UBC-O Nurses in Ghana, Africa

Hi everyone back at home! We are not even sure where to begin with our blog post, so many eye-opening experiences have occurred on this trip already. Every day has been a new learning experience, we are constantly fascinated/amazed/sometimes disturbed by the things around us. Tamale is an interesting city, we have been exposed to the busyness of the city with the roadside vendors, market places and high traffic flow. Just a 15 min drive away is the village (Chanshegu) that we have had the pleasure of visiting a couple times now, so we have had a taste of the rural side of the city as well. Visiting the village is always enjoyable with the friendly greetings of the village people and little ones. Our group (Jas, Laura, Jackie & Anna) made a visit to the village on Friday, a day devoted especially to the orphans. Laura had brought along soccer jerseys to give to the children, which they were absolutely thrilled about. Looking fresh in their new jerseys we played football (soccer) in the hot hot heat! We were laughing at ourselves because these kids ran laps around us no problem and didn't seem fazed by the hot air and dust, meanwhile we were sluggishly running around and dying for a drink of water and couldn't wait to get our butts to the shade! For the weekend get-away, we travelled 3 hrs away from Tamale to Kintempo Falls. The falls themselves were absolutely beautiful, standing at the base of the falls looking up at the water falling down in front of us is an image we will never forget. The surrounding lush vegetation made the area an almost magical place. Although, we found it pretty funny and a bit uncomfortable when we went from being the tourists to being the tourist attraction for a Ghanain senior highschool class, they were quite excited to get their photo taken with us. On our way home, we stopped to get the famous dough balls that most of us are obsessed with. These dough balls are a sweet dough with a crisp deep fried outside and sitting in the hot sun they always taste freshly baked. Dipped with nutella, you feel like your on cloud nine haha. Our weekend finished off in Tamale where we played Ultimate Frisbee with about 25 people who meet every Sunday. They come from all walks of life, most working for NGOs/ researchers/ engineers without borders/ and the list goes on. Being able to play a sport out here felt good and by the end of it we were covered in black dust- head to toe. Meeting such a diverse group of individuals, we thought that it was really neat that all these people are here to make a postive difference. This further opened our eyes to the abundant opportunity that lies in this world. Looking at Ghana, we often take time to reflect on what's around us. It's hard to describe in words what makes the country beautiful, but around us are people who are strong physically and mentally and never give up. They do the best with what they have in the constant face of hardship. It's amazing to see such a vast, diverse culture that is so different from home. Being here has expanded our minds in so many ways and has helped us to further appreciate the life we already live.
That's it for now...sending everyone back home in Canada warm (+ 40 degrees) wishes from Tamale!

Jasbir & Anna xo