The home stretch!

I really enjoyed my time spent in Bolgatanga. It was nice to get away from all the Tamale hustle and bustle for a little while, even though I thought I was going to sweat out every ounce of moisture in my body! Monday we worked in a clinic in a town called Nangodi and assisted with a child health clinic. Tuesday, instead of being at the health clinic, we did an outreach child health clinic where we set up camp underneath a gigantic tree on the outskirts of town and mothers brought their children there to be weighed (using a scale hanging from a tree branch! I have some very cute pics) and immunized. One of the moms let me tie her baby to my back! It's incredible how much lighter and easier it is to have a child on your back instead of in your arms. Makes me want to do that one day when I have little ones of my own! Wednesday and Thursday were exciting days, as we had the opportunity to teach first year nursing students and the Nurses Training College. We were asked to speak on the "nursing process" and "ethics in nursing". The students definitely kept us on our toes with their difficult questions and we had a lot of fun! The principal sat at the back of the room and near the end asked us if we could teach the students some relaxation techniques, so I led them all through guided relaxation (you know, the whole "close your eyes, take a deep breath" sort of thing). So funny.

After 2 weeks in Bolgatanga, we have now returned to Tamale! Friday morning the rest of the group came to pick us up with a bus we we headed out to a village. There is a Ghanaian nurse named Vida who is currently doing her Master's in nursing at UBCO. She has started this amazing organization called Project GROW (Ghana Rural Opportunities for Women). Through this organization, women in the village are taught various skills which allows them to provide for themselves, their family, and their village in many ways. There has been a lot of fundraising going on for Project GROW back and home and we had the privilege of delivering the gifts to the village! We presented the village with a grinding mill (to more easily grind up shea nuts into shea butter, which the women sell), multiple donkeys and donkey carts, plenty of goats, food, and money. It was so amazing to see the village receive these goods and they were so incredibly grateful for everyone's generosity. They threw a big celebration full of dancing, singing, music, and even some screaming (They move their tongue back and forth and scream at the top of their lungs..the women do this when they are really excited, it's pretty funny.) I got to try my hand at playing a traditional two stringed guitar-type instrument. Definitely harder than it looks! After a long but amazing day at the village, we returned back to Tamale.

Today is Independence Day here in Ghana, and this year is the 50th year of independence celebration! It's going to be a crazy party here,that's for sure!

I can't believe I am in my final week here in Ghana! Time has gone by so fast, but at the same time I feel as though I have been here forever. I'm looking forward to having some time to relax on the beach at the coast for a few days. Jackie and I will be camping in a tent at a place called Green Turtle Lodge (http://www.greenturtlelodge.com/) which we are pretty excited about! It will be fun to spend a few days in London as well, although I am sure I will experience quite the culture shock.

I miss everyone and am looking forward to being back home again. Even though that means real life will set in again....exams, papers, practicum, graduation, getting an RN job...
Hope everyone is doing well! Love you all soooo much!