Tuesday, August 24
We didn’t have clinic today, instead I went out with one of the field workers on home visits. We visited seven mothers in the study who are either pregnant or have young infants. Yesterday while working in the lab, I met some medical students from Scotland who are here interning/volunteering. While talking to them, one of them asked if I had heard people calling “blefonyo” at me yet. It’s the Ghanaian word for “white lady” and they said they hear it a lot. Today I was listening for it and I heard it all throughout our home visits. As we were walking from house to house we passed little kids who would call out “blefonyo” and then either smile and wave or run to grab a little friend so they could see the white lady too. I heard a couple of adults call it out too-very fun to recognize what they were saying. I was also able to carry out a rudimentary conversation in the native language with most of the mothers consisting of: “How are you?” “I’m good, and you?” “I’m good, thank you”. At a couple of the visits I was able to hold the little babies, only 2 or 3 months old. Both were such cuties with little baby afros that were so soft! While I was holding one of the infants I suddenly felt something warm and wet spreading across my lap…yep-baby had no diaper! The blefonyo got peed on!
After we returned to the house I had some time to shower (thank goodness!), prepare food and do some laundry. Laundry basically consisted of an hour of me being seriously thankful for the washing machine at home! I hung up everything on a make shift clothes line in my bathroom (my dad would be so proud that I brought along the nylon rope that he put in with my camping gear!). I later noticed a clothes line out back that I may transfer my clothes onto tomorrow, except my underwear-that can stay in my bathroom!
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