Well this is a VERY LONG post again perhaps you will read either the mission or Humanitarian part or both or just skim it but it was a crazy, busy miraculous day that I am so grateful to be apart of.....always AMAZED at what happens on these mission trips....I have had issues hoping it post in some readable fashion
MISSION: My internet is very unstable
so I am writing this post in word & hoping I can copy & paste it into
my blog - fingers crossed & prayers up!
It was another very rainy night. I am told the "rainy season"
is May/June/July so we are right in the middle of it. Breakfast was supposed to
be from 6-7 and the bus was to leave at 7:10 am however with the rain, many of
the staff had difficulty getting to the hotel for work and breakfast was not
cooked and ready until 6:45 which was right about the time that I arrived
at the breakfast room and all the tables were full with team members who had
been waiting awhile. The omelet person was not there and that area was closed so
I switched up my breakfast plan & had a hardboiled egg, and carb loaded
with rice, bread and then added fruit. We got to the hospital and changed into
scrubs to be sure the PACU was ready to go & then Abi & I decided to go
see the kids from yesterday in the Pre/Post area…here in Africa they take
keeping everyone working back in the OR & PACU “sterile” (I would call it clean)
so since we were in our “sterile area scrubs” we either had to change back onto
our “street clothes” or put on gowns, a hat (over our hat) and show covers – which
made us very sweaty - we will not do that again! Instead, we will go there
before we change - but it was SO WORTH IT!!! I got to see Jonathan the 1st
baby I screened and first to have surgery yesterday w/ his new smile & his
lip looks amazing – I will post before & after photos on my social media. Also,
I saw Ella another lip patient & the cutest palate repair with the mom that
just stole my heart yesterday and she was so grateful & tearful when I came
by to see them which of course made me tearful.
We expected our first cases to get back about 10 am so at 9 am Beatrice and I did some education on Malignant Hyperthermia – a rare side effect more common in African countries and we had a good discussion for about an hour that led into other discussions. I felt like as an “educator” I was on my “A Game” this morning even without much sleep. We had a steady stream of patients and normal calm & chaos. But at 2:30 Della the PACU Intensivist came to me & said a patient is coming off a table with airway issues I need you to take him, set up oxygen, respiratory treatments & let’s see how her does. It took over an hour for Clover the Anesthesia lead & I to stabilize him & he was in a good place by 4 pm. At 5 pm we only had 2 patients left to come to PACU & it looked like we would get home at a reasonable time. I again offered for part of our PACU team to go home & no takers. I took a bus home at 7 & got to the hotel at 7:20, showered & the cute students text me they had pizza up by the restaurant I truly wanted to just put my PJs on but decided I should go see them and I spent an hour with them visiting & then got my stuff ready for tomorrow. Same schedule as today up at 6 bus leaves at 7.
HUMANITARIAN: After visiting the post op area, I connected with the “moneychanger”
I met last night. I exchanged the $500
cash & she had large envelopes of money so it must be her “side gig” after
social work? I got a low exchange rate that I am certain ensures she makes some
money but at this point if she made $20 from me I has 5000 Cedi closer to what I
needed for the cash purchases at the market. At 10 am Salam came & we
talked for about 45 minutes AGAIN doing all the math- determining what I had in
Cedis (Ghana Cash) and figuring out what could be bought & what could be
put on my credit card. She had gone by a “warehouse” this morning that had much
of what we needed but would only take cash BUT…they would deliver it all to the
actual church building where we met Pres. Offari at the district/Stake Offices.
That was a big plus because remember that Salam drives a Chevy Spark – there was
absolutely no way we could get 39 bags of rice that were each 25kg (about 50
lbs) I her car & it would still run with 200 lbs of rice in it!!! Getting
the suitcases took being creative just for space & no weight. The fact they
will deliver was crucial. Our plan became to get all the rice, the oil &
the cases of tomato paste there as well as large bags of sugar. So, we calculated
& allocated cash there first but didn’t have enough cash for all the food. We
would also need cash for the city market where we would but the beans, corn
& gari. Then we would use the credit card at Malcoms (an actual store that
would take credit card) for the rice, oil & tomato paste we didn’t have enough
cash for and she scheduled a “tricycle with an open trailer to meet us there at
5 pm and we could pay him to deliver that to the church as well. I am REALLY GOOD
with logistics, but this was A LOT and my head was SPINNING AGAIN. I took a
deep breath, and I just trusted that we would figure it out - I wasn’t sure
how. Bottom line– 3 places to shop cash vs credit card & it all came down
to needing more Ghana cash. Patients started coming back to the PACU & I needed
to care for them, but my mind was racing everywhere with the question “how to
get Ghana Cash”??? We had been talking for 50 minutes & by 11 a.m. 4 patients
came back to PACU rapid fire & it was chaos in there with some agitated kids
coming out of anesthesia, so I needed to end our conversation abruptly.
