard that cry of life. We
followed up with the mother and newborn the next day, and there were no
complications. The baby was nursing successfully and the mother was resting.
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