Today Emily and I went to Deseret Hospital located on the outskirts of Accra. It was started by Dr. Kissi, the brother of Stephen Abu. Dr. Kissi is a general surgeon who received his education and training in the UK. It was there that he learned about the Church, which he then brought back to Ghana to share with Brother Abu.
The hospital was very nice. It was organized and clean, but kind of smaller. When we arrived, Dr. Kissi's daughter greeted us and told us she had a surprise. She brought us back behind the dispensary (aka the pharmacy) and laying in a bassinet on the floor was the smallest, most precious, beautiful baby I had ever seen, sleeping like an angel. She told us that they arrived at the hospital yesterday morning and found the baby all wrapped up on the door step. Someone must have dropped her off during the night. The baby couldn't have been older than 4 or 5 weeks. She was a tiny little thing; So sweet with the curliest, softest black hair you've very seen. She was so quiet. She just stared at us with her big black eyes.
Finally, we decided she needed a name. As we discussed potentials and debated over what would be most appropriate, we came to two conclusions. We liked Esther, because she had to be strong and stand tall on her own, just like Esther in the Bible. And we liked Grace, because it was by the grace of God that she fell into our hands. Emily quickly exclaimed, "Esther Grace!" It was perfect. We all agreed our little Esther Grace was a little slice of heaven.
After spending some time with Esther Grace, Emily and I were pulled into mother-baby. We then proceeded to weigh babies for the next three hours. It was a little crazy!
In Ghana they do it a little differently than we do in the U.S. Instead of setting individual appointments for well-baby check-ups, they set aside a certain day of the month when all of the mothers and their babies come to get weighed and immunized. It is quite a long process and involves a lot of patience and waiting on the mother's part, but when it's done, it's done And you don't have to worry about it until the next month.
One thing I found kind of interesting was that they are really pushing for more father involvement in the child's care. In fact, they record every time a father comes to the well-baby check-up just to see how much involvement they have. This is ironic because in the U.S. we were taught that if a dad comes to the child's doctors appointments, abuse can be suspected (kind of the complete opposite of what the Ghanaians believe).
I think my favorite part of the day, though, was this morning when all of the mother's joined together in song and prayer. They sang this song about The wonderful Lord all in unison, super loud, with some "Alleluias" and "Amens" thrown in there. It was super cool! The entire courtyard was filled with their voices and clapping. I had never heard or experienced anything like it before. I loved it!
The hospital was very nice. It was organized and clean, but kind of smaller. When we arrived, Dr. Kissi's daughter greeted us and told us she had a surprise. She brought us back behind the dispensary (aka the pharmacy) and laying in a bassinet on the floor was the smallest, most precious, beautiful baby I had ever seen, sleeping like an angel. She told us that they arrived at the hospital yesterday morning and found the baby all wrapped up on the door step. Someone must have dropped her off during the night. The baby couldn't have been older than 4 or 5 weeks. She was a tiny little thing; So sweet with the curliest, softest black hair you've very seen. She was so quiet. She just stared at us with her big black eyes.
Finally, we decided she needed a name. As we discussed potentials and debated over what would be most appropriate, we came to two conclusions. We liked Esther, because she had to be strong and stand tall on her own, just like Esther in the Bible. And we liked Grace, because it was by the grace of God that she fell into our hands. Emily quickly exclaimed, "Esther Grace!" It was perfect. We all agreed our little Esther Grace was a little slice of heaven.
 |
| Esther Grace |
After spending some time with Esther Grace, Emily and I were pulled into mother-baby. We then proceeded to weigh babies for the next three hours. It was a little crazy!
In Ghana they do it a little differently than we do in the U.S. Instead of setting individual appointments for well-baby check-ups, they set aside a certain day of the month when all of the mothers and their babies come to get weighed and immunized. It is quite a long process and involves a lot of patience and waiting on the mother's part, but when it's done, it's done And you don't have to worry about it until the next month.
One thing I found kind of interesting was that they are really pushing for more father involvement in the child's care. In fact, they record every time a father comes to the well-baby check-up just to see how much involvement they have. This is ironic because in the U.S. we were taught that if a dad comes to the child's doctors appointments, abuse can be suspected (kind of the complete opposite of what the Ghanaians believe).
I think my favorite part of the day, though, was this morning when all of the mother's joined together in song and prayer. They sang this song about The wonderful Lord all in unison, super loud, with some "Alleluias" and "Amens" thrown in there. It was super cool! The entire courtyard was filled with their voices and clapping. I had never heard or experienced anything like it before. I loved it! 
No comments:
Post a Comment