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Photos 2001
Last updated:  Sunday, April 19, 2009

Das Bundesverdeinstkreuz am Bande 25. April 2001
Pastor Eberhard W. Schwantes

Konfirmation 2001

Nicole Koo Tze Mew
Stefan Rinas
Peter Karthaus
Ryan Boyce
Pastor Eberhard W. Schwantes
Pastor Stefan Wolf

Sonntagschule 2001

The Toronto Zoo, Spring 2001

Camp Lutherlyn August 2001

Biblestunde, Camp Lutherlyn, August 2001

DELKINA-Tagung in Edmonton 2001

My name is Yvonne Karthaus and I travelled to Ghana for six weeks in May and June 2001. I was taking an international placement elective course through the nursing faculty at McMaster University, Hamilton. I arranged a placement in Nalerigu, Ghana, West Africa at a Baptist Medical Center through the Southern Baptist Missions. I worked there with midwives in the hospital in maternity and labour and delivery. My eventual goal is to work in obstetrics here in Canada and I've always been interested in having an international experience and learning so many new aspects of nursing and culture.

While I was there I was surprised to find that my accommodations were very 'americanized'. I lived in a prefabricated house with running water, a water filter, a washing machine and flushing toilets. I shared the accommodations with two other volunteers from the United States, who were also there for six weeks.

In the labour and delivery ward I saw about twenty births. I assisted in cutting the umbilical cord, suctioning the babies' mouth and nose, weighing the baby, etc. I was even able to assist the midwives with a few births. The babies average 5 to 6 lbs. They believe they have 'white' babies because their skin is so light when they are born and darkens over the first couple of weeks. Once the babies are big enough to hold their head up, the women carry the babies on their backs, wrapped with a piece of cloth.

I went with the missionaries a number of times into local villages. We sang and danced and then had a bible story told and translated. The Ghanaian people are very spiritual and full of joy for life. The main religions in the area are Christianity and Muslim as well as the traditional beliefs.

I was able to travel quite a bit while I was there with one of the doctors from the hospital who enjoyed taking volunteers to nearby villages (1-2 hour drive). I also went to visit friends from university who were in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso for eight months. It was a six hour drive north and quite an adventure with the Ghanaian transportation system.

I had an incredible experience in Ghana learning about labour and delivery and Ghanaian culture. 

I thank the Martin Luther Evangelical Lutheran Church for supporting me in my international experience.

Ghanian house for one extended family

This is a typical Ghanaian style house. This was one of the biggest in Nalerigu, housing a large extended family. 

The houses in the village are made of mud with straw roofs and cement floors. People live with their extended family and the son brings his wife to live in his parent's house. In Nalerigu there was electricity along the main road and those that could afford it had electricity for lighting. Most people did not have running water and so collected their water from a local well. Their mode of transportation was generally walking with a load of goods on their head,, by bicycle, motorcycle, donkey and cart or local bus.

This is were I worked as a volunteer for 6 weeks in May and June 2001.

The hospital was built in 1947 by Dr. and Mrs. Faile, American Missionaries. The location is in the northern region of Ghana which has no other major health centers in the area, so the Baptist Medical Center provides a vital service to a large number of people. One of the founding couples' sons, David, is now a doctor and runs the Center. There are 20 to 30 missionaries who work on the hospital compound in different roles. This includes a head of pharmacy, communications, doctors, a nurse, and outreach missionaries. Everyone was very welcoming and hospitable in the time I was there.

Most of the hospital staff were Ghanaian: the nurses, the midwives, the laboratory technicians, the medical assistant and the ward aids. Because it is a Christian hospital we had staff devotionals every morning at 7:00 a.m. before the day shift began. We sang songs in Mampruli, the local language, and heard a bible lesson or small sermon. I learned quite a few words and phrases while I was there in Mampruli. I was able to greet people I met on the street and communicate on a basic level with the patients at the hospital who did not speak English.