First Day of Work

This morning, we woke up around 6:15 to prepare for a first day of work. We spent the late part of last night without water (I took a shower with my bottled water!) and were all delighted to find that the water pump had been fixed in the morning. Turning the faucet and being immediately rewarded with a steady flow of liquid was something we took for granted a little less this morning. After an early breakfast, we piled onto the bus and made the 45-minute trip to Korle-Bu Hospital in Accra. We arrived at the ENT department of the hospital and met with Albert, the speech and language therapist, and Dr. Emmanuel Kitcher, the chair of the ENT department at the University of Ghana. Albert is currently the only practicing speech pathologist in Ghana and travels back and forth each week from Korle-Bu hospital to Kumasi, a city 6-hours away by car, to see patients in need of speech and language therapy.

Korle Bu hospital stood humble and majestic, with a grand staircase leading up to the waiting room and long columns lining the outdoor hallways. Albert’s office was near the entrance of the hospital, with a separate waiting room to the left and his office to the right. Across the top of the door was the sign “Speech and Language Therapy,” perhaps the only sign to bear these words in all of Ghana. Albert had invited a number of his patients to come to the hospital this week to be evaluated by our team. We saw 14 of these patients today, each with varying conditions and personalities. After watching Miriam, our supervisor, conduct an evaluation and provide recommendations for the first patient, we broke up in to small groups of 4 and 5 to begin receiving patients. The patients we saw presented with a variety of conditions, including autism, stroke, voice disorder, and language delays. We saw each patient for 20-40 minutes. We conducted a brief interview with each patient and gave them our recommendations based on the information gathered. One woman in particular left a lasting impression on some members of our group. She was a beautiful 60-year-old woman with a wide smile and a big heart. She was an active member of her church services and was often asked to speak in front of the congregation until a growth in her vocal folds began to interfere with her speaking abilities. Following an emergency thyroid operation, she could not speak for many months. She gradually was getting her voice back, but with severe hoarseness and vocal fatigue it was obvious to her and those around her that she could no longer speak the way she used to. She spoke quietly and slowly to us, with an abundance of patience when we asked her to repeat herself in an effort to better understand what she was saying. We practiced some vocal exercises with her and we could quickly tell that she was extremely committed to taking care of her voice. Throughout our time with her, she continually expressed her gratitude towards us and said that she was so happy to see us. It was our group, however, that gained perspective and insight from speaking to her and simply being in her presence and for that, we are grateful.

About halfway through our workday, a film crew from a local news station came to the hospital to film a report about the hospital’s work in speech and language therapy. As if seeing patients weren’t excitement enough for us today, the work we were doing was going to be filmed and we would be on TV! They interviewed some of us and filmed portions of the therapy sessions. We were excited to see the final product that night!


We left the hospital around 2pm and had the earliest lunch we’ve had here at 3 in the afternoon. We sat around a long table set up outside a restaurant near the University of Ghana. As we munched on our buffet of food, we shared about the different patients we had seen in the morning. These types of meetings are called S-groups back at Columbia and usually take place in small rooms in the clinic. We were enjoying our modified Ghanaian S-group as we ate and talked around a delicious meal in the sweet African air. Once well fed, we went off to the market where we all bought yards of gorgeous fabric.

After a bit of rush hour traffic, we got back to the hotel and quickly gathered into the dimly lit dining room to watch the 7pm news report. Joining us in the dining room was Cynthia, George’s niece who makes amazing beaded jewelry and brought many for us to buy, and Esther, a seamstress who took our measurements to make our requested garments, among which included skirts, a wedding dress, table runners, and a bowtie. Because the room was so dim, we had to break out our flashlights to look at the jewelry or take each item over to the lit fishtank to get a better look. The coverage of our work today came on about half an hour into the news report and we dropped everything to gather around the TV that hung in the corner of the room. We watched our news segment with pure excitement and plenty of laughter to go around. Here’s to our 2 minutes of fame! Well 4 minutes if you count the second airing of the segment at 10:30pm. What we are TRULY most excited about is the growing knowledge of speech and language therapy in Ghana. It’s not about our faces on TV (well ¾ of my face), but about the significance of this field and the small steps that are being taken to raise awareness and support in Ghana. We want to do our job so well that we won’t be needed here anymore (although I wouldn’t mind being on TV again!).

