Nicknames

So I haven’t really taken the time to really talk about the people that I am on this trip with. Or any of the Crystal or St. Thomas clinic staff. I would be having near the time of my life without all of them. 

There are 10 of us from BYU including Dr. Page, the director of the Global Health Internships and a public health professor. Other than him there is Rachel, Alyssa, Annie, Mary Ellen, Marissa Daniel, Gavin, Austin and myself. Marissa loves nicknames and so she insisted on picking nicknames for all of us. Rachel (Ray, or Richy as John calls her) is just a ball of sunshine haha. She was a cheerleader in high school and hates being ripped off. Out of all of us I would say that she gets the most upset over the cost of our hotel, but she's great. Alyssa is a little quieter but very smart. Her and Rachel are roommates and I have probably spent the least amount of time with them just because I haven’t been on the same shifts as them. Annie (Ace was Marissa’s nickname but it hasn't really stuck, still working on one) is from Seattle, she is Chinese but doesn’t speak the language. Super nice girl, hard working and smart. She is on a research team with Mary Ellen and myself. Annie has celiac’s disease so she cant eat gluten. Which has proven to be very difficult here! I feel bad for her because almost everywhere we go to eat she has to decline something or try and break through the language barrier to ask if they have anything different. She can eat rice though, and there is no shortage of that here! Mary Ellen (Mare, or Auntie Mary as all the Ghanians call her) is one of the nicest girls I’ve met. She can socialize with a rock if she wanted to. People are drawn to her because of her demeanour and also her height haha. She is 6 feet tall so not super tall but that’s taller than most men here in Ghana. Mary Ellen and I had a public health class together last semester, Environmental Health so I feel as though I know her the best. Marissa (or Riss) is the life of the party. She brings excitement to the group and there is never a dull moment when she is around. Her and Mary Ellen are roommates and those two are now the best of friends. Marissa is Peruvian but has lived in California her whole life. Daniel (or “D”) is just a great guy. I don't know how else to explain him, he's just one of those guys that you love because they are just…great! He is part of BYU mens chorus and served his mission in Mexico about a year and a half ago. Gavin (Vinny is his nickname) is by far the quietest of the bunch. He seems quite independent which isn’t a bad thing but sometimes we lose him because he will wander off randomly haha. It’s happened at the mall, church, outreaches and everywhere in between. He always turns up though so we are never worried when we don't know where he is. He served his mission in Paris, France and only has been home about 2 months. He was ecstatic when he found a number of french speakers at church. Most were missionaries or investigators. He stayed after church the other day to teach in french with the missionaries. And oh man does he sweat! I’ve not seem him dry once this trip. He has a big blonde fro too, just like the one I used to have in high school. Good kid, I like him. Then there is Austin (we haven’t figured out a nickname yet) he’s from Utah and is my roommate. A great guy, I love him, I couldn’t have asked for a better roommate. We have some pretty good laughs. He is a type I diabetic and has been since childhood. It has been incredibly interesting to live with a diabetic. I have learned a ton from watching him and asking him questions. I have watched him do everything from check his blood glucose, which I have done a bunch with BYU EMS, to refill and change his insulin pump to giving himself the occasional injection. He said he would let me inject him next time so I am looking forward to that! I guess I should mention my nickname haha. They call me Scoobs because I am really good at impressions they have come to find out and Scooby-Do was one of the first that I did. But thats the BYU crew! They are awesome and lots of fun. I am the oldest one of the group which seems a little weird sometimes but I am used to being the older one. I have always hung out with people younger than me. 

There are some other volunteers that I have met and worked with. Mariana was here for our first week and then went back to Australia. She is a recently graduated medical student and is interested in Ophthalmology. There is Richard from London who is here with us until June who is also a recently graduated med student interested in Ophthalmology. Jerry is the other Canadian from Montreal. He’s a funny guy. He seems pretty serious a lot of the times and we are trying to break his shell a bit while we are on an overnight outreach with him. I like him. Darren and Tia Hill and their 3 kids, Grayson, Eva, and Lila are awesome! They just left but I was able to work with Darren my first week. He is going into his last year of medical school in the states. They came out here with their whole family for 1 month! He is the only Unite For Sight volunteer so his wife entertains the kids while he is out on outreaches or in the clinic every day. She is a champ! I loved their little family and was beyond impressed with their decision to come out here together. 

Us with the Hills on Sunday. Front from left to right: Grayson, Tia, Lila, Aiva, Darren, Rachel, Merissa, Alyssa, Annie. Back row: Gavin, me, Mary Ellen, then Daniel and Austin in the very back. 

The Crystal crew…

My man John! 

Ernest is the main Optometrist but he’s also one of the youngest. He is hilarious! He loves to sing songs in the van and always makes the outreaches not only go by faster because he sees the most patients but also fun. Then there is Dennis, the other Optometrist. Dennis is a great guy but he does like to take his time and a lot of breaks haha. He sees probably less than half the patients that Ernest gets through in a day. One day we were in the Central region and Dennis sits down at the table for examinations and says to Austin “(sigh) I do not want to work today.” I think he took about 4 breaks within the first hour and a half haha. But don’t get me wrong I like Dennis he can be pretty funny. John is one of the drivers and he usually runs the dispensing table and translating. He speaks at least 4 different African languages so he comes in handy. I love John, I think he is my favourite. He loves to joke around and flirt with all the girls. He’s 41, married and has 3 kids. Mary Ellen is his favourite person in our group, he gets so excited when he sees her it funny. He was the one that drove us to Cape Coast. One day I let him borrow my pen, my nice Zebra F-701, and afterwards he says “Court…I really love this pen! When you leave I want this pen.” I told him that if he can go the whole 6 weeks without crashing the van he can have my pen. Lastly there is Bismarck, or BB, he is another driver. I believe he is the youngest of the bunch but like John he flirts with everyone. Most of the time he is is on his tablet but he is pretty chill. 

Ernest is the one in the middle. BB is in the back holding the flower of Ernest's head and you cant see him but Dennis is holding the banana. And of course Austin is the white guy. Darren has his back to us.

The St. Thomas crew…

Ema is the Optometrist and I still don’t know how much English he knows haha. There will be times where you will be talking to him and when you wait for a response all you get is a smile and a nod. But as I have spent more time with him I’ve been able to tell more when he doesn’t understand. Him and Seth, the driver, love fufu. It’s their favourite food. They have it every night. I have had it twice with them, this last time was better than the first. I will explain what fufu is in another post. Seth is a super nice guy, he is tall and skinny and I always see him in a dress shirt, slacks and dress shoes. When he drives he doesn’t try and avoid the pot holes as much as John does and sometimes I wonder how the van has survived this long without blowing a tire or the suspension. Arnold is the last of the St. Thomas crew. He’s a good guy, I like him. He has a competitive side to him and so we end up doing arm wrestles or endless games of chess on the computer etc. He loves it when I play music on my phone. He heard one Taylor Swift song and immediately fell in love with her. When I switched to another artist he as asked “can you go back to Swift? I like her.” He likes to joke around a bit as well. St. Thomas is much more lax than Crystal is, part of that is because they see less than half the amount of patients so they have more time. They never seem like they are in a rush, but that is the nature of every Ghanian. 

Dr. Ema, Mary Ellen and myself eating fufu in the Eastern region after an outreach. Ema loves his fufu haha.