RECORD setting clinic days!

This past week (although not yet over) has most likely been the most exciting and inspiring thus far. Monday was a holiday, equivelent to Labour Day at home, so we were not at placement. But since it's re-opening, the attendance and support at clinic has been incredible. Clinic this week is situated under another mango tree, this time in a school yard in Aklobodzi (a-klo-bo-gee), which is a small extenstion of my village. The school is in a large "U shape" and I sit on the last open section of land looking out onto the school yard. When I arrived on Tuesday, there was a table, 3 chairs (one for myself, Comfort and the participant), as well as 4 or 5 benches in rows. On the benches sat roughly 15 people waiting for clinic to open, all saying "Miawoezo" (welcome) as I drew nearer. They were very patient as I prepared the table and supplies for the day, contrary to the dirty looks that the receptionist, nurse or doctor would all get if there were 15 people in the waiting room at home. If one were to take a snapshot of clinic this week it would resemble the following description. In front of me sits a lady named Peace, roughly in her 30's with a small child on her back held on by a yard-in-length piece of cloth. Comfort is asking her where she lives and other vital information as I am strapping the BP cuff on her. The child is screaming and yelling, attempting to get away from me, as many village children have never seen a Yevu before and I, quite frankly, scare the crap out of them so badly that they cry! The mother gives the small child a cuff on the head and tells it to be quiet but this only causes more distress. As the wind howls, I am attempting to listen with the stethoscope for the characteristic sounds but am struggling to hear over the wind and the wailing of a small child. To the left of me is a group of older small children who are not so afraid of the Yevu and have found great entertainment in attempting to brush off the freckles and moles on my legs, as they think they are pieces of sand or dirt. Behind me is a boy around 9 years old holding a machettie and cutting coconuts that one of the elders has sent over as a token of the village's gratitude. Surprisingly, I have acquired patience for being poked, prodded, brushed, sneezed and yes, last but not least, urinated on, by a baby that has been momentarily handed to me by the mother who is putting her other child on her back. This continues through the entire day with little variety! On average, I have seen 90-100 people per day this week! Hopefully by the end of the week I will have seen close to 400 people! I find it inspiring rather than tiring and I hope that the word continues to spread around the various communities that I will visit before my departure!

On the home-front, my drum lessons have continued but I must admit, quite sparsly. I was away up north for a few days and the instructor has been away as well. I believe this Sunday will be my last drum lesson and hopefully, if all goes according to plan, I will be the proud new owner of a bobobo drum! The next challenge will be getting it home...

I have held many of you in suspense in regards to news about the Newbs (new volunteers). To start with, none of them are staying past 3 weeks, meaning that it will once again be Sarah and I introducing a HUGE group of new people to African village life. In a week and two days, CCS officially becomes full to the max capacity so we must brace ourselves for 25 new people to take over our home. But.... back to these new volunteers. There are only three that are staying in Woe - the rest have gone to Ho, and let me say, they are by far the most "interesting" three volunteers. I am restricted by my conscience to be neutral and factual in my descrpitions but I can say that between three volunteers, they have brought 2 hair blowdryers, bags of makeup, a hair straightener, expensive jewellery, and costly clothing. Their backgrounds are very different and one girl in particular has, in the past, been kept so close to home that she finds walking to the road side alone an adventure that requires preparation and pep-talks from other volunteers. There are nice people (thankfully) but not entirely what we were expecting.

The new volunteers left yesterday for their trip to Cape Coast - the same trip that all volunteers go on in their first two weeks of arriving. This left Sarah and I alone at the house and yesterday afternoon we found ourselves doing the same thing we do many afternoons/evenings - playing with the kids. As we/they got progressively dirtier, Sarah and I had the same idea pop into our heads! We had just circled through the shower rooms the day before and had cleaned out all the old shampoo/shower supplies that past volunteers had left behind. No one was doing washing that day so the washing tubs were free and we had excess amounts of soap!!! Can anyone see where this is going? We filled the five tubs with water and added soap to make it a "bubble bath." At first the 4 kids (Kobla, Mauoshi, Wonder, Raymoni) stood there puzzled, as bath time in Africa is one of the more painful experiences that a child regularly goes through. It involves standing in a metal washing tub with a small amount of soap and a very coarse and rough scrubber. Their mother hovers above them and vigorously scrubs the child from head to toe to the point where the child is wincing and sobbing small tears. After the cleaning process is over, they are handed a small cup to pour water over their body to rise off. Drying off doesn't involve towels smelling like flowers and feeling soft from fabric softner, but rather requires the child to stand on a 12" x 12" plank of wood... just waiting until the water droplets evaporate. So given that information, one can understand why the children stood there half in fear and half in puzzlement. We slowly coaxed them to try our afternoon bubble bath in the sun and as they stepped in one by one, there was a change in their demeanors. We showed them how to blow bubbles, to sing bath songs, and to play around in the bath tub. There they sat and soaked for about an hour just playing with a few "bath toys" (a water bottle and a plastic bag that resembed a floating ball) and blowing bubbles at one another! It was truly one of those experiences that wasn't part of the "volunteer experience" but was very amusing and rewarding nonetheless! I'll be sure to send you photos of these 4 kids sitting in small washing tubs having a bubble bath! HAHA! Makes me laugh just to remember how funny they were sitting there splashing about!

With one more day left in the week, I hope to see more record breaking numbers at clinic before the weekend takes over with bubble baths and soccer games (or in reverse order!) Enjoy the weekend!

Cheers!