Side by Side

By Dr. Jennifer Wilson, MD, CCFP(EM), FCFP, DIMPH

A small scandal broke out on the compound this morning when someone let it slip that the surgical team had air conditioners in their residence. I thought the rest of us staying at the beautiful Nim House took the news quite well, until one of the surgeons complained he was a little chilly when he woke up this morning.

The mobile team set off for our first village clinic at 7:00 am. This journey along the narrow dirt road was such a stark reminder of how difficult life must be for rural Ghanaians. We passed women carrying large buckets of water and batches of firewood on their heads, farmers toiling by hand in the hot sun, and children carrying swaddled babies on their backs. We also saw many signs of hope and development along this road as we passed new bridges, school yards full of children, community wells, community latrines and more and more tin roofs as opposed to thatched roofs. NEA’s handprint is everywhere.

A delegation of first time team members joined me to greet the Chief, Queen Mother and elders of the village, but we collectively decided to keep the ceremony brief as the crowd was so large. The NEA team left the compound at 4:00 am this morning and had the entire clinic set up and ready to go so that we could begin work immediately.

A clinic of this magnitude is only possible due to the amazing team of translators and operations volunteers. Our translators wear blue shirts and they are with us during every moment of the day. Our operations volunteers wear yellow shirts and they manage the crowds and stand at every door of every classroom and circulate throughout all areas of the clinic to help control and direct the flow of patients. Our sea of yellow, blue and white shirts worked side by side all day long as we cared for each patient, one at a time, even as the thermometer peaked at over 40 degrees.

One of our sickest patients today was a precious little three year old with severe malaria. Nurse Karen brought her directly to our nursing station from diagnostics where Jessica, Lauretta, and Val attended to her all afternoon. She made a miraculous recovery, munching on a snack as she left the clinic. The dentists were busy all day and had one case that was so difficult that it required all three of them to work together.

Back on the compound, the surgical team had a full day in theatres and were not slowed down by a small flood caused by one of the sterilizers. Rita, one of our Ghanaian nurses who is training with the team, proudly did her first solo assist with Dr. Magdi.

During dinner this evening, a man who was awaiting surgery on Thursday, developed a strangulation of his hernia. The team didn’t think twice about leaving their plates of food unfinished as every moment counts in this situation. Thankfully, the team was quickly able to sedate the man and successfully reduce the hernia. Our two students Josh and Elsa, together with Dr. Mensah, were able to witness this life-saving procedure. For those of you who are not aware, Dr. Mensah’s father and grandfather lost their lives at a young age due to this very condition, so this was a profound moment indeed.

Thanks to our supporters for their wonderful comments that are read to us by Kim at the end of every day. We laugh and cry, and feel so connected to home when we hear from you.

The Lord's Prayer - Rev. Bob's homily for July 28, 2019

No matter what the setting, if it is time to pray, the one prayer that all Christians know and love is the Lord’s Prayer. It is a common link regardless of denomination, age, whether you attend church or not. Because it is fixed in our memory, it is a prayer which can be voiced even by those who can’t grasp a prayer book or even see words or a page.

In today’s Gospel, we read a passage which includes one of two versions of the Lord’s Prayer. The other, longer version is found in Matthew. And like all translations, this one read in today’s Gospel is a little different than the one we usually use.

Whole books have been written on the Lord’s Prayer. I remember about thirty-five years ago in Banff, going to a “Theology Alive” conference where the speaker, Dr. Peter Craigie, a religious studies professor from the University of Calgary, gave a whole two-hour lecture on each sentence of the Lord’s Prayer.

So really, what we’re looking at is a summing up of our faith — not of doctrine, like the creed, but of our faith in God.

The custom in Jesus’ time was for Jewish rabbis to give their students a simple prayer to use on a regular basis. Jesus’ disciples observed that their master was a very prayerful man, and prayer was an important part of his ministry.

They wanted him to share that gift with them. So they asked him to teach them how to pray. Since there was no prayer book then and the Torah - the Hebrew scripture was on scrolls which were read by the rabbis - Jesus responded by teaching the disciples a simple yet profound prayer which we still use today.

The first part of the prayer is not about us. We address God as Father. This is an important part of our Judaeo-Christian heritage. We believe our relationship with God, our creator, is an intimate one, like a father and his children. God is not a remote being, a philosophical concept. We have a relationship with God. So our faith is in that relationship, not a set of propositions.

And our first petition in the Lord’s Prayer is also not about us. We pay tribute to God. “Hallowed by your name.” Names were important in Jewish tradition. But this phrase also has another meaning. It is a way of saying: May the time come when the holiness of God’s being will be acknowledged universally.

“Your kingdom come” acknowledges the primary goal of achieving the Kingdom of God, both at the present time (whatever that is in human history) and at the end time.

“Give us each day our daily bread.” This is our first petition for ourselves. Bread is a symbol of life. It is sustenance. And this phrase, especially because it mentions each day, focuses our attention on the daily need to renew our relationship with God.

The next sentence is different because it is a conditional petition. “Forgive us our sins as we forgive everyone indebted to us.” In other words, for God to forgive us, we need to forgive others. So again, relationship is important in prayer — not only our relationship with God, but our relationship with our fellow human beings.

The final phrase in this shorter version is “And do not bring us to the time of trial.” The translation most of us use frequently is “lead us not into temptation” The trouble is the word temptation meant a lot more in the sense that Jesus was using it than it does for us now. It really means anything which really tests our mettle, hence the use of the term “time of trial” instead of temptation.

So that’s the short version of the Lord’s Prayer. It is simple, but profound, and it’s important for us to have a common link as Christians.

The Gospel passage also talks about prayer after the telling of a brief parable. Jesus says those familiar words “Ask and it will be given you, search and you will find, knock and the door will be opened for you. For everyone who asks and receives and everyone who searches, finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.”

There are probably few passages which have caused so much misunderstanding. A literalist reading certainly opens us up for a lot of disappointment. If we look at just the literal sense of the word, Jesus is saying every prayer will be answered.

But we know that isn’t the case. Some people who are sick are healed through the power of prayer. But are their prayers more worthy than those of the people who lose loved ones to illness, and don’t have their prayers answered?

The danger in interpreting this passage literally is that we end up with God as a diving traffic copy, granting some prayers and refusing others.

The only answer to this conundrum seems to be to rise above the literal meaning, as a poet does above real life, and offer the image Jesus gives us of God, who listens to all our prayers, opens doors, blesses us in countless ways and helps us in our search for wholeness.

So it is the big picture which is important. Our God is a God of possibility, a God of relationship, a God of blessing. That is the essence of what Jesus is telling his disciples. We must not be afraid of asking, of searching, of praying, of opening new doors in our lives.

Jesus concludes his teaching by reminding his disciples that God has given them the Holy Spirit to accompany them in their spiritual journey. They are not alone. We are not alone. We are blessed with God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit who will accompany us on our journey - wherever it leads. Thanks be to God.

“Praying Hands, or Study of the Hands of an Apostle” by Albrecht Dürer 1471-1528

A Sermon for General Synod 2019 - July 14, 2019

This Sunday we remember that we are part of a larger Diocesan and National Church. These last few days clergy and lay delegates, as well as Bishops have been meeting together in Vancouver in the triennial gathering of General Synod.

It has, in many ways, been a momentous gathering. First the good news: The new primate of the Anglican Church of Canada, elected yesterday is the Rt. Rev. Linda Nicholls, Bishop of Huron. She will now be known as Archbishop Linda, taking over that leadership role from Archbishop Fred Hiltz, who has served in that capacity since 2007.

Archbishop Linda is the first female Anglican Primate of the Anglican Church of Canada. She was formerly Suffragan Bishop of the Diocese of Toronto, serving in the Trent Durham Area. Before that she was a priest at Holy Trinity Church, Thornhill, in our own Deanery.

I served as a parish priest in Trent Durham and was appointed by Bishop Linda as incumbent of the parish of Bobcaygeon, Dunsford and Burnt River. I had the privilege of travelling to the Holy land for ten days with her as pilgrimage leader in 2016.

I can testify to her spiritual depth and strong leadership as a Bishop, and I believe she will be an excellent Primate.

Second, the General Synod approved autonomy for indigenous Anglicans within our national church and elevated indigenous Bishop Mark MacDonald’s position from Bishop to Archbishop. Archbishop Fred gave an impassioned follow-up to the apology made by Archbishop Michael Peers in 1993 to Indigenous Anglicans for the wrongs done to them by the residential schools system and other forms of discrimination.

