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Week of March 5: I am now in the Brong Ahafo Region (like a State) and if Sharon were here it would be close to heaven. There was no room in the hotel in Sunyani were it was suggested that I stay and so I was referred to a "Guest House," out of town, which is usually an inexpensive place to stay, without significant accommodations. To my surprise this is a new Guest House,Getham Guest Inn and in English fashion, that has air-condition and food is served in the rooms. It is some distance from the town and it means that when I want to go to town all I need to do is ask the hotel "boy" to walk about 15 minutes to the highway and hail a cab -- which might go past every 1/2 hour. But this will not be a problem since my new driver "George" will be picking me up in the mornings and taking me to the various medical institutions and hospitals until late in the evening and it will be unlikely that I will have any time to do anything else but work.

As you can see, we are out in the country. The "boy," Mohammed Bishiru, is ready to do any errands or tasks I ask and Janet, the cook, studies in a culinary school and works on the side to earn tuition money. Joseph, the manager, is making every effort to make my stay comfortable. George, my driver picks me up at 8:00 in the morning to start our day.

I was initially introduced to Dr. Asare, the Regional Health Service Director of Brong Ahafo, who was also a Rotarian. Although the Rotary Club here in Sunyani has been dissolved he still receives the Rotarian magazine and considers himself a Rotarian at heart. We are going to attempt to bring the club back to life. With the economic hardships it is difficult to justify spending so much money on dues and routine club expenses, even when the desire to serve still burns within. The Regional Health Management Team is pictured above as well as a couple of pictures of Richard, the official Regional Surveillance Officer, who is working together with me to sensitize and provide orientation to hospital staffs of the Region on AFP surveillance. The last picture above depicts the basic health problem in Ghana, as in most of the Sub-Saharan Africa -- The cursed MALARIA. Relatives are attempting to lower the fever of a young girl by bathing her. So far, everyone I've asked has had malaria, and still is plagued with it every several months.

This young girl is just one of the millions of children of the past who became a crawler, because of polio. She was brought to this hospital, which has the only orthopedic doctor in the State of Brong Ahafo, for corrective surgery. The young man standing was one of the many crawlers who recently had his legs surgically straightened and is now happily taking his first steps, after weeks of training. These young girls have also had their surgery and are waiting for their legs to heal so that they can begin their physical therapy and training to walk.

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