(soft music)
(upbeat music)
- We're in Boston right now,
we'll be flying to Portugal.
That will be our next stop befor
(upbeat music)
(plane engine roaring)
We just got to Lisbon, Portugal,
we have about a four hour layove
(upbeat music)
(plane engine roaring)
We made it to Ghana!
(all cheering)
(soft music)
- On our bus ride in though,
I was a little bit shocked
at the living conditions
that we had passed.
- First I would say it was extre
which I expected and very humid.
The city was a lot bigger than I
I don't know why I expected
it to be a lot smaller,
but it was huge.
- I thought the only
surprises really were just
the amount of goats and chickens
that are running around.
- First impressions, very differ
than anything I've experienced.
- I did have some culture shock.
It was far from what I expected
and what I imagined in
my head and even though
I have prepared a little bit,
especially for the clinical aspe
I don't think you can really pre
(dramatic music)
- I'm excited honestly.
I was kind of tired last night.
Got a good sleep.
Woke up to some roosters
crowing this morning.
(rooster crowing)
I'm very excited for what
the week has to hold.
I think that we're gonna get a l
meet some cool people, I
think we have a lot to learn.
(soft music)
- [Shelby] We've definitely
turned the clinic around
it was a bare empty church.
And then I felt like before I kn
seats were filled with patients.
- I think that we're
getting along really well.
We got some PT students.
- Do you think it's
contributing to your back pain?
- [Owen] Pharmacy.
- Have you ever breastfed?
- [Owen] Public health.
- Do they treat you with respect
- Social work, as well as nursin
and it's really just been great
get everyone working together
and the gears are meshing.
- I guess, I just hope
to learn how people here
have become so resilient,
how they get through
some of the things that they're
and maybe bring that back to my
and some of the patients that I
to teach resilience.
- Ah.
(kids cheering)
- Today, we kind of saw it comin
in the clinical a bit
helping each other out.
[Indistinct chatter]
I do believe that throughout the
it's really just gonna become
like a well oiled machine.
(soft music)
(upbeat music)
- [Kids] Hello from Ghana.
- [Narrator] The Ghana Cross
Cultural Health Immersion
Program was born of a chance
meeting in an airport in 1993.
- I had opportunity to travel to
for the first time in my life.
(plane engine roaring)
It was quite an adventurous jour
God was with me.
- [Narrator] Lita McHenry,
a registered nurse
and longtime faculty at the
University of Massachusetts,
Amherst and the Reverend Robert
Andoh, a well known pastor
in Ghana's western region,
struck up a conversation
that led to a long lasting partn
Andoh and McHenry
envisioned an equal exchange
of knowledge and culture that
could benefit both sides.
They worked out a plan to bring
UMass faculty and students
to Ghana, in partnership
with the Ghana Health Service
and the local University of Cape
When McHenry retired in
2008, she looked to former
UMass doctoral student
and mentee Jennifer Morton
to take over administration
of the program.
Morton was born on the
nursing faculty at UNE,
and McHenry was intrigued by UNE
interprofessional approach
to health education
and collaborative care.
Perhaps more important was
the philosophical alignment
between the two women.
McHenry trusted Morton to
continue to lead the program
according to its original vision
- I knew when I became a faculty
that this was something
I wanted to continue
and I wanted to follow
Lita McHenry's legacy
and exposing students to
something so important.
(upbeat music)
- We're hoping to see at
least 50 people today.
We have some of the nurses over
Yesterday, unfortunately,
our blood pressure machines
weren't working but they got
them all up and running now.
They're very excited.
We have our pharmacy students ov
we got some more medication last
which is super exciting.
We have our physical therapists
getting ready to teach some exer
And we have an optometrist up th
And social work, we'll be
doing some exit surveys,
and we also have public health.
We're doing some research, which
really exciting to see the resul
So we're excited for today
and hope we can help a lot of pe
(upbeat music)
- I'm Katie, I'm at the nurse's
here in Ghana, I'm with Owen.
- Hey.
- And well, I'm at the lab stati
so we're testing for malaria,
we're drawing blood sugars,
we're doing urine
analysis, checking to see
how people's kidneys are doing.
Making sure they don't have diab
(speaking in foreign language)
People here, their blood
sugars, blood pressures
seem to run a little bit high.
So we're trying to get an idea o
and keep everything under contro
And if we see some numbers
that we don't like,
we'll send them over to pharmacy
- We're running into a lot of in
and
skin infections,
upper respiratory
infections, lots of anemia.
We're seeing a lot of pain and s
we're just trying to really like
and that way we can stay ahead
of the game a little bit.
We've labeled a lot of things,
prepackaged lots of pain medicat
like Ibuprofen and Tylenol.
- And did they ask you to
follow up at a hospital
or go get more medicine?
