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    04 June

    Mission accomplished

     
    Our final part of the homeward journey was completed without any hitches and James, Dorothy and I are now trying to get our body clocks back into sync after a very rewarding trip
     
    It was only made possible through the practical and prayerful support of our families and many friends to whom we are truly grateful
     
    Regards and thank you
     
    Tom
     
    Ps - apologies for the occasional spelling mistake which I gather I made in preparing the Blog. There were two reasons for this, firstly I was so excited about what I was writing that I got a bit carried away and secondly, I'm not very good at spelling anyway!
    16:22 | Add a comment | Permalink | Blog it

    Reflections

     
    After an overnight flight from Accra we are at Amsterdam Airport from where we will soon make the last leg of our journey home, Dororthy to Leeds and James and I to Dublin and then back to Lisburn
     
    It seems a long time since we overlooked the Lake at breakfast time yesterday and watched local childeren walk past in the blue and yellow school uniforms we remember so well from last year
     
    Our last day at devotions was led by Dorothy and there was a full turnout of Clinic personnel to say farewell
     
    I don't think we can fully understand the apreciation felt by the Staff at the Clinic for the contribution Seymour Street and friends have made by extending the Clinc and this was evident when James presented a laptop computer to the Pharmacy department kindly donated by Melanie Dowden
     
        
     
    Goodbyes on these occasions are filled with mixed emotions, however  one thing is certain and that is this trip was meant to be
     
    looking back, we didn't get see the Bishop, yet the Hospital has been dedicated and is in use and another one of those babies - a little girl - arrived on Tuesday night
     
    It has been a privilege for James, Dorothy and I on behalf of the 2008 Ghana Team to have been part of the next stage of the development of the work of the Methodist Clinic at Lake Bosumtwe and I don't think any of us will ever realise the impact of this facility on the local area
     
    I'll confirm our final update when we get home and look forward to bringing everyone up to date soon
     
    Regards
     
    Tom
     
     
    05:50 | Add a comment | Permalink | Blog it
    02 June

    Last full day at the Lake

    Today was hands on all the way...from the sun first appeared over the hill this morning until it set in a beautiful red ball in front of us tonight

    Because of a family bereavement the Clinic Driver was unable to bring the new Doctor yesterday so we set off early this morning in the ambulance and collected him from Kumasi

    Back at base it was all hands on deck as the task of moving all the delivery suite items to the new building was completed

    This was preceded by a massive attack on cleaning, scrubbing, washing, mopping and a number of other chores aimed at providing comfort and the appropriate level of hygiene for all patients

                   
     
    Talking about Patients the Clinic saw almost 30 today  and it the late afternoon Matron told us she expected to have three babies delivered either tonight or tomorrow

    One didn't wait and the first baby boy was born in the Hospital just before 6.00pm - who knows what tomorrow will bring

    The atmosphere around here is electric and our sense is that the presence of the Team has been a great encouragement - the only thing missing has been the other Members of the July 2008 Team

    That group will remember Bissmark and Paul - from the Paradise Club - we were were speaking today and they spoke fondly of our time there last year

    We are now off to a meeting with the Clinic Administer and the new Doctor to review progress and in due course we look forward to updating everyone on the details of the trip

    Regards

    Tom


    20:49 | Add a comment | Permalink | Blog it
    01 June

    Girls lead the way

    On the first day  the new Clinic was open two healthy baby girls were safely delivered

    When we got back from Kumasi the proud Mums were waiting for us to take pictures of the new arrivals before setting off home on foot

    They were like little angels - the babies that is - and guess what.... I got to kiss them!

       

    We'd gone to Kumasi to finalize travel arrangements for our homeward journey and also to pick up items which will be needed for some of the practical jobs we are going to undertake tomorrow

    We keep meeting people with whom we had contact last year - which is really nice

    As there are power fluctuations tonight I'll stop now and hope to provide more information tomorrow night

    Regards

    Tom

    21:43 | Add a comment | Read comments (1) | Permalink | Blog it