May 27th 2009

My apologies for the lagging blog posts. There is no internet in Sirigu or the surrounding villages, and circumstances over the past week have prevented me from accessing the internet café in Bolga.

The other four students arrived late last night by the STC bus from Accra. Kate, our designated documentarian, will hopefully do a better job of keeping up with the blog. She’ll take it from here. For now, I’ll relax in my hotel room and catch up on some Steinbeck. Thank you for reading.

-John Yatsko

May 26th 2009

Dr. Denham, our chapter advisor, visited me this morning at my bedside. He flew from Accra to the north on the 6am flight. I was in good care before he arrived, but it’s still reassuring to have a friend nearby.

I can now join him in the “Triple Plus Club”. He knows what I’m going through because he also had Malaria(+++ ) during an EWB trip. Most cases of malaria are categorized as (+), which is the lowest concentration in the blood. (++) is severe. (+++) means you need to get to a hospital quickly.

Malaria does not cause excruciating pain as some might think. It’s more of a sustained discomfort, an inescapable agony. I was fortunate to receive medical attention as quickly as I did. Once they take the fever down, the condition becomes much more tolerable.

I already feel much better than I did yesterday (I should. My blood is half Quinine). I was released this evening and moved across the street to the Sand Garden Hotel. I will stay for at least two nights before I go north again. They gave me another set of medications and a checkup date next week.

It is difficult to imagine what someone from Yua would have done in a similar situation. Most people have no access to phones or vehicles, much less the money to pay for treatment. Even the ones who could make it to the clinic in Yua would not receive adequate medical treatment. They don’t even have a ward to admit sick patients. The extra room freed up by the nurses quarters will help, but it’s clear that further work is required to meet the need of the 4000 people in and around Yua.

-John Yatsko

May 25th 2009

I woke up this morning feeling good as new. I took my usual breakfast and headed to the site with Francis. When we arrived, I began to feel a bit queasy. I figured it was probably just the malaria medication getting to me. I put down some bottled water and started measuring rebar for the column bases.

The queasy sensation quickly worsened until I had to dash for the nearest tree. I thought it might have been spoiled eggs for breakfast. So I drank some more water and went back to my work. After the second time, I decided I needed to go back to Bolga. I tried to quickly mark out the measurements on the rebar before I left, but Pok snatched it from my hands and said “John, you have to go to hospital.”

I hit a big wall after that. I was perspiring heavily, blown both ways. I had to stop the Safari Wagon at least five times on the way to Bolga. My breakfast was gone, and then some.

The doctor did a quick blood test and hooked me up to an IV. It was a relapse of the malaria. I will stay the night in the hospital this time.

-John Yatsko