- What we do on day three,
once folks are comfortable
with the flow, is we start
interchanging students
in some of the different areas
so they get an experience
of what the different
disciplines have to offer.
For example, a nursing student
may cross train over in physioth
A physiotherapist may
cross train over in intake.
Nursing student may
spend time doing pharmacy
technician work in the pharmacy.
All of these things are
important, as students learn
to really understand what the
roles and responsibilities are
of other health professions, dis
(gentle music)
- I've done some traveling but n
with my nursing skills
that I've learned at UNE.
And Maine is really becoming div
so I think it's kind of importan
that cultural sensitivity
going into my profession.
We've been doing clinic
for about four days now.
And it's been a really
great experience so far.
At first, I was having
a little bit of, I guess
spiritual issues because
I kind of came here
and I wasn't, I didn't
really know what to expect
and from seeing all the
patients and what was going on,
especially little kids
that had some malnutrition.
(baby crying)
I felt like, why do I get
to live the life I live?
I hear you, I think I already di
Ready?
And it was really helpful
to have my teachers
and my colleagues here to
be able to debrief that
'cause it was really a bad
feeling that I was feeling
and then after talking about
it, I felt so much better.
- I think though, what
you really have to do
is come here and just look
at it through the context
of the community, and the
richness of their culture
and how much they know
one another and celebrate
and are just more or less
a very happy population.
And I think those are values
that you can't put a price on.
- Now, even at the halfway point
I already have a completely
different outlook on everything.
- I've definitely grown a
lot in the last four days
and it's crazy to think that
it's only been four days
'cause I feel like so much has h
And it's just really made me
grateful for where I come from
and also grateful for the experi
to be in a different
culture and to be living
amongst these people who are
so beautiful and welcoming.
(upbeat music)
- [Narrator] Ghana, situated
on the Gulf of Guinea
in West Africa, was the first
Sub Saharan African nation
to achieve independence
from colonial rule.
Ghana's 28 million people
comprise several native groups,
and a rich and diverse cultural
Sekondi-Takoradi, a port
city and commercial center
in Ghana's western region is the
third largest metropolitan area.
(soft music)
While clinical work is the prior
the Ghana Immersion Program reco
that people's health is tied
to their culture and community.
Whenever there's free
time, students and faculty
embark on day trips, and
sightseeing excursions,
where they learn more about
Ghanaian history and culture.
(soft music)
- [Colleen] The Elmina castle, I
fostered a sense of self reflect
Also being there and all the his
that it holds is more or less ha
(soft music)
- [Shelby] Something I really en
was seeing the art just
beautiful paintings.
(soft music)
- What did your school day look
- We learn a lot and then there
after the learning, the break fo
and refresh your mind.
- [Monica] I'm so happy to
be here and to meet you all.
Thank you for having us.
- Thank you.
- [Shelby] It was beautiful,
we got to run in the ocean
and take pictures, amazing food.
-I just got soaked by that wave.
(soft music)
- Whoa!
- Yes!
(all celebrating)
- This is insane.
We don't have clinic today so
we're able to sleep in a bit.
We're going to our first
Ghanaian service this morning.
We're very excited and very grat
We all got a traditional Ghanaia
and we were very, very grateful
that we're all given these.
We're gonna be able to sing and
Sit side by side with all
the Ghanaians this morning.
(singing in foreign language)
- [Jennifer] Reverend
Andoh has been getting
dresses and shirts made for all
the female and male students
and faculty and so we attend the
It's a very heartwarming
experience for our students,
faculty, as well as the communit
(singing in foreign language)
(congregation applauding)
(soft music)
- [Narrator] After a week in
Reverend Andoh's home base
of Sekondi, the team headed
out to the rural towns
of Kansawarado and Diabene, to h
health care access to these
more remote communities.
- Welcome.
- Hi, I'm Efua, I'm a
community health worker
and physician assistant
and we're at Kansawarado.
And this is day five.
So we are here to attend to
the, those from the villages.
(men speaking in foreign languag
- [Narrator] The rural
sites are an important
aspect of the partnership.
They allow students to
assess the differences
between patient populations.
For example, patients
in the rural communities
tend to be sicker,
especially in Kansawarado.
And the urban patients in Sekond
tend to have higher
rates of being insured.
- Hey!
Ha!
- [Narrator] The Immersion
Program is built around
the equal exchange of
culture and knowledge.
As director, Jennifer Morton say
our purpose is not to
impose Western healthcare.
Students come to Ghana
to learn and to that end,
the relationships they form with
the Ghanaian partners are invalu
- Denise.
(man speaking in foreign languag
- [Narrator] Working with
members of Reverend Andoh's
congregation, as well
as medical professionals
from the Ghanaian National Healt
and the local Cape Coast Univers
students are guided across
cultural and language barriers.