But, unfortunately, the two thirds super-majority required for changing the marriage canon to allow same gender marriage were not met. I will now read a message from our Bishop Andrew Asbil on that subject.

Last night at General Synod, the motion to change the Anglican Church of Canada’s marriage canon to include same-sex marriage did not receive the required two-thirds majority. The support for change in the houses of laity and clergy was very strong. And yet the motion was defeated in the House of Bishops by a very narrow margin. I know that this is devastating news to our LGBTQ+ community, families and friends. I share in that sense of devastation, knowing that this decision comes after decades of ongoing discussion, prayer and the courageous sharing of experience from the LGBTQ+ community. I had hoped that our Church was in a different place and would arrive at a different decision. I assure all of our LGBTQ+ siblings – beloved children of God – of my love and support. I know that it is tempting in this hour to lose heart. And yet let us take comfort in the words of Paul: “So let us not grow weary in doing what is right, for we will reap at harvest time, if we do not give up.” -Galatians 6:9.

I am also aware that many of our fellow Anglicans are greatly relieved by this decision to maintain the existing Marriage Canon. To them, I ask for charity and graciousness as their fellow Christians grieve. I commend this Church to God’s safe keeping as we continue with important deliberations at General Synod. I will speak to you again in a video message at the conclusion of our gathering.

 However the Council of General Synod was prepared for either outcome of the Marriage Canon vote. The council, an executive body which meets between the triennial General Synod meetings, formulated a preface for the changes to the marriage canon plus a set of affirmations called “A Word to the Church” which passed overwhelmingly.

The preface stated that “faithful members of the Anglican Church of Canada have different understandings and teachings about the nature of marriage and that Anglicans are entitled to hold different views provided they recognize and respect that others may, with integrity, hold different views.”

The preface also recognized “that indigenous communities have particular understandings about the nature of marriage as well as their own ways of making decisions…and will continue to discern whether same sex marriage will be acceptable in their communities.”

While that wasn’t enough to convince a small number of Bishops to change their position, the “Word to the Church” passed earlier did offer a strong endorsation to a set of affirmations...with an 85% yes vote.

General Synod affirms the right of Indigenous people and communities to spiritual self-determination in their decisions regarding same-sex marriage; affirms that bishops and synods in the Anglican Church of Canada hold diverse understandings of the existing marriage canon; and affirms that there is a diversity of understandings and teachings about marriage within the church, and that these are held with ‘prayerful integrity.’

The resolution also affirms the commitment of the General Synod to presume good faith among those who hold diverse understandings and teachings. Finally, it affirms the commitment of the General Synod to walk together and preserve communion with each other, in Christ, within the church and the Anglican Communion, and with ecumenical partners.

I am left with mixed feelings after watching the critical debate on a livestream into the wee hours of Saturday morning.

I am very disappointed that our rules prevented a change in the marriage canon which was favoured by all but a few bishops, clergy and lay delegates. I am also disappointed at the Bishops who frustrated change. Twenty-four bishops supported the change, while only 14 were opposed. Three bishops, included Bishop Peter Fenty, were not able to vote because of illness and all were in favour of the change.

All this was a devastating blow to LGBTQ delegates – clergy, lay and Bishops who argued passionately and eloquently during the debate for the change to support same gender marriage. Many, including our Toronto Suffragan Bishop Kevin Robertson, spoke of their own experience of the joy of being married to a partner of the same gender, and be blessed by the church in that sacrament.

The greatest pain was among youth delegates who saw this as a repudiation of their personhood, and a reflection of rejection, not Christian love.

Having written about this issue as a journalist for 40 years in church and secular publications, I was impressed by the commitment of LBGTQ people to continue the struggle for full equality in marriage, despite the lack of any substantial contrary arguments by those who opposed same gender marriage. They cling to a literalist view of the Bible which dismisses those with different sexuality as sinners based on an ancient understanding of sexuality which has little to do with our modern understanding of same gender attraction.

We believe that LGBTQ persons are born with that inclination, just as heterosexual people are, and that we come to a gradual awakening to our sexuality as we grow to maturity. God gives us our sexuality as a gift. God would not give anything that was not good and life-giving. So let us pray that God will comfort those who are in pain as a result of this decision, and give thanks that in our diocese and in some others same gender marriage will continue to be an option for people who desire the sacrament to recognize their committed relationships.

Amen.

The Holy Trinity - Rev. Bob's homily from June 16, 2019

The doctrine of the Trinity has for hundreds of years confounded many Christians and been ignored  by others.

In 1990 the movie “Nuns on the Run”, included this between two men dressed up as nuns in drag.

Brian: Explain the Trinity.

Charlie: Hmm, well it’s a bit of a mystery. You’ve got the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost. But the three are one---like a shamrock, my old priest used to say. The leaves but one leaf. Now the Father sent down the Son, who was love, and then when he went away he sent down the Holy Spirit, who came down in the form of a….

Brian: You already told me—a ghost.

Charlie: No, a dove.

Brian: The dove was a ghost?

Charlie: No, the ghost was a dove.

Brian: Let me try and summarise this. God is his son. And his son is God. But his son moonlights as a holy ghost, a holy spirit and a dove. And they all send each other, even though they’re all one and the same thing.

Charlie: You’ve got it. You really could be a nun!

Of course Brian hasn’t got it,  and it is easy when describing the Trinity…..God the Father, Jesus the Son and the Holy Ghost or Spirit… to move into what the early church called heresy.

Heresy is a belief which is contrary to orthodox or accepted beliefs.

The Trinity is nowhere stated in the Bible explicitly although God the father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit are mentioned often in both Hebrew scriptures and the New Testament. They are often mentioned within the same paragraph.

But the doctrine of the Trinity was the product of the Bishops of the early church who met together to discuss what the church believed.

Christianity came out of Judaism a monotheistic religion….one that believed in only one God.

However Christians believe God is literally a Trinity---Tri meaning three and unity meaning one. So God is three persons in one God. In simple mathematically terms it would be 1 times 1 times 1 equals 1…..rather than 1+1+1 equals 3.

Using illustrations like the shamrock, as in the “Nuns on the Run” dialogue, and water or H20 being water, ice and steam may help us, but they really don’t capture the essence of our belief in the Trinity.

Perhaps we should just say God is one and God is three and we can’t fully explain that because God is a mystery…being both close to us, and beyond our imagination at the same time. And we need to respond with awe and wonder, not treat this as a scientific inquiry. It is mind boggling. Of course we needn’t end the conversation there. Our journey is faith seeking understanding. We need to go beyond scientific rationalism and open our minds to the wonder of God, God’s creation, God’s son Jesus, and the Holy Spirit unleashed at Pentecost among us and active throughout history.

You might ask why the doctrine of the Trinity is so important for Christians. It is fundamental because it describes how God encounters us. It is part of our identity as Christians. We believe in one God…like people who follow other monotheistic religions, but we also believe God sent his own son Jesus to come among us in human form. He was crucified and rose again for our benefit and the Holy Spirit continues to carry on the work Jesus began as our advocate and guide.

That complexity in our belief about God is why we often hear the Trinity described as a mystery. There is one God. The Father is God. The Son is God. The Holy Spirit is God. The Father is not the son. The son is not the holy spirit. The Father is not the Holy Spirit. The three in one and one in three.

To be clear heresy would be a belief in three individuals who make the one God, three Gods joined together and three properties or modes of God.

Perhaps one of the biggest challenges of understanding the Trinity is trying to use our limited language to describe God and God’s nature. We do our best. But words can only go so far. And that is where awe and wonder come in, as well as our faith in what the Bible teaches about God, and our church traditions dating back two thousand years.

The Trinity is reflected in our liturgy, our prayers, our hymns. Trinitarian faith is part of our DNA as Christians, and so we rejoice on this Sunday for our Triune God and the gifts of God…three persons in one God.

Shine Jesus shine, fill this Land with the Father’s Glory, blaze spirit blaze, set our hearts on fire.

Amen.

Welcome Rev. Bob Bettson

Bob is a cradle Anglican, baptized at St. Bartholomew’s, Regent Park, by Father Charles Pashler in 1952. His parents George and Nancy Bettson both served in the Canadian Forces during World War 2. George went on to  achieve an MA in history and become a secondary school history teacher for 28 years. Bob was confirmed at All Souls, Willowdale (now Church of the Incarnation) in 1964.