Fishing Village and Canopy Bridge

The morning sun shines on our curious faces as we follow George and Linus down toward the beach. Trays of drying silver fish line our pathway, aglow with light that seems to dance off of the otherwise dull earthen route. An assortment of brightly colored yet worn canoe-like boats are dotted across the beach as we carefully make our way toward the water. This morning we have the privilege of learning the inside scoop of the Ghanaian fishing industry, and Linus (what a generous powerhouse of information!) is here to share with us the secrets of his family’s trade.

It understandably begins with the fisherman. Strong men can be seen in the near distance, carrying a net of at least 100 feet toward their awaiting boats. Linus explains their strategy: with this net, they will form a U-shaped trap and slowly close in on the unexpected assortment of fish. This job requires strength, which certainly appears to be of no scarcity to the muscular fishermen hauling their huge net across the beach. We meet with a woman, bent over a catch from that morning. She proudly showcases the net before her, bearing perch, sunfish, swordfish, eel, and other struggling fishy bodies.

From here, fish are washed, organized by size and variety, and placed in a single layer on large wire racks. This is the first stage in fish preservation, and these racks shine from all over this village. Once sufficiently dried, the fish are ready to enter the smoke house. Beautiful and energetic children crowd around us as we listen to Linus explain how coconut and sugarcane are used as kindling to smoke the awaiting trays of ill-fated fish. Someone asks how long the fish are smoked, and George offers: “It’s not like in the United States where cooking requires timers. In Ghana, we do things haphazardly, but the end product is always beautiful.” Fish are smoked until they are done, and that’s that. It is then time for women to sell this product at markets throughout Ghana.

We ask our last questions about fish preservation, and most of us have a child or two clasping onto our hands and enthusiastically asking to have their pictures taken. They are full of smiles and laughter, and we delight in the games that emerge from these budding new relationships. Mothers offer their babies to teach us the art of multitasking: babies are tied to our backs while trays of pineapple are balanced on our untrained and uncoordinated heads. It’s a beautiful exchange of smiles and culture.

We shake hands, give hugs, and say our good-byes to Linus and his welcoming family and community. Next stop: Kakum National Park. Our plan is to look down upon this national park from the 130 foot high view offered by roped bridges.

Now, today is still technically a holiday in Ghana since it is the first Monday after New Years. We make our way to Kakum with this in mind, but do not know of the massive crowds we will meet when reaching the cue in the forest. We find ourselves in a thick crowd waiting to teeter across the swinging rope bridge and we wait. And wait and wait and wait. What is normally a rather short cue is today thick with energized people, all looking forward to their turn to walk these bridges. Our turn comes and we scoot along, snapping pictures and searching around in hopes of glimpses of wildlife below. Our bellies are ready for lunch as we climb down from the bridge. It is 5:00.

Night comes quickly, and it’s a quiet ride on the bus as we bumpily make our way back to Accra. Tomorrow is our first day of work at Korle-Bu Hospital, and we are all eager for what we have to learn from the clinical experiences to come.

Church, Elmina, and African Drumming

Breakfast was by the beach the next morning. We certainly felt revived the morning, although some of us were so excited to find air conditioning in our rooms that we were actually cold during the night. Breakfast was a buffet of fresh fruit, oatmeal, omelettes, coffee, pastries, and the most unique: Hibiscus juice.

