When Kaycie McKenzie helped a Ghanaian woman give birth, it was nothing like what she witnessed as a nursing student at Western Michigan University.
‘It was so cool,? the 21-year-old Leonard resident said as she remembered that day. ‘The mother that was giving birth only had an IV and I cut the (umbilical) cord and gave the baby a bath.?
McKenzie considers that moment to stand out the most from her recent trip to the village of Prampram in the country of Ghana on the west coast of Africa.
McKenzie, and five others from the Minnesota-based Global Volunteer program, spent three weeks in May and June at the Prampram health clinic, where they helped many local pregnant women with pre-natal and post-natal care.
McKenzie decided to volunteer in Africa after hearing wonderful stories about her grandmother’s trips, and she was looking to study abroad and compare Africa’s health care practices to those of the United States.
She said the maternity ward was nothing like here in the U.S. and was basically a large waiting room with an exam room and labor room, which consisted of nothing but a cot.
McKenzie remembers the clinic running out of rubber gloves one day and how they had to wear plastic aprons, not cloth, when delivering babies.
‘It reminded me of just stuff left over from WWII that they got,? she said. ‘It was completely the biggest culture shock.?
Through the humid 95 degree weather McKenzie also helped distribute prophylactic malaria medicine to the pregnant women, treated people with high blood pressure, treated one case of tuberculosis and a few scorpion bites.
Although the clinic in the small fishing village is made available to all, McKenzie said it’s very common for local residents to seek out traditional herbal healers in the village for help.
She estimated it costs a Ghanaian woman between $5.50 and $7.50 in U.S. dollars for hospital costs incurred for labor and delivery.
Because Ghana’s primary language is English, McKenzie said there was little or no language barrier between her and the locals.
‘It was harder to speak to the older locals,? she said. ‘We could communicate fairly well with the children who would translate for us.?
The Ghanaian people were very friendly toward McKenzie and her group. She said she never felt unwelcomed.
‘I never felt threatened or unsafe or not wanted there,? she said. ‘They were all very appreciative that we were there helping their community.?
When McKenzie wasn’t hard at work in the maternity ward, she got to spend her free time immersing herself in the Ghanaian culture.
She visted the local market and learned how to barter for goods, took trips to the rainforest, learned how the women traditionally carry their babies on their backs and even witnessed a local festival to ‘cleanse of ghosts.?
The three-week festival began with parades through town to a sacred tree.
McKenzie said hundreds of locals participated in the festival, which also had drumming and ended with individuals running into the ocean to ‘cleanse the town of ghosts.?
McKenzie also got to visit colonial forts along the coastline which were part of the tragic African slave trade.
‘That was pretty overwhelming to see that,? she said.
Throughout her three-week stay in Ghana, McKenzie said she learned a lot about herself.
The trip reassured her that nursing was definitely the career she wanted to pursue.
She said the people of Ghana helped her change the way she looks at her life now.
‘They were these people who had absolutely nothing, there’s poverty, they’re homeless and they’re hungry and they’re relatively healthy,? she said. ‘But, they’re still thankful for friends and family.?
McKenzie said she would ‘definitely? travel to Ghana to volunteer again, but that she would love to travel to other places too.
‘The people are just so wonderful,? she said. ‘I loved it.?