An early formative experience in the church for Bob was being part of the Overseas Work Tour for youth in 1970. Bob went with six other youth to the island of Nevis. He was present during the Christena ferry disaster which cost the lives of hundreds of Nevisians returning from St. Kitts after the Bank Holiday weekend.

That experience with the Anglican Communion was formative for Bob. After graduating from the University of Toronto, Trinity College, Bob’s first job was as a reporter for a magazine in Edmonton Alberta. It was published by a lay Anglican order, the Company of the Cross. Staff of the magazine lived in a community apartment and worked for a dollar a day. It was then Bob began singing in church choirs as a tenor with the Edmonton Cathedral choir.

Bob moved to Calgary, and in 1981 began his dream job of religion correspondent for the Calgary Herald, a daily newspaper. He was active as a warden and choir member with St. John the Evangelist Church. In 1985 Bob moved to Toronto to work as a staff writer for the United Church Observer, the monthly magazine of the United Church Observer.

After 11 years with the magazine he moved on and entered the process of discernment for ordination, and enrolled in the Faculty of Divinity at Trinity College. Graduating in 2001 with a Master of

Divinity, Bob was ordained first to the transitional diaconate then to the priesthood by the Rt. Rev’d Barry Hollowell, Bishop of Calgary.

As a priest he has served congregations in four Dioceses:  in Didsbury and Calgary, Dauphin, MB (Brandon), Sarnia (Huron) and Bobcaygeon (Toronto) before retiring from fulltime ministry in 2016.

Bob has been editor of  two Diocesan newspapers, The Sower for the Diocese of Calgary and the Mustard Seed for the Diocese of Brandon. He has also taken part in two Companion Diocese  relationships. In 1990 he travelled with Bishop Finlay to South Korea with a small delegation, then co-chaired the Companionship Committee. In 2002 he travelled to St. Vincent and Grenada  as part of the Diocese of Calgary’s Companionship with the Diocese of the Windward Islands.

Bob has been a Rotarian since 2002 and has participated in a number of community choirs, the latest being the Toronto Beach Chorale. He is married to Coline, a retired teacher. Their children are Colin, Duncan Graham and Monica. They have three grandchildren.

Bob comes to Christ Church, Stouffville after completing a nine month interim  St. Hugh and St Edmund, Mississauga (where Rev. Jason has just started as incumbent)  and a six month interim at St. Bede, Toronto. He remains an honourary assistant at St. Mary Magdalene’s Church, Toronto. He looks forward to serving the parish as it moves forward in this important transition to new pastoral leadership.

While he is at Christ Church he will travel to Minnesota May 13-17 for the final residential week of a course in Intentional Interim Ministry, made possible by a leadership grant from  the Diocese’s Our Faith, Our Hope fund.

Snow Tubing!

March 1st saw four intrepid members of Sunday school and Jane head up to Snow Valley near Barrie for an exciting night of snow tubing. The tubing hills are long and steep and someone- no names mentioned (Jane) had to keep her eyes closed the whole way down it was so scary!

Afterwards we headed to St. Paul’s Anglican Church in Innisfil for games, treats and a “sleepover “. Not sure quite how much sleep was had, as breakfast was a very quiet affair but everyone was happy.  We returned to Stouffville in one piece and some new car games learnt on the way home.

Thank you to our Area Youth Coordinator, Nancy Hannah for organising a great event.

(All photos posted with permission)

Four Missionaries from Christ Church

This is Dr Martin, Nurse Anne, Dr Andy and volunteer Jane celebrating the end of two weeks of Medical clinics in five Northern Ghanaian villages. We have on our African clothes made for us by local seamstresses in Carpenter. 

Thank you to our amazing Church family for your prayers and support.

Four missionaries from Christ Church. L-R: Dr. Martin, volunteer Jane, Nurse Anne and Dr. Andy

Moving Mountains

By Dr. Jennifer Wilson

Our day began with morning devotions under the gazebo with all of the NEA staff. The pastoral staff sang two beautiful songs for us, testimonies were given and Dr. David Mensah gave another inspiring address. He wanted us to know that our mission of medical, surgical, dental and eye care to Northern Ghana has had unspeakable proportions. He described an enormous ripple effect as we have been steadfast about saving lives over this past decade, and concluded with a text from Galatians 6:9 that encourages us all to not grow weary in doing good for at the proper time we will reap a harvest.

It was hard to get everyone to breakfast as Peter the artisan returned with another gazebo full of goods. Our suitcases are full and Peter is one happy man.

The rest of the day was spent cleaning, taking inventory and packing away our equipment for 2019 under the skillful direction of Joan, after which leftover medicine and supplies were organized for distribution to the local health care facilities.

Tonight we had a feast under the stars with all of the NEA staff, translators and volunteers along with their families. There were well over 200 of us. The children were over the moon with excitement. Our expat team were sporting new outfits, thanks to Esther and her seamstress team that made 34 outfits in total. A cow was killed and the kitchen prepared a wonderful roast beef dinner.

Dancing under the stars.

The kitchen team making their way to the dance off!

We were all surprised when David announced that the Chief of Yaara travelled to Carpenter in order to see our team off. Chief Joseph gave a beautiful speech asking God to give us the proper thanks due for our sacrifice. He asked that the Lord send us home safely. 

The NEA team presented each of us with a fresh jar of NEA’s organic peanut butter. David asked us to tell our families that they are loved by NEA every time they eat it. The music and dancing began after which David called each team, along with our translators, to the stage for a dance-off. It was quite a sight. The prize was given to Nana Tibalakala (Dr. Mensah) and his brother Nana Yaara Kooko (Yaara Chief Joseph). Their dance was so fantastic. The children’s’ performance was definitely runner-up. It was a perfect end to our mission.

Chief Joseph

Presentation of fresh peanut butter.

There is an African proverb that states,

If you wish to move mountains tomorrow, you must start by lifting stones today.

This team of Ghanaians, Canadians and Europeans lifted a lot of stones over this fortnight, and the mountain of poverty and ill health was moved just a little bit more. It has been an honour and a privilege for us to serve NEA, and we return home having gained much more than we have given. We return home better than when we came as the lives of our brothers and sisters in Ghana have been imprinted in our minds and on our hearts forever.

All eyes are on the Leyaata Hospital that will be built on these very grounds over the next two years. Our collective vision of sustainable health care is almost here. This is the biggest mountain that NEA has ever considered moving but we are committed to cheering them on towards their vision and assisting them in any way we can. Please help us.

On behalf of our team and all of the patients we were privileged to serve, I want to sign off by thanking God for all he has done.

I want to thank NEA for inviting us into this partnership.

I want to thank our leadership for their wholehearted commitment to every detail of this mission.

I want to thank each and every member of this outstanding 2018 Ghana health team for the unique role they played in making this mission an overwhelming success.

And finally, I want to thank all of our family, friends, donors and supporters who have made it possible for us to come alongside side the people of Ghana for such a time as this.

Let us never grow weary of doing good. Let us never grow weary of doing good. Amen.

GHT 2018

We are Brothers and Sisters Now

By Dr. Jennifer Wilson

I know there are many wonderful definitions of teamwork, but what we witnessed on the NEA compound today redefines the word for many of us.

We knew it was going to be a big day and we were ready.

The waiting room

After breakfast, we gathered for a team photo under the surgical tree, and with fist pumps and well-wishes we were seeing patients and operating by 7:30 am. Each person on our team and on the NEA team did everything imaginable to support one another in caring for as many patients as possible. The kitchen staff even kept a 60-cup coffee percolator going all day in case anyone needed a pick- me-up. (I noticed Dr. Carlye and Dr. Charlie had four mugs on their desks by the end of the day.)

Those of us who have been to Ghana before noticed a marked improvement in the health of the population that today’s clinic served. Health is improving in this area around Carpenter thanks to NEA’s sustainable development, and it was noticeable to us. What stood out to me more than anything was that almost all the women were carrying purses today. It sounds like a strange thing to notice but in the past, I have rarely seen women carrying purses, as usually they use their skirt or a little black plastic bag to carry their belongings. Today, I saw purses. We did still see many diseases of poverty, such as elephantiasis, dysentery from drinking dirty river water, HIV, skin ulcers, and one case of severe malnutrition but overall, the health of this area is improving significantly.

