I came to Ghana thinking that it would be easy to find shampoo and conditioner. That’s why I decided not to bring them. I was wrong. After searching, the only shampoo I was able to find was the “Dark and Lovely” brand [sorry I didn’t rotate the picture before posting it]. It would have been nice to find some conditioner as well, but that’s okay. As long as I have something to wash my hair with, I have nothing to complain about. If I ever get the opportunity to come back, I definitely will bring my own shampoo.
I have learned a lot volunteering at the clinics and hospital. Comparing the healthcare system in Ghana to the one at home is astonishing. I was told that buying health insurance for one year only costs about 70 Ghana cedis – which is about 35 US dollars. Many of the tests that are done do not cost much to do. The most I’ve seen was 400 cedis for an endoscopy. Compared to the US, this seems affordable. But, sadly, there are many people who cannot afford some of the tests here. One day I was in the hospital and the doctor was talking about how he was going to recommend a certain test for the patient. But he did not know if the patient could afford the 40 cedis (20 US dollars). This made me a bit sad because, to mem 20 dollars for a test sounds wonderful, but there are families here which may see that amount as outrageously high.
I have been to the stores by the slave castle multiple times to buy gifts, but there is a particular store that I go into more often than the others. This is because they have these wonderful banana leave art work. Well, the owner of the store told me one day that I should come back because he will have
One day a nurse asked me where I was from. I told her that I was from America. She had a puzzled look on her face and asked me if anyone ever told me I looked like I was Chinese or Japanese or something. I said, “you mean Asian?” I proceeded to tell her that I was an Asian living in America. She seemed a bit confused and surprised. This made me laugh. She then asked if my family had any African descent because my nose looked like an African nose. I thought this was interesting because I never had that question asked before.something for me. The following week I went back because Liz also wanted some of the pictures. Before we were going to leave, he gave me this post card and necklace. It basically said that he wanted to be my friend because he liked me and that I should call him at the number provided. This was a very nice gift, but I do not think that I will be calling him.
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