(lady speaking in foreign langua
And introduced to new perspectiv
on health, medical care,
material wealth, as well
as many practical lessons
on providing care with limited r
- I think it's a win win
situation for both communities.
I'll say, for the students comin
I think I've seen lots of them.
The first time in Africa,
first time in Ghana,
they're meeting different cultur
and what have you and for
the community here in Ghana,
knowing our health system
and its challenges,
I think it's been positive
and it's impacted.
- For the students that
come here, I believe
it's an eye opener to some
of the tropical conditions
probably will never see in the U
And it's an experience that othe
who haven't been here may not ha
- But the edges are all undermin
so it's never going to heal.
- It looks like it's
healing but what he's saying
is the bacteria, like until
that bacteria gets treated
with certain antibiotics,
it continues to undermine
the surrounding tissue and
it won't actually get better.
- So they'll get to learn
a lot from the patients.
And also, it will give
them a different idea
about what health is, the
stories, they're touching storie
about the patient, why
they have that condition,
and what they are doing about it
And the fact that because of
their financial situation,
which has landed, some of
them in such condition.
And when they leave here,
give them a very different
experience, they begin to become
very
connected with their patient.
- This is for your cough.
- [Narrator] Along the way, many
lifelong friendships are made.
- We're staying in pretty close
me and some of the guys,
so we've been hanging out
quite a bit and now they've
showed me around Sekondi a bit
and really got to walk
around, try some local flavor.
Watch a couple football matches.
It's been great, we've really
been getting along well
and just meshing well.
- They've been very great especi
It's as if we've known each
other for a very long time
and it's just two weeks.
(soft music)
(car engine roaring)
- [Narrator] Konsowarado and Dia
were selected as locations
for the rural clinics
in part because of the
Reverend Andoh's long standing
relationships with the Paramount
of the two communities.
- [Nurse] This way.
(men beating drums)
- [Narrator] A highlight of the
is the annual performance
of the Ghanaian dance
and drum troupe Obrempong.
Working in the style of
what is called Gahu music
with six distinct percussion ins
the troupe performs dances assoc
with local tribes and festivals.
- Well, it confirmed my suspicio
that I'm a terrible dancer.
Their performance was awesome.
It was really something
that I've never seen before.
And so being able to experience
and see them in the traditional
garb and it's good music.
- [Narrator] The celebration is
and emotional climax to a
rich and eventful fortnight.
(epic dramatic music)
- Mina sing.
Sing, sing, sing.
(all laughing)
- [Ashley] It was so
beautiful, it was stuck
in my head for like three days.
- Okay, let me do the end part.
♪ And it's reaching
♪ To the highest mountain
♪ And it flows
♪ To the lowest valleys
♪ Oh
♪ The blood that gives me streng
♪ From day to day ♪
♪ It will never lose
♪ It's power
(all cheering)
- I feel like
the love and joy
and laughter that we
all share here together
is something that I
don't experience often,
it is such an amazing community
(soft music)
- Thank you for welcoming
us into your community
and treating us like family.
It's been the best two weeks eve
(all applauding)
- [Ladies] Cheers!
- Everybody here, we wanna say
a very big thank you to all of y
We want to see you back again.
So, that's all, God bless you.
(crowd cheering)
- What a great group, really, it
like we're all family right now.
And it's a great feeling.
And just thank you all
for opening your arms
and taking us in.
(gentle music)
- The last couple weeks have bee
I feel like I've grown
professionally, emotionally,
mentally.
It's been a really great experie
I'm kind of sad to leave but I'm
looking forward to going
home with a new outlook.
- I think the things I'll
remember most here are the
connections I've made between
the community health workers,
the students and the
professionals from Cape Coast.
We've just learned so much from
And honestly, I think we
built really good friendships.
- I have a new outlook on everyt
And I'm excited to make
some new changes in my life
that I've picked up from this ex
so, happy and sad at the same ti
- I've also really gained such
a respect for the healthcare
professions out here and
from what they've been able
to teach us has been immeasurabl
It's a completely different game
with what they have to work with
and I have nothing but gained re
for how they go about their day.
(soft music)
- And it really feels
good to have UNE around,
you know, to the students, teach
I'm also learning from
them, the America culture,
Ghanaian culture, the talk, it's
- We've fallen in love with them
and we wish they will
come back and learn more.
- We want to say we are
indebted to the school
for allowing us to work hand in
with these wonderful
people that come our way
under the leadership of Dr. Jenn
- Our last day in Ghana.
This has been an amazing, humbli
emotional experience for all of
I think we would all say that we
coming out of this changed.
- God bless you, I hope
to see all very soon.
(soft music)
(gentle music)