Diagnostic station

Preparing laser patients

Nursing treatment

Glaucoma patient receiving treatment

Every team saw a record number of patients today, and by the time we gathered in the dining hall for dinner at 7:00 pm Kim informed us that over 1000 patients received care today. Our surgical team smashed their target of 300 procedures. Despite all teams reaching unexpectedly high levels of productivity on this mission, our medications, anaesthetics, supplies and eyeglasses did not run out. I am reminded of the story in the Bible about the multiplication of the loaves and the fishes and in fact, some of us were specifically praying for this miracle to occur.

There are many wonderful stories to tell of the individuals that we had the honour of serving today but there are two stand-out moments for me.

Emmanuel is the 13-year old boy who is in charge of the Monopoly Board that I mentioned earlier in the week. Today he found his way through the crowds to my chair and informed me that he was having trouble seeing the blackboard at school. Off to the eye clinic with a VIP wrist band he went, returning an hour later with a trendy pair of donated eyeglasses. These glasses will impact his ability to receive his education. (And to excel at Monopoly.)

Eye clinic waiting room

Emmanuel with new glasses

The second memorable moment for me was when a young woman we had looked after on our first mission in 2007 came with a special thank you. It is a long story of how she was helped, but now, eleven years later, she returned as a successful businesswoman and wanted to thank our teams past and present.

At dinner tonight, Abraham expressed his opinion that the success of this mission is due to the fact that we are all brothers and sisters now. It is so true that the unity and friendship between our Ghanaian team and expat team has elevated our teamwork to a very high level and this unity allowed us to accomplish what seemed impossible. With God’s help, along with the support of so many friends and family and colleagues in our home countries, we have accomplished the objectives that NEA has given us and in doing so, we have gained much more than we have given.

Tomorrow we will gather at 7:30 am with all of the NEA staff for a final devotional time in the great gazebo. After breakfast there will be few small surgical and laser procedures whilst the rest of us clean, inventory and pack away all the clinic supplies for 2019. Leftover medication will be divided up and distributed to the local health clinics. Gifts will be given and gifts will be received. And then we will party. An end of mission celebration is planned for tomorrow evening and I’m told that food preparation for this celebration has already begun.

It has been a great day and we are truly, truly thankful for every moment of it.

Finished!

A Great Day in Carpenter

By Dr. Jennifer Wilson

Today was one of those days that is hard to put into words so I will let the pictures tell the story of the health care that was delivered on the NEA compound. The only station I “forgot” to visit was the eye clinic and that might have something to do with the fact that temperatures rose to 45 degrees in there today.

I’m told that the little girl we prayed for with cerebral malaria last week was seen running around the grounds today. As she played, two other kids were on their way to the hospital as their care exceeded what we could provide. One had complications from a snake bite and the other was in a sickle cell crisis. Our colleagues at that hospital were alerted and prepared for their arrival.

Despite a record number of cases that included 11 children and an add-on emergency, the surgical and anaesthetic team beat the medical team to dinner for the first time in history. They are amazing!

It was a very long and challenging day for every single team member, but together we accomplished our objectives and are in great spirits. There was much joy and much laughter when we finally gathered for dinner well after 7:00 pm.

We can hardly believe that tomorrow is our last clinic day and look forward to doing everything we can to ensure that together, we finish strong, finish well, and give our best the to people of Ghana.

Carpenter Crowd

Triage under the kapok tree.

Nursing station under the gazebo.

Weights and temperature station.

Dentistry under a mango tree.

Pharmacy counselling.

Physicians set up in NEA conference room.

Pharmacy

Recovery Room

Surgery

Happy post operative patients!

Paw Patrol stickers make everything okay. (Thanks Jill B.)

Super Doctors!

Smashed It!

By Dr. Jennifer Wilson

Our day in the village started with wonderfully comfortable temperatures of 27-28 degrees and we arrived to a large but orderly crowd. The logistics team were in control and even reorganized the location of the waiting room to reduce noise outside the physician consulting area.

Our nursing team had an extremely busy day in all the stations from triage to weights and temps to diagnostics to nursing station. Jennifer M. gave the nursing report at dinner describing how Leslie just kept pulling sick babies out of the crowd, straight to Joan’s IV station and into a corner which functioned as a little paediatric ICU. Anne was extremely busy with the many kids who needed ORS (oral rehydration solution). We are thankful to report that all of these precious little ones made excellent recoveries.

Leslie pulling the sickest babies from the crowd.

Our physicians provided care to about 900 patients over these past two days in Asantekwaa and several hundred more were treated in the pain clinic. Even though we were all set up in one big room, we didn’t see much of one another as every one of us were glued to our seats and focused on our task. Facing a crowd like this can be overwhelming and paralyzing, but the approach of the entire team is to give the best care we can to the person in front of us irrespective of how many people are waiting to be seen.

Asantekwaa Crowd

Dr. Dan was the mobile surgeon today. By 11:00, his hernia line-up was finished. He thought he would take some well-deserved leisure time to enjoy some jazz music but as the earbuds went in, Dr. Carlye had other ideas. Before Dan knew it, she had him set up at the other end of her consulting table and he dove in to help us with the medical patients. After a quick refresher on how to use a stethoscope and how to turn on an otoscope, Dan re-entered the world of being a medical doctor. At supper, he gave a brief report on his experience that began with, “I smashed it!”  Smashed it he did as he made some exciting diagnoses for a surgeon to make such as scabies and tinea capitus. Dr. Carlye gave him an enthusiastic thumbs up at the other end of the table for these excellent bread and butter diagnoses.

Dr. Dan reorienting himself to a stethoscope.

Speaking of smashed it, we do enjoy learning and trying out British phrases and vocabulary that we do not use in Canada. Dr. Magdi asked Jessica if she would like to join him in theatre and she was surprised Carpenter had a movie theatre. Despite all efforts we cannot pronounce “whilst.” Katie is one of my favourite team members because she always greets me with, “Hello, my lovely.” After a few days, I realized that she uses that phrase when talking to everyone else on the team, but nonetheless it always makes me feel so special. I’m hoping my husband might consider adopting this greeting moving forward.

Our dental station saw 46 patients today, 45 of whom were people. One of them was a scorpion. Together with the pharmacists, who were in the adjacent classroom, the beast met his demise with Sherry’s box cutter. Linda quickly made a coffin out of a pack of Zinc tablets which we use to treat kids with diarrhea. He is now in our residence freezer becoming “more dead” prior to Francois claiming him.

Mr. Scorpion visits the dentist.

Our eye team saw over 200 patients in the two days in this village. They have their system down pat and miraculously are not running out of medication or eyeglasses. Martin and Marion were busy with 24 laser procedures today (according to Dr. Martin’s limerick report). These patients all leave with a laminated card explaining the details of their procedure in case they need follow up after we leave. Many of last year’s patients are constantly flowing through the eye clinic for reassessments and Dr. Mai, Dr. Josh and Dr. Pete are reporting great results of one year post laser surgery on these patients.

Our surgical program recorded 35 cases, 6 spinals and another fire. Ashley is down to one sterilizer but it has not dampened his energy or sense of humour. Special mention goes out today to our recovery team of Sue and Becky. They are responsible for the care of patients after their surgery. Becky is on the evening shift, administering medications and checking all the patients who stay over after their surgery. Sue, who I heard referred to as Mary Poppins of the program, takes the early shift and makes rounds on all the patients prior to breakfast to prepare them for discharge. These two kindhearted nurses have such long hours.

Believe it or not, our entire team (except Becky who was getting the post-op patients settled) were at the dinner table by 6:30 pm. Dr. Mensah gave an inspiring address to our group that I hope to say more about in the future. Apparently, Leslie was inquiring about NEA’s cashew and cocoa program and so David thought he would do a little show-and-tell session. He brought fruit from a cocoa tree and a cashew tree and explained them to us. NEA currently has 70 acres of cashews.

Show and tell with Dr. Mensah.

The quote that landed on the workstations of the 60 of us and all our volunteers at 3:00 pm really does reflect this day:

Each new day is a new beginning: To learn more about ourselves. To care more about others. To laugh more than we did. To accomplish more than we thought we could. And to be more than we were before. (Author Unknown)

I Actually Feel at Home

By Dr. Jennifer Wilson

Alexandria is one of our Ghanaian nurses who has worked with us for many years now. On Friday, she became sick and had to stay back on the compound to rest. Once she had recovered, she shared with me how overwhelmed she was by the way the NEA staff took care of her. While she was sick, plates of watermelon would be left outside her door and someone would check in on her every few hours bringing cold water, asking what they could do to help her. She told me, “I actually feel at home in this place.”

