Day 4 and Day 5 (Kumasi)

4.2. and 5.2.2022 (see in english below)

These were supposed to be two very, very emotional days, so it took me a while to describe the time with some distance, as many things moved me on these two days. On Friday, we started around 8:00 am after a restful night and a good breakfast towards the Kumasi Culture Center. We struggled for 40 minutes to drive the nearly 10 kilometers through traffic until we reached the center. Many potential recipients of the prosthetics were already waiting there. After setting up, there was a short strategic meeting: due to the high number of people who had already needed an upper arm extension on the previous days, the supply of thermoplastic was greatly depleted, so a difficult decision had to be made. After Kumasi, the rest of the crew would go to Tamale for several days. There, they would customize and distribute such prosthetics, joints, and extensions to the people for the first time. Since nobody knew about the project there, a lot of trust had to be gained, and that could only work if we could use the entire range, including the use of thermoplastic extension. In Kumasi, this approach and technique were already more familiar. So we decided that in Kumasi we would largely (except for a few less serious exceptions) do without the use of the extension and still give everyone something, even if it was 'only' a temporary solution that could be used for training and testing at first. Those with such an interim solution can then come back two months later, when Ogidi and his crew are in Kumasi again (without us), and they will also receive the necessary extensions and joints. Said and done, and that's how the day began. It was very hot and dry. We had almost 40 degrees and the sweat was running everywhere... even where you didn't want it.

Two particular cases left a special impression on me on Friday. First, there was the particularly tragic case of a young man treated by Chris G. He was mugged and shot. The gunshot wound was not very serious, but after treatment in the hospital, the entire forearm and parts of the upper arm became infected and he developed sepsis. At a fatal speed, it caused parts of the arm to be exposed down to the bone, and the arm had to be amputated above the elbow. Chris G. was visibly affected by this account, and once again it became clear that medical care in many cases leads to amputation or, and we have often witnessed this, the amputation was performed very poorly or not in a meaningful way.

The second patient, who was very emotional for me personally on that day, was little Abdul, who had to have his forearm amputated just below the elbow after an electrical accident. In this case, we decided that he should receive one of the few extensions made of thermoplastic, and in this case, I took over all the work steps from the beginning. My backup in this case was always Eddie (Alaska), with whom I discussed the individual steps and who always provided valuable advice. In this case, the extension served for stabilization, as otherwise, the mechanisms for the mechanical prosthesis would have no support. There were a lot of small adjustments and finishing touches, but in the end, the little boy was very satisfied with the result. Ramon then personally took care of the finishing touches and perfectly covered the end result with the artificial 'skin'. It was the last 'prosthetic act' of the day, but there was still a little surprise waiting for us: suddenly, a small group of people arrived, led by a determined local person. They explained that they had seen such happy people coming out of the Culture Center and wanted to know what we were doing there. We explained it to them, and it turned out that the woman was the owner/manager of a restaurant just around the corner, and she was so excited about what was happening at the Culture Center that she promised us free food for the whole crew whenever we were there... So, after packing up, we went straight to 'IKES' restaurant. The food was very good, and so we ended the afternoon there.

On the way back to the lodge, we were supposed to have the PCR test for Ramon and me 'quickly'. However, the search for the right place turned into an odyssey in the worst 'Kumasi after-work traffic', and then we had to have some discussions with the help of Ogidi because the procedure had changed since last year. So, the others had to wait in the bus for about an hour in 40-degree heat. Speaking of the rules: in short, the test centers are no longer allowed to send the results by email because there were so many fake emails. So our samples are sent to Accra, analyzed there, and the results should then be available for printing out at an office at the airport. However, it turned out that this was not exactly true, and this whole story led to a 250 CEDI fine and a heated discussion with 'EL GENERAL' (as Ramon and I called him).

Now that the tests were done, we continued on to the lodge. The traffic was heavy, and we were moving slower than the pedestrians alongside us. After half an hour, Seba became a little restless. The reason for this was a small and fatal incident at the restaurant. He had ordered a vegetarian dish. And while all the other dishes were 'off the shelf' and pre-cooked, his was freshly prepared. He also received it much later than everyone else, and we suspect that the vegetables in his dish were actually freshly cut AND WASHED and then unfortunately not fully cooked or fried due to time constraints. Things went downhill for the poor guy, and so he and Ogidi had to jump out and after a short negotiation, he was allowed to find relief at the only place along the way that could have a toilet... it was a hospital. It probably had to be permanently closed afterwards because both of them only returned to the bus after half an hour (but only a kilometer in a traffic jam). Seba was visibly relieved, and he didn't have any major problems after that.

In the evening, we all met up in the rooftop bar for a drink, freshly showered, and reflected on the day.

Saturday started again with a very good breakfast and a long trip to the Culture Center. There were significantly fewer people waiting for us that day, and we were completely done by 11:30. The story of a young student that I treated that day was particularly depressing. He owed a friend 10 CEDI (1.37 EUR). And because he couldn't pay it back, the friend attacked him with a machete in order to decapitate him. When he held his arm in front of his face to protect himself, it was severed. Unimaginable, and I still feel a void in my stomach when I think about it, but on the other hand, I am so infinitely sad because this young man had so many plans for his life and was deprived of them for 10 CEDI. Even with the prosthesis, he has a much worse prognosis, not only in a country like Ghana. The custom-made prosthesis and the cosmetic hand could only give him limited comfort, especially since it hadn't been long since the incident. He was happy and could handle the mechanical hand well, but his understandable bitterness was still very visible.

Well, we still had a lot of time... and that was a good thing. Already on the way there, the bus had made a few groaning noises when it hit potholes, and when our driver raised the car, the front wheel simply fell off. After some analysis on his part, we made our way to the restaurant from the previous day, knowing that we would spend several hours there. Meanwhile, our driver was looking for a workshop... the wheel and axle were slightly damaged.

The slightly longer visit to the restaurant had its benefits as well: after long descriptions and negotiations, a meal and an additional spice were finally found that took Ramon to the 7th spicy heaven. He had searched and researched every meal and had almost come to the conclusion that there is no spicy food in Ghana. But on that day, a combination of a highly spiced main course and an additional babushito (strange green stuff with the consistency of applesauce) finally brought small beads of joy to his forehead. He was so happy.

At some point, our driver returned, and we went back to the lodge. It was going to be our last evening together, as Ramon and I were heading home the next day, and everyone else was planning to leave for Tamale at 4 am. Nevertheless, we all met up for one final beer, some photo shoots, and a round of Jägermeister :-) in the rooftop bar. It was a very emotional farewell. Ogidi briefly shocked us with a very serious announcement of a speech. We were briefly confused, but it turned out that he just wanted to thank us once and make it clear how important this all is to him and how much he appreciates Chris G.'s dedication and how much he enjoyed the time together.

What can I say... in the end, we all hugged each other, and it was a very, very difficult farewell for Ramon and me because we won't see each other again soon.

Insights from the two days: Ghana can be spicy, losing a wheel doesn't mean it's a broken axle, and sometimes a few days are enough to get to know special people and call them FRIENDS.

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