On our way to the slave castle in Elmina, we passed small hut villages, and our bus dodged people, as well as cat-sized goats that had ventured very close to the road. At one point we noticed a group of people gathered outside a church, all wearing elegantly tailored dresses and collared shirts, made from identical blue and yellow fabric. it turned out that the church, called the Elmina Bethel Methodist Church, was holding a special service to celebrate its 170th anniversary. We ventured inside as music played and the happy church-goers danced in their seats. We were led straight through the center isle and up the stairs leading to the balcony, where we sat next to what seemed to be the church choir (even though it seemed that everyone in the church was engaged and singing most of the time). Looking around us, it was a sea of blue and yellow. The pastor led the service in Fante, one of languages of the Akan people of Ghana. During the service, Danielle, Lisa, Elaine, and Cate went downstairs to the pulpit to take communion. On our way out of the church we all stood by the pulpit as the pastor publicly introduced our group and welcomed us with a prayer. "Menaace. Afie shiapa!" (Thank you. Happy new year!) Cate replied in Twi, another Akan language.

Our next stop was the immense Elmina Castle. the 529 year-old castle was built by the Portuguese, on the grounds that they wanted to protect trade between the Africans and the Portuguese, and as housing for their missionaries. Our tour guide, Philip, believes that it was actually the intention of the Portuguese all along to use the castle to hold captured Africans, before those who survived were exported on slave ships. The castle was subsequently taken over by the Dutch, who expanded the slave trade. Thus, the Transatlantic/Triangle slave trade began.

We toured the whole castle, and stood in the same humid rooms where thousands upon thousands of Africans sweltered, starved and died, suffering the most atrocious conditions imaginable in the process. Of the Sixty million Africans who were captured from their homes, at Elmina Castle "Forty million people lost their precious lives," Philip told us in a solemn voice. Like the Cape Coast Castle we visited yesterday, this castle also had a "Door of No Return." There we stood, observing a moment of silence in the darkness of the hot, decrepit cell. Sometimes it's the silence that reaches you in a way that words can't reach.

We had delicious "lunch" (it was 4pm) at a local restaurant, and then a couple of us stood on the porch outside watching the villagers walk by with baskets on their heads, and talking with some adorable children. Inside the restaurant, the rest of the group bought beaded jewelry from Suzie, a 13-year-old girl who was selling it to put herself through school.

Arriving back at the beach resort at 6, we had an hour to relax before we joined up by the pool to discuss our expectations and fears about this trip. Cate surprised us by inviting a drumming/dancing troupe of about eight guys to perform for us. There is nothing like seeing traditional African drumming IN Africa. Drumming, dancing, acrobatics, breakdancing, and even fire-eating. At the end of their show they pulled us all into a big circle and taught us a few moves. We were shaking and grooving like pros...almost!

The evening ended with us all hanging out by the beach until members of our group trickled off to bed. Tomorrow will be another new day of our Ghanaian adventure.

Afie Shiaapa!

Few of us remembered in the morning what an alarm clock was. Alarmed, quite a few of us slept in and, having planned to meet at 10:30, didn't leave Yegoala hotel until a bit after noon. Two to a room, the beds were soft yet bouncy and the air conditioners and water heaters worked in some rooms. Trickling in one by one for breakfast, we savored pineapple juice, instant coffee with milk fresh from the cow, and veggie omelets with beans and bread. Not sure if the water in the juice is safe, we took our chances of some mild indigestion, but for sure have been purchasing bottled water. Turns out, a few of us (Miriam, the Jackies, Jennie, and Becky) starred in a music video involving a carwash scene ?!

We then met in our private bus for a three hour ride to the Cape Coast Town. Our gracious guide George (also Jorge) spoke to us about Ghanaian naming rituals, marriage protocols, and sociolinguistic issues. We listened while driving through towns with a lot of car and foot traffic. The women, and some men, balanced impossible loads on their heads, propped by a special hat. Something different was sold from each balanced basket--beach umbrellas, jeans, peanuts, towels, and shish-ka-bob-like snacks. George explained how the names of Ghanaian men and those of Ghanaian women all begin with the same letter, unless born on Thursday. He broke it down for us the three forms of marriage--traditional, semi-traditional, and organized. Traditional involves a man offering a bottle of Schnapps to the family (or families) of his future wife (wives). It's not an offer, it's matter of fact. The semi-traditional involves a dowry, an engagement ring, and a Bible. The organized variety is more of a Western style. The difference he explained is, "men in the U.S. marry the woman they love, men in Ghana love the woman they marry." Chicken or egg? George spoke to us in English, but was able to speak to the driver in Twi and to his brother in Fante.