Medical Team Residence: Nim House

She expressed something that this 2018 Health Team is feeling as well. Not enough can be said for this NEA staff and the entire support team for their hospitality and commitment to the success of this program. Tonight’s blog is dedicated to them — the behind-the-scenes heroes that make our work possible.

The indoor kitchen staff that prepares food for our team starts at 3:00 am and ends at 9:00 pm every day. The quality, colour, flavour and creative presentations with which they prepare the meals is unbelievable. Tonight, we had peanut soup over rice balls, chicken and roast potatoes, salad garnished with fresh vegetables and tuna and fresh watermelon. On talent show night, the kitchen sent up a Ghanaian appetizer platter to contribute to the celebration. It was mini-skewers of chicken gizzards with fresh jalapeño pepper and onion. There is also an outdoor cooking team that prepares three traditional meals a day for all of the translators, volunteers, staff, compound kids and post-operative patients. It is a massive operation.

Kitchen staff led by Patience in pink.

Ghanaian Party Platter

Every three days, each team member’s laundry is done for them. We send it out in a personalized black bag and it is returned to us at the end of the day. A large group of women from local villages make up this team. Once a week, our sheets and towels are laundered as well.

We never see the cleaning staff, but we arrive home every day to find our residences and washrooms absolutely spic and span. Tea, coffee, crackers and Laughing Cow cheese are set out for our enjoyment with a fridge full of water and pop.

The compound has never looked better in my opinion. The groundskeeping staff have created a place of true beauty, and the attention to detail in the landscaping and the maintenance of the property and buildings is breathtaking.

Our security staff are on duty 24 hours a day and a security team travels with us. We don’t notice their presence but we know they are there and as a result, we feel safe and completely at ease at all times.

We have an amazing team of NEA drivers. Manoeuvring three busses in convoy down bumpy, pothole-ridden village roads takes skill, and these drivers are the best. Despite the dust and the dirt, the buses are always spotless inside and out, and we have yet to have any mechanical problems.

Our translators wear blue shirts, and they are by our sides at all times while we work. We are lost without them.

The clinic volunteers are the heroes in the yellow shirts. Today’s team left at 3:00 am. When we arrived in Asantekwaa, the crowd was well organized and the entire clinic was already set up, ready for us to begin working. These volunteers also control the flow of patients through the stations, run prescriptions to pharmacy and assist with the taking down of the clinic and transporting it back to Carpenter at night.

The surgical volunteers are responsible to manage all transportation, housing, and feeding of the hernia patients during their two-day stay in Carpenter.

Translators and volunteers finally sitting down after a busy day!

Finally, I would be remiss if I did not mention the pastoral team. This large, dedicated team has the important task of praying for us, for our patients, and for the mission as a whole. They pray constantly from the moment we leave our homes and will continue until a word is received that we have all returned safely to our loved ones.

I’ve shared with you what this NEA team does but what I have not done is communicated how each of these individuals discharges their duties with such kindness and love. This is what Alexandria was talking about . It is this love that they show us in such practical ways that makes this NEA compound in this remote area of this small African country a second home to so many of us.

PS: The entire team had a beyond busy day but we managed to all make it to the dining hall by 7:00 pm for dinner and team reports. We were off to bed early as we know what we are in store for tomorrow! Apparently a patient arrived from another country yesterday to get in line for our Wednesday clinic!

Fun in the Sun

By Dr. Jennifer Wilson

Two days of rest, relaxation and fun in the Ghanaian sun are great for the soul. We are so sorry to hear we are missing Canadian winter!

Saturday morning the team enjoyed a lovely sleep-in with the exception of the running club who were on the trails at 6:30 am. En route to breakfast we discovered the big NEA gazebo was full of African crafts, carvings, baskets, fabrics and clothing for our purchasing pleasure. This team clearly has a case of shopping withdrawal.

After breakfast David Mensah played the role of tour guide as team members walked around the vast NEA compound to witness the different sectors of development taking place. They received lessons in aquaculture, mushroom farming, shea butter production and animal husbandry to mention a few. How wonderful for our team to understand the context into which our health care delivery fits. The rest of the day was filled with napping, puzzling, yoga classes with Bex, book clubs, a tour of the village, a trip to a local market and some rehearsals for…

GHANA’S GOT TALENT!

We were all amazed by the creativity and variety of acts that took the stage for our 3rd annual talent show. As tradition dictates, the night was opened up by the simultaneous singing of the national anthems of our home countries Egypt, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Britain, Jamaica, Ghana, Canada, France, Germany and Senegal. The line up was fantastic. We enjoyed a game of Family Feud hosted by the eye team, poetry by Martha, stand-up comedy with Greg, a monologue about Francois’ new charity “Hoarders Without Boarders” (pronounced Hordairs Widout Boardairs), a nursing team skit entitled “Staying Alive” and a beautiful song called “Thank You My Friends” by Abraham. The physicians pulled off a coordinated hand-clapping skit which impressed! Dr. Dan brought his portable keyboard and expertly accompanied a number of parodies for Carlye and I, pharmacy and surgery. One of my favourite choruses belonged to the surgical team, sung to the tune of “Day Dream Believer:”

Cheer up knackered team
How hard can it be
To fix, 300 hernias
and we’re living the dream

One of my favourite moments of the night was when Dr. Carolyn, who was brilliantly playing the bachelorette in the “Dating Game,” asked Dr. Neil, Kyle and Francois (who were playing the bachelors) the final question of this hilarious skit. “If you could be a tooth … what tooth would you be?” After considering their answers, she wisely declined all three of them and decided to buy a cat. It is true that laughter is very good medicine.

Today was a wonderful day of rest. There are too many of us to fit into the local church so the surgical courtyard became our sanctuary. There was singing, drumming, dancing and joyous celebration for all God has done over this past week. Noah shared a moving testimony about a man with epilepsy who has received treatment from our team for a number of years. Prior to this, due to his regular convulsions, he was an outcast and banned from eating meat in his village. Now he is seizure-free, reintegrated into society, and invited to eat meat in the village.

David Mensah’s mother shared a testimony as well. Having lost her husband and her father due to hernia, she stood in the centre of the surgical centre that is preventing hundreds of deaths from hernia and thanked God for our team. It was quite a moment.

Dr. Martin McDowell led us in a medley of This Little Light of Mine and Give Me Oil in My Lamp and I must say we sounded beautiful. Pastor Rans preached a message about Queen Esther. He challenged us that we all have a purpose for which we were created but often we let fear stand in our way. Esther faced her fear, rose up and took action due to the imminent death of her tribe. Rans thanked God for our willingness rise up like Esther and act even though his people are not even our people. “Good works shall never be in vain,” he concluded.

Once the temperature dropped in the late afternoon, an NEA vs expat volleyball match was enjoyed by all. We lost by only one point in game one and then got creamed in games two and three. I think we are all such good friends now than NEA no longer feels they need to take it easy on us!

European football was next on the agenda. The local men’s football team arrived to take us on. We could tell by their warm up that we were in big, big trouble but thankfully NEA staff joined our team. Prior to the match, Dr. Rob presented them with brand new football jerseys which they promptly put on. It was an amazing match that ended in a tie even though we had 17 players and 17 subs to their 11 with no subs.

Next up was American football. Quarterbacks Dr. Martin, Greg, Dan and Dave gave a quick crash course to our friends and the game was on. It ended in a tie as well with big touchdowns being scored by our Dr. David Cressey and Dr. Kate.

It certainly has been a great weekend with some good ol’ fashioned fun. Speaking of old fashioned fun, I cannot conclude without sharing two Monopoly stories. Dr. Josh received some blog comments from home about a “Monopoly episode.” At the talent show, he was forced to stand up and give a monologue about the Monopoly incident of his youth. Turns out he was a rather mean banker, forcing his younger siblings to play for hours until he had all their money. Interestingly, Saturday morning I had a chance to present a Monopoly Board to the kids on the compound. Last year, some of the pre-teen boys on the compound asked my daughter Amelia if she could help them get a Monopoly board. We have no idea how they even heard about this game. With Brenda Mensah’s blessing, a deluxe Monopoly board was presented to Emmanuel, a 13 year old boy who is now the President of the NEA Monopoly Club. After reading the instructions, the boys played for 7 hours on Saturday and five hours today. I’m hoping they don’t invite Dr. Josh to play.

