"The Patient Must Not Die!"

We are finishing up our last week in Africa.  What an adventure this has been!  Last Monday we began our Audiology week celebration with a day of radio and TV talk show blitz on the Hearing Impaired in Africa.  Tuesday we did screening at the Tema Oil and Petroleum Company.  They are probably the foremost company in Ghana in their Hearing Conservation safety program.  The students were able to see 160 of their workers.  All except the night shift.  

On Tuesday we went to the Salvation Army School to screen school children.  That was quite a challenge to test in rooms open to the school and city noise outside and then deal with the electricity going on and off.  Fortunately we had one battery-operated audiometer.  110 students were screened.  Then the rain started...

John is contemplating "how to keep the patient from dying" while sitting on "too small" school desks moved outside to leave room for our audiologists.

Here Ronald is testing one of the students.  This school is actually in better shape than most we have been in.  Here they actually have walls.
On Thursday, Dr. Kitcher ( Ear, Nose and Throat surgeon) gave a symposium on The Challenges of Hearing Loss in Ghana.  It was well-attended and very interesting.
He and Dr. Ike Ferguson (who arrived from Salt Lake City on Thursday) were the two who were the original founders of this 10-year effort.  Dr. Kitcher's motto is "The Patient Must Not Die!"  So all week John has been in meetings with the leaders of the hospital and university to assure the sustainability of this great program...the "patient."

On Friday we had a special program (a Durbar) where speeches were made, awards were given, and the church, especially, was recognized for the 10 years of support they have given to keep this Audiology program running.

Our 4 first-year students made us a beautiful Thank-you plaque.

Some of our students with Dr. Kitcher and Brother Ferguson.

On Saturday we had a break so we could run some errands before we started packing.  Brother Ferguson also had to get ready to head north on Tuesday.
We stopped at the pit to pick up some wood carvings from Thomas, our talented carver.

This young man and his brother run a shop there also.  He paints and his brother sells.  We liked two of his paintings, but we are definitely out of room now in the suitcases!







On Sunday we all went to a special celebration service at the KorleBu chapel.  There was speaking, dancing, lots of singing and rejoicing for 3 hours!

Each of us from the KorleBuTeaching Hospital had dresses and shirts made from the same material.  It was so fun to see all the different styles everyone had the same material made into.On Monday evening, Dr. Kitcher hosted a dinner at a Chinese restaurant.  The staff presented us all with gifts.  Here John is holding up his new shirt.  On the back is an Akan symbol for "chief".  They are wonderful people.  Now, we really must pack!!