When we arrived to the Cape Coast Castle, George spoke to the guides in Ga. We walked through slave dungeons and stood in the dark dank rooms. Matilda, our guide, spoke to us slowly and clearly with a peaceful yet stern look in her eyes. Objective, she allowed us to experience on our own the history of the place. We stood for a moment in the room for the condemned, those who tried to escape. After looking through peepholes at cannons and palming cannonballs, we approached the "Door of No Return," where the people embarked to sail to the Americas to the unknown. Matilda explained the process as we heard commotion and movement at the other side. The door opened to hundreds of children playing-- half in the ocean, half of them naked, some tumbling and others playing soccer. Ghanaian children smiled at us as we walked through that heavy threshold.

We convened at the castle restaurant, where we had already ordered. Most ate some combo of chicken or fish with rice and beans or plantains. So delicious. Afterward, we rode to a beach hotel called "Coconut Grove." We checked into our huts in the beachside African village. After a short rest, we met for class, where we discussed the exportation of surgical care to developing countries and the sustainability of our imminent efforts in Ghana. Work will begin on Tuesday, after all the New Years festivities.

Now, we sit around a table on the beach with some nice refreshments, the sound of waves, a few stars, and some good conversation.

WE ARRIVE IN GHANA ON NEW YEARS EVE!!

We left 30 degree weather in NYC to arrive in 88 degree weather in Accra Ghana! The flight arrived just about 20 minutes late but other than that it was an easy trip. George Odoi, our guide, welcomed us with his smile and Akwaaba welcome. Everyone is fine, happy, and smiling (for all our family and friends that includes Jamie, Elaine, Lisa, Jocelyn, Dorothy, Becky, both Jackies, Heather, Jennie, Diana, Miriam, Christina, Danielle, and Brooke (Cassie arrives tomorrow)).

We went right from the airport to our New Years Eve celebration. When in Ghana we do as the Ghanaians do--we went to church. This church was in a soccer stadium full of plastic seats that were full of Ghanaians dressed in white--the celebration color here.

George brought white handkerchiefs for us and arranged for seats up front near the music and dancing. A gospel choir sang and we, with hundreds of others, moved to the front and started dancing. After a few minutes the pastor began preaching while a woman translated it into Twi. That lasted over an hour and a couple of us caught upon some sleep we lost on the flight. A few minutes before midnight the preaching stopped and about 50 people came to he front to offer themselves to Christ while the preacher simultaneously preached and spoke in tongues. Then the offerings--people gave their yearly tithing, the night's offering, and white envelopes containing their wishes and hopes for the year.

Then the real dancing began. We were "dancing for God" along with hundreds of Ghanaians waving our white handkerchiefs and dancing with many different people and ourselves. That went on until 1:30 am. By then and after 18 hours of traveling we boarded the bus and headed to the Yegoala hotel ending our first night in Ghana! The beds were sublime!

Written by Cate Crowley

Check it out.

Hi all. This is the site for the Teachers College Columbia University speech language pathology Ghana blog. Students and supervisors alike are currently getting together their children's books & markers, summer clothing & sunscreen, malaria pills & antibiotics, and large bills & visas for our departure on the 30th. This year the 14 student clinicians are Brooke Linden, Cassie Wangsness, Christina Lam, Danielle Lake, Diana Pritsker, Elaine Fong, Heather Campbell, Jacqueline Rubinstein, Jacqueline Schmieder, Jamie Horn, Jennie Portney, Jocelyn Pekler, Lisa McBride, and Rebecca Steinhilber. We are so excited!