After we celebrated Debbie’s birthday at supper, our fun and games came to an end as all our supplies and medicines needed to be prepped and loaded onto the truck which will leave very early. Everyone went to bed early as we anticipate a full day in the village and in the theatres. We are rested, healthy and excited to finish strong as, over the next four days, we continue to serve each patient we meet with our whole hearts.

A Fulani Boy’s Speech

By Dr. Jennifer Wilson

Every morning at 5:45 am, a group of us from Canada, UK and Ghana gather to pray for our mission and our teammates. While it is early for us, the NEA staff have already been up for hours making breakfast, packing lunches, washing buses, and organizing surgical patients. The logistics team leaves at 4:00 am to organize the crowds and set up the clinic prior to our arrival. Dr. Kyle’s translator Moses looked a little sleepy today at the dental station: he had stayed in Yaara all night to guard the building that contained our supplies and medications. The commitment of the NEA staff towards this health program is hard to describe in words. It truly is their program.

Breakfast was extra special as Abraham presented Dr. Magdi with his gift-wrapped personal luggage which finally arrived from London at 3:00 am. Katie and Bex almost missed their breakfast as they discovered the ostriches on a morning walk and could not pull themselves away from these magnificent creatures.

The lost luggage

Off to Yaara we went, and despite our long journey the physicians were consulting at their desks by 9:15 am. I cannot say enough about my colleagues. We are used to practicing in quiet consultation rooms where we can concentrate, examine patients under good lighting, and use specialized equipment to help us arrive at the correct diagnosis and treat the problem. Here, Drs. Carlye, Charlie, Sue, Kate, Helen, Mary, Andy, Anne, Karen and I are working in the hottest, most noisy environment imaginable, gathering information through a translator, dealing with unfamiliar diseases, while always ready to respond to an emergency.

Dr. Carlye

Dr. Helen

Dr. Mary

Our ability to diagnose and treat with excellence is only possible due to the support and clinical information we receive from our nursing colleagues in triage, weights and temps, diagnostics, the nursing station, and then from our team of pharmacists at the end of the line who so professionally dispense the medication needed along with the counselling required. Our Ghanaian health care providers are the most invaluable resource of all. Today, was an extremely well run clinic and we were on the road by 3:45, thanks to an outstanding team effort.

Nurse Practitioner Sandra

Pharmacist Martha and Daniel, her Ghanaian colleague and translator, serving a patient

I took a few moments today to visit our eye clinic. I watched as every patient moved through Barb’s auto refraction station, Dan’s intraocular pressure check followed by a full eye exam and slit lamp by Dr. Pete, Dr. Mai, Dr. Josh or Dr. Martin. After this, Jane checked her database for the required prescription and finally, our Ghanaian volunteers pulled out a pair of donated eye glasses they required. In addition, hundreds of sunglasses and safety glasses are being dispensed. It is a truly amazing operation and I’m hoping my pictures will come through to you so you can see for yourself.

Auto refraction station

Intraocular pressure check

Full eye exam

Slit lamp

Jane checking her database for the required prescription.

Dispensing glasses

The laser clinic only ran for a half-day today, but rather than taking a well deserved afternoon off, Martin took a short cut to Yaara to help his team in the village, and Marion popped into the OR to see if help was needed. They next thing she knew, she was scrubbed in and assisting Magdi with a hernia repair. What a change of pace for Marion who, although a nurse by training, has worked faithfully on our eye team since 2007.

Marion assisting Dr. Magdi.

You know you are a great leader when your team can function without you. Dr. Rob, surgical team leader, joined us in Yaara and in his absence his team worked non-stop from 7:00 am to 7:00 pm, completing 35 procedures. They are now up to 180 in total and we thank God that there have been no complications. (Nothing blew up or caught fire either.)

What would a trip to Africa be without an insect story? Today, it is all about the ants. Poor Dr. Carlye set her backpack down on the grass and when she picked it up and slung it on her back, it became apparent that she had set it down on a fire ant hill. The back pack flew off and a group of translators rushed to her and began slapping her head to toe trying to knock off hundreds of little ants without much progress. Finally one of them said, ”Madame, you must take off your clothes!” which is the only way to properly deal with these type of ants in your pants. Thankfully, there was a latrine nearby for Carlye to duck into.

This evening, Kim and Dr. Mai went into their room to find a group of a larger ants having a party. There were thousands of them pouring from a hole in the wall and the floor was almost black. We considered blowing three whistles but Kyle our protector kicked into action with a broom and Birkenstock. I ran like a mad woman with arms flailing to find Soale, because that is what you do when you have a problem in Ghana. I frantically explained the situation to him. He paused (as he always does) and responded, “They say good luck comes to those with ants in their room.” Kim and Mai did not find that funny. He followed up with “This is very normal for us,” Well, it’s not normal for us, Soale! But the best response came when I asked him if these ants bite. Another pause. “Just a little, but it is not critical. Don’t worry, I will send for silicone.”

Soale

It has been quite a week indeed. According to Kim, over 2600 patients have received health care in Mo Land since our arrival. The only appropriate way I can find to sum up this week is to tell you about a Fulani boy who came to see me today. The Fulani tribe are nomadic tribe and typically their children are uneducated. I was seeing a Fulani family at my station and one of the boys was standing right beside my chair. His mom, the translator and I were reviewing the children’s histories when this boy started to speak in a loud, strong voice for about 30 seconds. He would stop speaking, looked at me, looked at Dr. Mary sitting at the other end of my table, and repeat this 30 second speech. He did this three times. Curious, I asked my translator to find out what he kept repeating. The translation I received from this 6 year old boy was, “You have such kind hearts. Had it not been for your help, most of us would die.”

I want to thank God for making what happened this week possible and for watching over NEA, our team and our patients. I want to thank each and every one of our families, our friends, our donors and our supporters for your role making it possible for us to be here for this time. Thank you for your prayers, your good wishes and your encouraging comments that are read to us every evening and make us laugh and make us cry.

As they say in the UK, we are knackered. Tomorrow is a day of leisure and we could not be more ready. Tours of the NEA compound and Carpenter village, a trip to market, book clubs, and the third annual Ghana’s Got Talent show are planned. On Sunday, we will go to church and in the afternoon, Ghana will take on a Canada/Europe for a very competitive volleyball and football game. The outcome will not be hard to predict.

Signing off until Monday …

Fanta, Footballs, Fire and Foolishness

By Dr. Jennifer Wilson

Today was paediatric day in our surgical theatres. Our Ghanaian anaesthetist Eric suggested we consider giving the children a touch of sedation before bringing them in for their anaesthesia so that they would be less scared of our white faces. Dr. Karen, who does a lot of paediatric anaesthesiology at home, took charge and the team made arrangements for all the kids to receive a brand new football along with small drink of Fanta laced with an oral sedative prior to being wheeled into the theatre. Let’s just say that a very happy group of kids came in and out of their surgeries without any complications and barely a cry or whine was heard.

Happy patient

Our anaesthetic nurse Debbie has been just brilliant. We are thankful that these kids not only had their hernias repaired but they and their families had a very positive health care experience overall.

The only complication of the day involved a sterilizer which sort of caught on fire. Apparently Dr. Dan didn’t blink an eye and just kept operating whilst singing his jazz tunes. Thankfully the fire put itself out and no harm was done (except for the sterilizer).

Ashley with the sterilizer that caught fire

Miraculously, one of the NEA staff remembered there was another sterilizer on the compound. Before they knew it, a four foot tall industrial sized autoclave suddenly appeared and was in working order. We have no idea where it came from but Ashley and Sara can now sterilize the entire team’s instruments in one batch, saving hours of work.

The medical team was on the road at 0630 for the long and bumpy ride to the remote village of Yaara. Stepping off the bus in Yaara is always one of my favourite moments of the mission and this year was just as special as ever. The drums were beating, the women were dancing in a circle and David’s brother Chief Joseph, the Queen Mother, elders, and women leaders were all ready to greet us. Many of us joined the circle and tried without much success to find the beat of the drums. The village presented our team with yams, bananas, oranges, papaya, watermelon and Jessica received her own yams and a chicken.

Yaara drums

Abraham tried his best to keep the welcome festivities and speeches short so that we could go straight to work as the crowd was enormous. What amazed me about today is how our team is just so committed to providing the most thorough and compassionate care to each and every patient they come in contact with despite the hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of other people who are waiting.

