It got better.

I suppose I left off on a rather morbid note, given that it would be another five days until I'd write another update. Despite my harried arrival in Ghana, week one turned up.

On Tuesday, I was shown around Kasoa by Eric, the director of the foundation. He helped me exchange my US dollars and cents for Ghanian cedes and pesewas. (The exchange rate is 2.6 GHC to 1 USD, so an American dollar stretches a long way here.) We purchased a Ghanian cell phone and Sim card, and stopped by the healthcare clinic I will be working at to meet the head nurse Grace. Eric bought us  waachi - beans and rice topped with an oily, spicy tomato "stew" and shredded cabbage - at a stand selling traditional Ghanian food to go. I met the rest of the volunteers (there are 5 total, all girls spanning our twenties) and saw where the office where I can use Internet and do any writing side of my work.

The next morning I arrived at the clinic at 7:30 am. One other volunteer from CHF works there as well, so it was nice to have a familiar face. We helped with different projects however, her in vaccinations and me weighing babies. I spent the morning hanging babies that had been fitted into a cross between a diaper and a shoulder bag from a large scale and recording their weights. The babies were adorable, and oddly hilarious hanging from these weird getups. I was impressed with the diligence the mothers displayed by bringing their babies for these monthly weigh-ins. 

Thursday was different. During my time here, I will spend Mondays and Wednesdays at the clinic and Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays conducting interviews about local tuberculosis knowledge and giving informative presentations in schools about TB. I took a shared taxi with Priscilla, the head of the public health project, to a town about 20 minutes away called Nyanyano. We walked through the streets stopping to give locals a short interview about their knowledge of TB. Priscilla asked questions in the native language Twi ("chvee"). I attracted interviewees by being an obruni and recorded answers translated by Priscilla. 

Normally we would then go give a presentation in a school explaining the symptoms, prevention, and treatment of tuberculosis. Ghana has an alarmingly high prevalence of TB so the government recently started offering free screening and treatment for the disease. Unfortunately not many people in rural areas are aware of this and are undereducated about TB in general. 

The schools here take a two week holiday for Easter though, so I will be unable to join for a school presentation until May 5 when classes resume.

We obrunis decided to take advantage of the holiday as well and have an adventure for the long weekend (all businesses are closed Friday and Monday of Easter weekend). After realizing we were too late to book accommodations at the huge Easter festival in the Eastern Region city of Kwahu, we decided on a trip to the beach instead. 

3 days in and I was about to become an expert of African travel...