It's Togo Time!

How in the world am I going to fit this much luggage into just 3 suitcases?! This was my second thought after seeing how many donations the amazing L+D nurses at the Foothills Hospital had gathered for my upcoming trip to Togo (West Africa.)  (My first thought was "this is amazing!") I was initially told to expect just one small box, but somehow like the parable of Jesus and the fish and bread, the donations seemed to have mysteriously multiplied. I was also a bit concerned as to how to get all of these down to my vehicle in a parkade at the far end of the gigantic FMC complex.

FMC L+D team! I am in pink and Kham, in purple to my right, was the donation mastermind extraordinaire!

However, if you have any nurses in your life, you know they are resourceful and smart.





So they suggested I go get my car and park in the loading zone while they loaded the bags onto a few carts and brought them down to me. Good thing I had my parents' SUV or I might not have had trunk space!





















Back at home, in my usual last minute fashion, I was in a scramble to pack the night before I left. In the end, I couldn't fit everything into 3 suitcases, but managed to do it in 3 suitcases and a box. Even that was a stretch; I needed to sit/stand/jump on the suitcases to get all the air out so I could cram all those cute little baby hats and blankets in!

Here is me feeling heroic while my dad does the real work of trying to close the suitcase.

To back up a bit, for those unaware, I am heading off to Togo to volunteer with Samaritan's Purse for about 5 weeks. I'll be in the town of Mango (I am hoping it is named that for a reason! My favourite tropical fruit!) Mango is in northern Togo, which is in West Africa.

I'll be filling in for the local OB/GYN while she is away. As a medical student I did an exchange to Rwanda, and as a resident I went to Uganda, but this will be my first time working overseas as "real doctor". I'm not exactly sure what to expect.

The Hospital of Hope (https://hohmango.org)is a permanent 65 bed facility open since 2015; it serves primarily local Togolese, but apparently people come from as far away as parts of Burkina Faso, Benin, Nigeria, and Niger. There are 140 Togolese staff and 40 expats who work there. The expats are a mix of long term career missionaries and shorter term volunteers.

Little did I know, my volunteering would be starting a bit earlier than anticipated...on the flight from Paris to Lome (Togo's capital), sure enough there was an overhead call for a doctor on board to identify themselves. I was pretty exhausted as I'd already been travelling for over 24 hours by this point, and as an OB/GYN, unless someone is having a baby, I feel like my skills are pretty limited. So I waited a few minutes then grabbed the flight attendant as she went by, but unfortunately (or fortunately, as I later decided!) no one else had volunteered yet. 

Luckily it was a pretty straightforward case; someone with a mild allergic reaction that just needed some anti-histamines. However, in true French fashion, the bureaucracy required for them to open the medical kit for me was impressive; I had to show them a copy of my Canadian medical license (which I never travel with normally, I only had it because I'm doing medical work in Togo). But we don't really get nice laminated copies of our medical licenses anymore, so I just had a printout of a pdf. 

Well! Didn't that cause a rigamarole! I was glad this patient wasn't having a heart attack because it took about 20 minutes for them to get approval from the captain, discuss among themselves, take a copy, etc. etc. etc. to determine that yes, perhaps I am actually a doctor and should be allowed to help this woman! (Who would carry around a fake medical license?!) 

Unlike the last time I was asked to provide medical assistance on an overseas flight which was pretty anxiety-inducing for me (decreased level of consciousness in an old man; I kept checking on him every half hour or so to make sure he was still alive and I was stressed the entire flight), this was easy, and, also unlike the last flight, I got a nice little treat for helping out! (Yay Air France! Boo Air Canada!) Yup, you guessed it, I got to ride the rest of the way in business class! Meal designed by a 3 star Michelin chef? Yes please! 

Business class flight for giving someone an antihistamine tablet? Sounds good to me!

Stay tuned for my trip up to Mango and my first impressions of life here. I'll try to keep up to date if I can. And please feel free to add comments or email me a hello!