There are many amazing stories that could be told about this day but there is only one that I will share tonight.

Word was received that a very ill young woman in the village was too weak to get to us. Our paramedic Greg made a house call to the far corner of the village and when it became apparent that she needed immediate care, a taxi picked her up, drove right through our crowds to the door of our nursing station. Our doctor of the day was Dr. Andy and he was faced with a difficult and heartbreaking situation. It is cases like this that, quite frankly, cause an anger to rise up within me. A situation like this would never happen in Canada or the UK and it is unacceptable that a young mother in a village in Yaara is not given the same opportunity for health and life that we have. If the doors to NEA’s hospital were open today, I have no doubt that this situation would have looked very different for this woman and her three young children. Those of us who came in contact with her today will not soon erase this injustice from our minds.

Every afternoon around 3:00pm each team member, volunteer and translator on the medical, surgical, dental and eye team are handed a quote. This Franciscan Blessing was handed to us yesterday:

May God bless you with discomfort at easy answers, half truths, and superficial relationships so that you may live deep within your heart. May God bless you with anger at poverty, injustice, oppression and exploitation of people, so that you may wish for health justice, freedom and peace. May God bless you with enough foolishness to believe that you can make a difference in the world.

Amen.

Again and Again and Again

By Dr. Jennifer Wilson

The medical clinic was up and running by 0800 in Nyamboi village and we enjoyed overcast skies which lowered the temperature by a few degrees for a few hours. By midday the heat was blistering once again. According to Dr. Mensah, “November isn’t the best month to come to Ghana.” Right.

Val was in charge of our nursing station today and together with Toni-Ann, our Ghanaian nurses, and “doctor of the day” Carlye, they had to kick into action with five very sick kids with malaria all requiring injectable antimalarials and rehydration. It was so busy that Jen McLoughlin (aka wee Jenny) had to be pulled from triage for reinforcement. Miraculously, these five kids walked out of the clinic on their own two feet by lunchtime.

Nursing Station

Our triage team of Greg, Megan, Leslie, and Jen worked non-stop treating minor problems and sending the more serious patients through. Our diagnostic station run by Alisha, Anne and Anna had a full waiting room all day long and did a marvellous job providing the physicians with important information to assist our decision making.

Diagnostics Station

Dr. Andy had a very unusual case of a pre-teen boy with what appeared to be an infected shoulder joint. When faced with a case like this that is beyond our capacity, we do everything possible to help. Using our connections at the nearest hospital and funds raised through our generous donors he was transported for the care he will need. Dr. Duncan was kept extremely busy with listing hernia patients for next year and accepting referrals from the physician team for procedures such as drainage of abscesses. Surgical nurse Becky dove right in and was a huge help to our nursing team.

Dr. Francois reminded us at breakfast that dentists take Wednesdays off work but we convinced him to join us anyway. These four amazing professionals worked steadily under the canopy with Dr. Carolyn keeping extremely busy with fillings.

Our eye clinic saw just shy off 100 patients today and a few special cases were shared with all at dinner. Dr. Josh had a patient who was blind in one eye and whose “good” eye was failing due to severe glaucoma. Due to the generosity of our donors, he was able to supply her with one year supply of medications to preserve her vision. Dr. Mai looked after a young woman who was also blind in one eye and about to lose sight in the other eye due to an infection. Dr. Pete saw a 3 month old who was blind from congenital cataracts. We will work with NEA to support this child receiving surgery in Accra, hopeful that a life of blindness will be averted in all three of these patients.

While their colleagues sweated in out in the village, Dr. Martin and Marion preserved vision for 30 patients in the laser clinic. The laser clinic is known as the “country club” as the laser needs air conditioning.

Our clinic day ended with the Nyamboi village presenting our team with a mound of yams, a huge bowl of bananas and a beautiful white ram. It was an incredible display of generosity from this farming community.

The surgical team were faced with some massive hernias today. By repairing them, they are not just preventing death from hernia — they are restoring families’ incomes. These men can barely walk, let alone work on the farm. A hernia repair transforms their lives and thirty-seven lives were transformed on this day alone.

Our anaesthesia program is expanding by the hour and is now capable of administering general anaesthetics, spinal anaesthetics and sedation in all three theatres. Using the second ultrasound machine that we have, Dr. David is now teaching Eric how to do regional anaesthesia (nerve blocks). Eric is over the moon with the training he is receiving and loves working with Dr. David, Dr. Karen and Debbie.

One of our surgical nurses Bex had a birthday today and she received a lovely gift presented by Katie — a special box (empty box of gloves) filled with some treasures (bar of soap, toothpaste and some rocks). She was thrilled.

After dinner, our team was inspired and moved by an address by Dr. Mensah who thanked us for coming to Ghana again and again and again. He thanked us for raising funds again and again and again. He thanked us for our overwhelming professionalism that is displayed again and again and again. He concluded by thanking God for answering a prayer he began to pray in 1972 about his dream to bring medical services to Ghana. Tomorrow, he meets with the architects that will be building NEA’s model hospital called the Leyaata Hospital.

It’s happening again — my blogs are becoming books but there was no way that this day could be described in less than these 800-ish words.

More than Mere Friendship

By Dr. Jennifer Wilson

Our day began with the news that our little patient with cerebral malaria survived the night but was still in critical condition. Our colleagues at the district hospital are doing everything possible to save her and we continue to pray for a good report tomorrow.

Our Ghanaian logistics team arrived in Nyamboi village at 0400 this morning to set up our canopies and organize the crowds. When our 3 buses of team members and translators arrived at 0800 it took no time at all to man our stations, pop up our incredible pharmacy and begin our task of caring for one patient at time. A small delegation of first-time team members that included Anna, Anne, Alisha, Jessica and myself greeted the chief and elders while the clinic got underway.

Clinic triage

The clinic ran so smoothly and efficiently thanks to a great team effort. It was a real pleasure to have Dr. Simon and nurse Bex from the surgical team join us and consult on a gangrenous foot as well as a patient with an abscess that needed draining. Midday, the District Director of Health Services and his team arrived to greet us. He toured our clinic and witnessed Ghanaians and Canadians and Europeans working side by side and hand in hand. Abraham remarked to him, “This is more than mere friendship.”

More than mere friendship

Our eye clinic really suffered today as temperatures soared into the high 30s in their dark window-covered church clinic. They never complain, but Dr.Martin did declare at supper they are the “hottest team” of all. Many of last year’s glaucoma patients were reviewed in clinic today and are all doing very well.

Our dentists worked extremely hard today and didn’t seem to even notice the goats continually grazing around their canopies.

Back on the compound the surgical team had a full and challenging day with four emergency cases in addition to all of their booked surgeries. Dealing with a few dodgy stomachs they pushed through with incredible resilience. Ashley shared at dinner how proud he was of all the surgical nursing staff who have very long days arriving early and staying late to prepare the theatres and sterilize everyone’s instruments. There was one marriage proposal in the OR and it involved a dowry of bush meat — I will leave you guessing on that one!

Dr. Dan’s last patient of the day was unexpectedly complicated. When Dr. Simon arrived back from the village he immediately scrubbed in to assist. I popped in to see how they were doing to find our UK anaesthetist Dr. Karen and our Ghanaian anaesthetist Eric talking through advanced sedation techniques that were suddenly required due to the complexity of the case. Meanwhile Dan and Simon were able to successfully complete the surgery during which they explained to me that they were medical school classmates, best men at each other’s weddings but have never once operated together until that very moment. What a memory for them.

Good friends Dr. Simon & Dr. Dan working together with Eric on a complicated case

After our tomato soup, cashew-beef, rice and yam fries dinner (I know, right?!), Soale who leads NEA operations shared with us two important observations from today. Firstly, he noticed that his people were really touched emotionally by the care they received. A very elderly woman that Dr. Charlie and our nursing team cared for said to Soale, “Who said the world is bad now? Look at these people who come from another continent to help us beyond measure.” Secondly he shared a verse in the Bible from Psalm 133:1 that says “How good and pleasant it is when brothers and sisters live together in unity.” He feels that the unity between the NEA leadership and the Ghana Health Team leadership and the unity amongst all of our team members is driving the success of this program. He thanked God for His hand on our work.

Abraham is right — this is more than mere friendship. It is about friends new and old who are wholeheartedly united in purpose and who truly do believe it is possible to make a difference in this great big world.

