Mallam-Kaneshi-HoeHoe-Wli = Stops on the Ride to the Agumatsa Waterfalls in the Volta Region

On Friday we they arranged to have the nurse come to the school to do a physical examination on the students in the older grades. She would inspect their eyes for anemia (iron deficiency in their diet) by seeing how red the conjunctiva and asked them if they could see the board in class and hear the teacher to check their vision and hearing. She would then inspect their tongue, scalp, fingernails and body for general hygiene. We wrote down general information about each student as well as recommendations for doctor visits so that the school could send home a notice to the parents. Before this the nurse had never kept an individual record of the students. By the time we leave we hope to have a record for each of the students as well as a method for future medical data collection which will be necessary when the health clinic is finally up and running.

We decided to travel to the Volta region, to Wli, for the weekend which is known for its famous waterfalls. The five and a half hour tro tro ride there was less than comfortable and when we arrived at the lodge we were staying at we were greeted by two large spiders and a gecko in our room. Aside from the friendly creatures, the lodge was quite nice and run by this cute German couple. The food was delicious and in the morning after breakfast we got a tour guide to take us to the upper waterfalls which was about a 350 m hike. The falls were beautiful and although they don’t really compare in stature to Iguazu’s Devil’s Throat in Argentina it was still a great afternoon of hiking. After we made it back down to the village our tour guide, Anthony, took us to his family’s dwelling (in the words of Jeff) and had his brother get us a coconut right from the tree. I never knew this but there are apparently two different types of coconuts. The dark, harder ones (like the ones you see in the US) are the ones that we buy with our corn on the street. The other kind you find even more frequently on the street but people usually drink the coconut juice inside and eat the shell, which is much softer than the darker coconuts.

It was only when we returned to the Waterfall Lodge that I was able to use the house phone and get in touch with my family to hear the news of Grandma Bernice. I want to take this opportunity to thank Lauren and Jeff for their complete support throughout the night and the adventurous ride back to Accra and the airport to somehow manage to get me home to NY and to my family.