First Weekend

I spent Friday at the hospital in the pediatric HIV clinic. As there is quite a social stigma about HIV here, the clinic is tucked away in an unlabeled section of the "Chest Clinic." The resident working that day, while walking to the clinic, said, "I know a shortcut." He led me through a ward full of emaciated, coughing people. Realizing this was the tuberculosis ward, I pointed out that maybe this wasn't the ideal shortcut!

This clinic itself is quite well-run, despite limited resources. They have 5-6 drug from which to choose, as they don't give kids the newer protease inhibitors. They have two labs they can order, for the most part: a CD4 count and a CBC to check for anemia. That day, the lab had run out of reagent for the CD4 counts, so the patients have to come back in a couple of weeks to have their counts checked. Most of these children came to the clinic with grandmothers or aunts, as their disease was diagnosed only after their mothers had died under circumstances no one would discuss. Not a pretty picture, but it was fascinating to look at their growth charts to see how much they had improved after therapy was started. I'm learning a lot at the hospital, but after that clinic I was ready for the week to end.

This being our first full weekend in Kumasi, we decided to spend it exploring the area around the city. A group of medical and public health students who are doing public health research arrived Friday night, and we all loaded ourselves into a rented tro-tro and headed to Lake Botsumtwe on Saturday. It is the largest natural lake in West Africa, and I think its coolest feature is that it is a crater lake, formed by a meteor strike.

It is considered a sacred lake, so the locals aren't allowed to boat on it, but are allowed to fish by floating on plain slabs of wood and paddling with their hands. Inexplicably, though, tourists can be taken on tours on a motorboat. Hmmm. At any rate, afterwards we visited Bonwire, a village that specializes in weaving kente cloth. While it is amazing to watch the weavers in action, the constant attempts to sell stuff to the obrunis is aggrevating.

Each of us had 2-3 people crowding around us at any one time. We had trouble getting back into the tro-tro, as vendors were surrounding it and shoving their arms inside, showing us their pieces of cloth, personalized woven bracelets, and kente backpacks. I didn't buy anything, as the haggling was getting fustrating and I knew prices were about the same in the city without as much obnoxiousness. A small child wanted to trade me a bookmark for my chapstick. I consider chapstick too valuable a commodity, but he accepted a pencil instead.



Today was spent relaxing, eating Indian food (yup), and visiting the Ahanti royal palace. The Ashanti king is just a figurehead now, similar to the British royalty. The public section of the palace was underwhelming, composed mainly of the king's old furniture and pictures of him with Queen Elizabeth and the pope. On an upside, there were peacocks wandering the grounds, and I think I will need peacocks when I have my large estate.

Recent overly religious business name: "'Blood of Jesus Fast Food' - Rice & Beans" Yummy.

Recent delicious local dish: Banku, a pasty dough made of fermented casava (fufu is casava and plantains). It is less messy to eat, and I had it with grilled tilapia and spicy sauce.