I’m Daniëlle van Gastel and I was at the end of my fifth year medicine study when I went to Ghana for my last internship of choice. After this I would start my GEZP/WESP.
At October 22th 2015 I left to Ghana alone. TAP Portugal was my airline, so I arrived at 3.00 PM, which was very nice because it was still light at that time. A taxi picked me up and dropped me at the hostel, all arranged by MUSTANGH. After some first experiences in Accra, I took the bus to Tamale and the next day the hospital car and a huge welcoming committee picked me up. Sieneke, Pearl and Inge where already there. All excited, we took the road to the little village, or officially it’s a city, Damongo. For me it was very nice that there were already other students, so I didn’t have to find out everything on my own. With the other Dutch students, we definitely participated to the Ghanaian society; Party’s and watching television at Dr. Tony’s house, party’s at our house, party’s in Tamale, visiting the market together, sporting with the whole hospitalstaff on Saturdays and more.
In weekends we also went to Tamale very oft, for example to go shopping and to eat pizzas. We also had 2 motorcycles to go to Mole national Park, relax at the swimming pool, spot some elephants, then a baboon stole our food and where we ready to go home.
In the hospital, it was not really clear that I wasn’t a GEZP-student. For me this wasn’t a problem, but I would not recommend this internship if you haven’t complete all your regular internships yet. After four weeks of child ward, I’ve done gynecology for another six weeks. I liked this a lot. I also liked the operating rooms, because you have a lot of responsibilities there and it’s really possible to do a lot by yourself.
I liked almost all the food, so I was never hungry! The fruit is very sweet but unfortunately there’s not many choice in vegetables and meat. Once I got a cock as a gift for donating my blood to a little child. He made a lot of noise so we decided to eat him. RIP. Again enjoying the differences in culture, I couldn’t imagine getting a cock in the Netherlands every time when you donate some blood. In short, I’ve had a very nice time and I’ve learned a lot. I look back to this internship with joy.
Read more: Bente van der Meijden: WESP