More than friends: our Ghanaian, British, and Canadian nurses

PS: We got your message Nicky Blunt and you name is already on the list for 2019!
PPS: We might just be teasing Josh Smith a lot over how much his family loves him.

Best First Day Ever

By Dr. Jennifer Wilson

NEA decided to treat us to a “sleep-in” after our long journey, so our day began at 7:30am under the gazebo. The NEA staff gather every morning to pray before they start their work and this morning, they invited us and all our translators to attend. Beautiful multi-part harmonies rang out as the staff led us in a song called “My God is Good.” David, who is an NEA accountant, shared a message from the Bible from Matthew 25 that talks about how whatever we do for the least of humanity we do for God himself.

A superb breakfast of oatmeal, omelettes, beans, fresh bread, peanut butter, watermelon and bananas along with Tim Horton’s coffee (we don’t leave home without it) was enjoyed by all. Dr. David joined us for breakfast. David is a young Ghanaian physician who is one of NEA’s scholars. He will be working with both the medical and surgical team for the second year in a row and we are excited about the mutual transfer of skills that will take place. “We will never forget this. We will always have you in our hearts,” he told us.

Dr. David and Dr. Kate discussing ultrasound images of a trauma patient.

After breakfast, all the teams made their final preparations to begin our work and our automated pharmacy went live. The physicians spent a good hour with our local medical assistant Ernestina reviewing illnesses we are less familiar with, such as malaria, HIV and tropical ulcers to name a few.

The operating theatres were up and running by 10:30am, and despite the later than normal start, the team completed 35 hernia successful surgeries with zero complications. It is unusual for Day 1 to be so efficient, especially with so many first time surgical team members, but, Dr. Rob (aka Mr. Rob in the UK) declared it the “best first day ever.” Way to go surgical team! Imagine what they can do with a full day work.

We ran a very important medical clinic this afternoon for the NEA staff and their family members. What an honour for us to care for and provide medicine to these dear friends and their families. As seems to be the pattern, the clinic began with an emergency when a pregnant patient fell off a motorcycle on the road outside the compound. We were thankful that Dr. Kate brought an ultrasound machine from Edmonton which was a key diagnostic tool in this situation. Thankfully mom and baby are doing well.

Emergencies continued and today’s rapid response team of our paramedic Greg and Dr. Sue and Joan responded to a collapsed patient in the eye clinic as well as a toddler who was convulsing with cerebral malaria. The child was stabilized and after consulting with our paediatrician Dr. Anne, was transferred to the nearest hospital. We were thankful to receive word that the child was still alive this evening, but the situation is critical, and we pray she will survive the night. (Malaria is a leading cause of death among children under 5 in Ghana.)

Nursing leaders Joan and Sandra poring over clinic maps.

The eye clinic worked until the sun went down (no power in their building), and they too had an exceptional first day — including a lovely fireworks show when their sterilizer sort of blew up. Thankfully, Ashley in the OR is a really, really nice guy who offered to provide sterilization services to our eye team for a nominal fee.

Our dental team were extremely busy and were faced with some challenging cases that Dr. Francois admitted were very humbling. I think we would all agree, this is humbling work for all of us. None of us are foolish enough to feel overconfident — we simply do our best one patient at a time.

Dr. Neil and Dr. Carolyn under the dental tent.

According to the queen of logistics (BTW isn’t Kim looking fabulous in the new logistical team color of bright yellow), we saw 386 medical, surgical, dental and eye patients on this compound today. I’m just so glad it was the best first day ever. Not so much for us, but for NEA. The men and women and their families who do the very, very hard work of development 365 days a year deserve nothing less.

Queen of Logistics

Because of Love

By Dr. Jennifer Wilson

After just a few short hours of sleep we boarded the coach buses and enjoyed a smooth and beautiful journey to the North. Just after 11:00am local time we paused together under a mango tree for a Remembrance Day reading by Dr. Josh and a moment of silence.

Pausing to remember

Our journey lasted nine hours. As we pulled into the gates of the NEA compound, the driver laid on his horn for a solid three minutes to announce our arrival. We think this is how we might begin to announce our arrival home in the future! All of the NEA staff and their families greeted us in a receiving line that seems to get longer and longer every year. It was a sweet reunion. After a song and prayer of thanksgiving to God for our safe arrival, Abraham thanked us for our commitment to this program. He believes the motivation for people who take risks and make sacrifices of this magnitude is simply because of love.

Over the next two hours I witnessed the epitome of teamwork and cooperation as a medical clinic, nursing station, fully stocked pharmacy, eye clinic, dental clinic as well a surgical theatres and a recovery room popped out of nowhere. Everyone pitched in, even the children.

Our traditional spaghetti dinner, enjoyed by all in the dining hall, was prepared by Patience, who looked stunning in her white uniform and cap. It is also a tradition during our first dinner together that Dr. Carlye, who is our team doctor, gives us strict instructions regarding the two most common team health issues in Ghana: diarrhea or constipation. Funny how none of us mind this type of conversation over supper.

The work continued throughout the evening until eyelids literally started to drop. A well deserved night’s sleep awaits us all under our mosquito nets. As I drift off to sleep I’m thinking of so many special moments that I noticed today. I’ll leave you with a few….

I noticed Val caring for a little boy with a cut on his leg who somehow found his way in to the unpacking area.

In the midst of setting up the surgical theatres, I noticed Dr. Dan and Dr. Simon tucked away in a consulting room already examining tomorrow’s surgical patients.

Early consulting for patients

I noticed Ashley and Emilia skipping across the field late at night to the theatre making sure the sterilizer wasn’t blowing the place up.

I noticed team members sitting in a large circle helping pharmacy prepare 5000 doses of deworming medication.

Prepping deworming

I noticed the massive task that our pharmacists Linda, Sherry, Martha, Alexa, Lisa and Kirlis have to set up an entire pharmacy in a few short hours. They would have pulled an all-nighter if we had let them.

I noticed Sandra coaching our first time nurse Toni-Ann on our triage system while Joan was coaching Alisha Anna and Anne on how to use the rapid HIV and malaria tests.

I noticed Greg, our paramedic, sitting on the floor with our trauma bag contents sprawled out just to be sure he was prepared for any emergency.

And finally, just as the sun was setting, I noticed our eye team had recruited a long line of children who were, with such pride and such ease, transporting all the boxes of eyeglasses to the clinic on their little heads.

It is time for our work to begin. Tomorrow as we have the honour of providing care to all the NEA development staff and their extended families, while operations will begin in the surgical theatres.

All because of love, indeed.

History Will Mark This

By Dr. Jennifer Wilson

The young Ghanaian man in the Amsterdam airport listened as Dr. Sue and my daughter Jessica shared who we were and why we’re going to Ghana. He knew very well the challenges of the Northern Region of his country. He thanked us on behalf of all Ghanaians for crossing continents to help strangers and concluded by saying, “History will mark this.”

We are here. All sixty of us and all of our medications and supplies arrived safely (minus one personal bag which is en route from London). Our program and protocols and systems are ready to go, and I noticed some of our leaders fine tuning these things even as we flew through the night. (I love my Type A friends who may have a touch of OCD.) Other than one small flight delay, our travel was seamless, and we are grateful for those who prayed for our safe arrival.

We enjoyed a wonderful meal at a lovely hotel. Soon we will begin our journey northward. Our dear friends at NEA will be waiting to greet us under the mango trees and once our reunion with them is complete, we will begin the massive task of unpacking.

“History will mark this” was a thought-provoking comment for me, and I realized that perhaps the significance of this mission for the Ghanaian people has dimmed for me over this past year. How easy it is to forget what life would be like without access to a doctor or a dentist or medication. How can we even fathom that a surgical illness — even a simple hernia— could be a death sentence for many? What would a day be like for us without our contact lenses and glasses? I choke up when I remember that without health care, only two of my five kids would probably be alive and well today.

My BBC news app reminds me every day of the evil and destructive events that seem to be marking our current times. What a privilege for us to be part of an effort that is born out of kindness, love, compassion, and justice for our global neighbours. While we may never show up in any history books, I’m reminded that our annual visit to the Mo Land marks something very significant — the arrival of hope and healing for men, women and children who are just like you and me.

GHT2018 Canadian Team Members Departing Pearson International Airport on November 9, 2018, including Christ Church’s Dr. Martin McDowell, Dr. Andy Patterson, Anne Embleton and Jane Smith.