Three Long Years.....

 

My name is Chloe I am registered nurse and I have  the pleasure of travelling with Jeanette and the fourth year nursing students to Ghana for the second time. It has taken me three years to reflect on this unique experience.

My group in 2020

The year 2020, fourth year practicum arrives and we can’t wait to immerse ourselves in what is the country of Ghana.

Whispers, and unsettling energy exists when we arrive to Tamale. Ignoring our intuition and sensing something unknown, we continue planning the days ahead. I remember this moment. Warm Breeze passes through while being told we are to be sent home. Exhaustion and heat takes over me as I try and process this information, it all felt overwhelming. Goals, aspirations and expectations lost in a single moment.

However looking back now there was a much bigger picture to be seen. An unwieldy weight of what this new illness means to this country, to the people of Ghana, and to the world.

There is one word that comes to mind the days leading up to our departure, and that is fear. Fear of this new unknown illness, fear from the locals of the traveler, the ‘carrier’. Fear of what will become of our brothers and sisters, allies that have been built and relationships that bonded us. Small shops once beloved were hastily moving us out the door.

Airports were frantic, distressed people and  hazmat suits flooded the terminals. We relied on each other, we made it home and it is important to strongly recognize the work it took for Jeanette Vinek, UBCO and GoGlobal to get us home quick and safely.

And the rest, well you know, we all lived through our own experiences of the past 3 years.

COVID-19 illnesses in Ghana were few, for some precautions were taken, others their daily lives continued on. Even though illness did not overtake the country, the financial repercussions were catastrophic and continue to linger. Prices on all goods and services have risen 100-150% while wages stay the same and store fronts closed their doors for good. And while education and public health focused on the virus or stopped all together, there was a noted increase in other medical illnesses such as HIV in rural settings.

What has remained the same is the strong, loving, and honourable spirits of the Ghanaian people and we are so excited to learn and do our best to capture these moments on this blog.

 Chloe RN 

My group 2023