By 1 pm things settled down and I was trying
to brainstorm how to get cash & actually made a list of options in my mini
notebook: 1. Get more at Malcoms – just charge as much as I can don’t worry
about the extra expense & we would probably need a 2nd tricycle &
trailer. 2. Check to see if any of the US students had extra cash or Cedis I could
get from them & Venmo them or exchange the US cash they had. 3. See if I could
use an ATM with my Chase credit card 4. See if I could use my AMEX send account
& get money that way or from my card 5. I talked to the “moneychanger” &
she had Zelle so I got her phone # to see if I could Zelle her. One by as I
made calls options 2, 3 & 4 would not work – CHASE credit card “advance” wanted
to charge me 28% plus another fee that was immediate meaning if I went online
tonight & paid that cash advance I would already have a $300 fee for $1000
US & that was ridiculous, AMEX was helpful but had no where in Ghana (at least
where I was) to access money & I couldn’t even send money to someone (I
talked to & considered our PICU intensivist Della) my Zelle was thru the
credit union & that seemed the most hopeful until it wasn’t but they don’t have
24 hour service and it was 6 am in CA and their non computerized Member
Services opened at 7 am PDT. I felt the clock ticking while trying to manage
the PACU & sweet Abi was trying to brainstorm with me too. I thought of “wiring”
money to Patience one of the PACU nurses who lives in Ho & has a bank here
then she could get it for me, and I text a girl at home I know from the Credit
Union at 6:45 her time. I was in full NGO mode while trying to make sure we
were managing the patients & I was hitting brick walls everywhere!!!
At 2 pm Ghana time 7 am Calif time I
called Member Services at the Credit union – the girl was VERY patient with my scattered
thoughts, and we were on the phone for 25 minutes. Zelle to an international bank
would not work – I really thought that was the answer, international wiring was
also a challenge & could take 24-48 hours to be validated/sent/received. As
I was pulling all the cards out to find the different banks phone #s I had seen
my ATM card – I never travel with it & rarely use an ATM so the fact it was
behind my driver’s license in my wallet was a surprise as I thought I just
brought 3 credit cards, my AMEX, a Visa & a Mastercard. I told her I did
have that card & could I do anything with it…she said yes it is Visa based &
I could use it at an ATM & I asked what the fees were – she said 1% 😊 Apparently I had it set to only withdraw $600 a day but she gave me
step by step directions on how to change that to $1200 a day on the app. I
asked what if the ATM has a $200 limit & she said I could probably do 2 different
transactions. Now I needed an ATM – Patience said there was one at her bank
& a friend of hers in another area of the OR & he had a “Pragia” (as
his second job) that he happened to drive to the hospital today for work &
he would take me to her bank at 3:30 when he got off. It was 2:30 by this time
& all sorts of crazy was going on in the PACU (see notes above in the
mission section about the really unstable one that needed to take care of) I had just text Salam
to ask her to come back so I could give her an update re the ATM plan not knowing
how h I could withdraw but something was better than nothing, it The unstable
patient was not stable until 4 pm & Patience friend was nice enough to wait
for me after his shift (mind you I had to change out of my scrubs into my
street clothes to leave the PACU) & was ready to take me to her bank. Wait for it…here comes todays lil miracle. As
he was driving us out of the hospital, I saw the sister missionaries walking
& stuck my head out & yelled “Hello sisters” & he stopped his
Pragia & they came up from maybe 30 feet away. I asked why they were there
(to visit member in the hospital) & told them I was being taken to a bank
downtown to get cash from an ATM & they said “We always use the ATM at the
end of this street”. So I said ok will show us where it is. They got in the
Pragia & directed us to the end of the street to “their ATM” they said it
was refilled with cash on Monday (not sure how they knew that) & I asked
how much you could withdraw & they said they often got $200-$300. The USA
sister walked up to the ATM with me while Patience friend waited there for us. She
walked me thru all the steps of that specific ATM with my card – it offered me
a max of 6000 Cedis ($565 American) & out popped 60 - $100 Cedi bills that I
quickly grabbed & put in my pocket as we were in a public area. I told her
the credit union said I might be able to do 2 withdrawals so we tried it again
& it worked!!! I now had $12, 000 Cedis about half of what I need to buy EVERYTHING
in cash if I did another withdrawal in the morning!!! I called them my ATM
Angels. If I had left at 3:30 I would have never seen them & if they
had not come to the hospital that day & been walking at that time I would have
never know about that reliable ATM they used all the time & I am unsure how
much money or how confident I would have been at the ATM outside Patience bank.
I will say it AGAIN…this is not my errand, but Gods & He is creating the
path ahead of me one step at a time. And I was only gone from the PACU for 30
minutes – got back, changed back into scrubs & at 4:30 I text Salam to come
I find me I had good news & CASH & could get more tomorrow & told
her I thought we could cancel going to Malcoms today & cancel the tricycle
& trailer. She got the message,
canceled the trailer & came to see me at 5;30 in PACU & we went into
her office and I gave her the full update. The plan now is we will got to the
warehouse at 8:30 or so tomorrow morning, after going back to the ATM & buy
everything we can there & they will deliver it to the church. The “open market
items” will be bought by 2 other sisters on Thursday & Salam & I will
go to the “Credit Card” store for a few other items that were priorities on the
list for these moms from more “Sacred Funds” sent to me. By Thursday this whole
“second miracle filled mission” to my Op Smile Mission will be completed…..I could
not have planned or created this whole dynamic even if I tried…it has always
been His plan for His children & I am just the facilitator who says show ,me
the way to where I should go & what You want me to do.
If you have read this entry am pretty sure it may be my longest ever…lots to share & for me to remember. Again it’s 11 pm & I need to get to bed I am truly AMAZED by this day that I was a part of….
No comments:
Post a Comment