Our First Day in Tepa

I know I've been slow in updating my blog, so I'll try to get caught up on the Africa trip this week! Once we took our long drive from Accra to Ghana, and got a good nights sleep, we had a full day to get acclimated before meeting with Chief Nana the following day. In our particular area of Ghana, we had to meet with the local tribal (Ashanti) chief before we would be allowed to work. Since we had a free day, we were able to get a ride in the local ambulance to go in to town and check out the hospital we would be working in, as well as the local town and market.

For such a small village they had their own sign right on the "highway".


We had time to sit on the hotel grounds and visit and get acquainted with our fellow team members. In this photo Bruce, Cynthia (a retired OB-GYN), Anya and Amanda (awsome Lab Tech) visit while a couple of local guys talk with a friend.

The children in Tepa were pretty fascinated with us. This picture is in the center of town, these are the shops in the market. Most trade takes place out in the streets. The children loved having us take their pictures and then show them what they looked like.

I couldn't believe how much people could carry on their heads and how far they walk, often without shoes. Being industrious and creative are a means of survival for these people.

This lady is roasting plantains in the market area. The plantains were much more appetizing to look at than the fish!!

Bruce, Mary and Anya in the back of our transportation, the local ambulance!

We had taken over 6 bags of medical supplies with us. We spent a good part of the day sorting through what we had and dividing it up into the areas we would be working. The meds (2 bags) all went to the pharmacy. In this picture Anya, Trish, Amanda and Mary and trying to make some order out of chaos!

The picture below is the one of the buildings of the hospital. There were 5 small concrete block buildings. This building, the laboratory, had a small area that was air-conditioned. The rest of the hospital had screened windows and screened main doors, no a.c. and it was hot and humid!!! The staff at the hospital welcomed us with open arms, and we learned more from them than we taught. They use what little they have and still manage to do the best job possible.

At the end of a full day of getting acclimated we were hot, tired, intimidated by a whole new culture, and truly eager to get to work.

Next time: We meet with the Chief......

Accra, Ghana

On August 20, Bruce and I flew from Phoenix to New York's JFK airport, where we met the members of our Project CURE team for the first time. After making sure we were all there, we all boarded our 11 hour flight to Accra, Ghana. It was a huge relief to get off the plane and be met by Dr. Isaac Boateng, our host for the trip and David, our driver. They helped us through customs and we were officially in Ghana!

This first picture is a shot of the Accra airport.

From the airport we went to the physicians council of Ghana to register our two physicians, Cynthia and Nancy. Then it was on to the Nurse and Midwife council for Mary, Trish and I to be registered to work.

The Nurse and Midwife council was right on the coastline of Accra, so we had a great view of the ocean.

After finishing all the official paperwork, we piled into two cars (5 people in each un-airconditioned compact car), for a 9 hour drive to Tepa, our final destination.

The streets of Accra were crowded with traffic and beautiful Ghanaian people, then it was a looooong trip through rural and primitive roads to our destination. We all arrived tired, and all new kinds of dirty! But we were excited to finally be at our "home away from home" for the next 2 weeks.

Back to Reality

I realize it has been a long time since I posted. We left for our African trip on August 20. We flew from Phoenix to Accra, Ghana and had two life changing weeks working with Project CURE. When we had finished in Ghana, Bruce and I went for a two week safari in Zimbabwe. It was awsome!! We saw every animal we hoped for and more than we expected. I have lots of pictures to share and will be posting them in groups in the next few days. Now that we have been back for almost three weeks, I think I'm finally getting myself organzied again!

Quilt Camp

I went to quilt camp in Pine, AZ this weekend, to relax and finish up some projects. Before going, my good friend, Jody, and I decided to make these awsome bags that are just the right size for toting around all your quilting "stuff". It seemed like such a good idea at the time, but turned out to be the project from H---"!! We worked on them before getting to camp, the pattern was awful, it sewed up with HUGE difficulty. Neither of us had them done in time to go, so we finished them the first night at camp amid much grumbling and grousing. We agreed out bags looked like a 3-year-old-sewer had made them. As you can see from the picture, neither Jody or I were happy we had made the bag. Only time can heal some bad thoughts, and we harbor some against this bag designer!!!

Things defintely took a turn for the better once the "horrid bags" were done, and I was able to complete a fun quilt top on Saturday. You'll notice I went from frowning to smiling!

After a great day of sewing, eating, talking and laughing on Saturday (we saw two elk and the weather was 85 during the day and 50's at night!!), I had an amazing massage. Slept like a baby.

Our hosts, Candy and Jim, fixed us an amazing breakfast and then Jody had a group project for all of us. Hard to tell in the picture below, but it is a really cute fabric wallet that holds a notebook. It turned out great, and will be a fun gift to make. We all had our picture taken together with our project and headed home. What a great way to spend the weekend.

My latest creation

I finished up my latest quilt, "Borderland in Butternut and Blue". Each block is based on a woman from the Civil War Era. These women were all on either the Missouri or Kansas side of the border, one (Missouri) a slave state, and one, Kansas a Free State. It was a project that took a year to complete, and learning about each of the women, and their trials and perspective of the times they lived in, was a great experience. The quilt was designed by Barbara Brackman, who is from Lawrence, Kansas, our home town. I know I say this each time I finish a quilt, but this is my favorite! My friend, Jody, did an amazing job on the quilting, doing a seperate design for each block.

Peyton turned Two

Peyton is officially two years old now. Sara and Scott hosted his party at our house this weekend and all his Uncle John and Aunt Jen, Uncle Brian, Aunt Melissa, Cousins Rylee and Maddie, all came for swimming, food, cake and presents. It was a fun time for all of us.


Maddie was a big help with the presents!!

Rylee dove in to her cupcake,

Peyton wasn't real sure why we were all singing about the candle on his cupcake.....

and "Grandma and Papa" had the best time ever! Can you tell we love this boy?

Happy Independence Day!!

On this 4th of July, I'm blessed to be an American! May God Bless our land. We had a great family centered 4th. Sara, Scott and Peyton came over. After almost 2 hours of fun in the pool (Scott was our blender master for cold drinks!), we had the perfect dinner of Bar-B-Que ribs, potato salad, corn on the cob, and strawberry shortcake. Peyton tuckered out about 7:30, and since I work tomorrow, I'm afraid staying up late to go to fireworks isn't in our plans this year. Hope all our family and friends were with people they loved, take some time to remember what a great country we live in and to honor those who serve to keep us safe!