Dear family and friends,

First to all of you a happy new year.  My new year has started with a the project in Ghana. 4th January I left for Accra. There I spent the night to fly to Bolgatanga early next morning. But that flight was cancelled, the next one 2 hours later so I decide to stay at the airport. This is the local airport, only a coca-cola automat, in the tent in front of the check-in.

waiting area airport Accra

For a few hours OK, but than the next flight was delayed, so I spent hours there and finished reading my book. Also the consequence was that I could not visit the clinic in Tamale, where they also do cervical cancer screening. But before dark I arrived in Bolga. So nice to come back to the same place. On the road these typical African pictures: a colourful woman with a baby on her back on a motor cycle, children playing with bottles, women walking with water on the head, the beautiful baobab trees, etc.

That same evening I met with John gain, the head of the screening project.  He had bad news, there was a leakage in the gascylinder we have to use for the freezing. It has been quite a project to get that cylinder here, he kept it in his house until the evening before my arrival. Than he moved it to the clinic with a taxi. Apparently the taxi driver did something wrong(?) and the handle broke off. He has ordered a new one, which has to come from Kumasi. This was of course a problem I had foreseen, but not on the first day.

Half a year ago I went to teach for the screening of the cervical cancer. With some subsidy I bought a cryo- instrument for freezing the cervix, so that they can do the see and treat procedure. And that is what I am going to train the coming two weeks. From the 20 midwifes before, 5 are getting this second training. They have seen almost 1000 women the past months and the positive tested ones will return in these weeks. The first two days of theory have past now. As soon as the new cylinder arrives, we hope tomorrow, we will start. Tomorrow morning I am off and will go to the market with one of the midwifes. This time of the year is very dusty and dry, not so green as in july.

But also it is cooler, this morning I had a nice walk behind the hotel, it was really fresh. People here find it cold!  In the morning 20 , at midday almost 30 degrees! 

with John waiting for the taxi

John has started a own clinic in the outskirts of Bolgatanga. He has refurbished it, has done a lot the past months. I had told him last time to put signs on the road, so that people can easily find the place. They were not here yet. Aftre I commented on that he asked a local guy to paint the name of the clinic on the wall : Mabia HC, cervical screening. This was the result. The guy seemed to be drunk and was immediately fired

the drunk painters