Case studies: Projects Abroad volunteer: Harriet Walker

Harriet did a medical placement at Central Regional Hospital near Abura in Ghana. During her time she stayed with a host family in the centre of Cape Coast, just above Kotokoraba Market.

The calls of a nearby mosque, chickens outside the window, the market just below me. All of this and it was only 4.30am. I had definitely arrived in Ghana. I actually arrived on Wednesday 16th February at about 10pm and as soon as those plane doors opened and the 28°C heat hit me, I knew my three month adventure had begun.

One of the main aspects of Ghanaian life that I miss is being able to buy anything you could ever want out of a Tro window. You sit there in your seat and you can buy your weekly food shop, a new watch and kit yourself out in a whole new outfit from the sellers who carry all their goods on their heads and you don’t have to move a muscle. Now that is laid back living for you.

I spent most of my time in Central Regional Hospital. Once again, I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect and I arrived to find what looked like a fairly modern hospital from the outside. However, when I went onto the wards and really opened my eyes,  I began to realise how wrong I was.

Realistically, this was what I should have expected, and in an awful way, it actually meant that I could gain even more from my time in the hospital. I spent two weeks on each ward of the hospital and my daily tasks varied from taking patients for x-rays, offering support to a mother giving birth, taking patients vital signs as they arrived in A&E and assisting doctors on their daily surgical ward rounds.

Other than the hospital I visited a local Leprosy Camp each morning and along with a few other medical volunteers, we cleaned and re-dressed all of the inmates’ wounds. I have to say that this was one of the most rewarding experiences of my time in Ghana, as you really did feel like you were making a difference to these men and women and their faces clearly showed the appreciation.

I could honestly go on all day about my experiences in Ghana, but I just want to finish by saying that it isn’t all about your placement. Almost every weekend I travelled to other areas of Ghana with other volunteers, and I even made it over the border to Togo for my 19th birthday.

The placement was challenging, my host family were friendly and supportive and the country is beautiful, if not slightly crazy. It was a once in a lifetime experience and I loved every moment of it.