I Bless The Rains Down In Africa...Again

Some of you might have noticed that I haven't posted for a while. Did you call? Did you write? Did you check to see if i was still alive?

Sorry...just the Jewish mother in me coming out. I'm sure you all knew that the hiatus was justified, and you simply decided that my next missive would be well worth the wait. And I certainly hope to rise to your expectations.

Many things have indeed been happening. Doctor Dolly is getting married in a few months, and you can imagine the turmoil joy that has brought to the Dalai household. In the midst of plans for that amazing(ly expensive) event (JUST KIDDING, DOLLY!!) I received a promotion to the Management team of RAD-AID, which has taken up a great deal of time. Fortunately, this came with a tripling of my salary from my favorite NGO...I went from $0 to $0, but the satisfaction derived from being a part of this is priceless.

And yes, I've been back in Ghana for the past week on another RAD-AID trip to Korle Bu Teaching Hospital in Accra. As I noted upon last year's expedition to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, you just can't be in Africa without thinking of Toto's song by the same name, and I must again present both the original and a very moving chorale version:

OK, time for business.


I have been delivering lectures to staff, residents, and anyone else we can gather. I managed to hit the ground running in that regard with an introductory talk about Nuclear Medicine to the Internal Medicine Department. Which occurred at 8AM sharp the day after I arrived in Accra (at 8PM but who's counting...) Despite some computer glitches (when connected to the projector, my borrowed laptop tried to go into Picture in Picture mode or something like that), the talk seemed to be well-received and there were many good questions asked.

We were able to meet with some of the radiologists and with Dr. Awo, the Nuclear Medicine physician:

My main duty here at Korle Bu, beyond boring the staff with Nuclear Medicine lectures, is to help pave the way for a RIS to mate with the PACS. There will be many discussions in that regard as we progress, but the principals here are pleased with the way we are approaching this project.

I have been able to travel a bit, seeing Accra last Saturday and going back to Cape Coast Castle and the Kakum Canopy walk on Sunday. I'm not going to post all 300+ pics, but here are a few highlights. I have to note that wherever we went, little children tagged after me, and usually not the ladies. I'm thinking they saw the old white guy with the white beard and figured I was Santa Claus. Ho, Ho Ho! Christmas in March in Ghana! Except it turns out that there is no Santa tradition here. Oh, well....

I've got another week to go, with a trip to Kumasi and a surprise!

I should note that I don't speak even the slightest bit of Twi, the more common of over 70 dialects in this region...I tried last time, and after getting laughed at, I decided to stick to English. It IS the official language of Ghana, after all!

But for now, I bid you Maadwo, a very good evening!