and then I went to Tokoyo

Since the Centre for Plant Medicine does not have certain facilities that we need, Nick, I, and one of the pharmacologist Mr. Fafa traveled to The University of Ghana (The Harvard of Ghana) to do some of our research at the Noguchi Centre.

You may notice that Noguchi does not sound Ghanaian at all, and you may also notice that it sounds Japanese. The Noguchi centre is completely funded by the Japanese government. The short story is that a Japanese man named Noguchi was researching Yellow Fever here, actually contracted it when a monkey in the experiment bit him, and died. They then built the Noguchi research center in his honor.

The center is completely state of the art, and much more high tech than the biology lab I worked in freshman year at U of M. We were doing RNA extraction there. In order to get into the lab, we had to change into some slippers (as to drag no dirt into the room), go through a UV radiation screen (to kill any bacteria), pass our things through a UV radiation chamber, and then change slippers again and put on special lab coats, masks and gloves. The lab room was pressurized, kept at 25 degrees C exactly, and filled with the most high tech lab equiptment. I seriously felt like I was in Tokoyo as all the lab equiptment was Japanese. The only thing reminding me I wasn't was the brilliant Ghanaian researcher Mr. Kofi Boni who assisted us with our work. It took us 9 hours straight from 9 AM to 3 PM, but the whole thing was facinating and amazing and flew by so fast.

Nick and I just realized that we have been here 6 1/2 weeks and only have 4 1/2 left. OMG! I am really going to miss this place and can't imagine how different it is going to be going back.

AO

Why don't we have herbal medicine in the US?

I often bring up to my Ghanaian co-workers that there is not much practice of herbal medicine in the US. They are always puzzled as to why.

While I have some ideas, I want to ask you (my beautiful blog followers) why you think herbal medicine isn't as popular in the United States?

Please comment on this post with your ideas of why. Consider this an honest, open, and safe space to share your thoughts.

America

I'd like everyone to begin this blog entry with a quick "USA! USA!" chant.

I had always heard that the US is a superpower and has a world of influence, but I never truly understood that until coming here. There is so much American influence. For instance, check out my new swag:

Everyone is really big on Obama here, and are quick to remind me and Nick that he came to Ghana last year. Not only is there Obama clothing, but about 50% of the cab drivers have American flags in their vehicles with Obamas face on them. And the most hilarious thing is there is a company that sells a product called Obama Biscuits! They have a red white and blue packaging with Obamas face on them. They don't taste to bad either.

This week at work one of the funniest things happened. So as we approach the beginning of the world cup, many people have been taking breaks from work to talk about who is gonna win, what Ghana's chances are, or in our case remind us of how Ghana beat the US last World Cup. Well the other day Mr. Fafa and Mr. Henry (you can omit the Mr. but i prefer it) the senior investigators in Phytochemistry and Pharmocology at the center decided to go online and look up the rosters of some teams for the world cup. I took a break and joined them. We were looking at different countries and then we stumbled upon the US. We were looking at the roster and then all of a sudden Fafa began humming the US national anthem. Then Henry joined in creating a perfect two part harmony. It was beautiful. I couldn't stop laughing. When I asked them in awe how they knew the song, they simply replied that they liked it. Right after that they began to sing another two part harmony of "My Country tis of Thee". It was too much. The craziest thing was after that we were looking up the German team when they began to hum the German national anthem, which I had learned when I was in German school as a kid. These were the last songs I expected to hear, let alone in two part harmony, while working in Rural Mampong.

Tomorrow is the first game of the world cup, and I can already tell the Centre is going to be crazy considering the game is during work. It seems almost half of the staff has plans to either go home after lunch or not come into work at all because of it. Everyone is pumped and really excited that it is in Africa!

Probably the most exciting news (besides my recovery from a brief food poisoning) is that we just tested out our herb in rats to see if it causes uterine contractions and it worked! It at the higher of the two dosages we did, it was on par with the pharmaceutical drug used in hospitals in the US. Unbeleivable! We still have a road of research ahead of us, but this was very exciting. I'll be writing more soon. Thanks for all the messages y'all. Ma feoo all.

AO

Soccer

So I'm pretty lucky because I speak the Universal language of soccer. It is huge here and it is all that people talk about. Nick and I are both huge soccer fans and people are so suprised that we are Americans and know whats going on in the soccer world.

Ghanains are quick to remind us that Ghana beat the US in the 2006 World Cup 2-1 in group play. They love to tease us about it. Guys at work love bringing it up. I just say, that its the reason I came to Ghana.

Nick and I play soccer all the time here. From our first day in Accra staying at the International students Hostel:



to playing soccer on the beach:



And I play almost everyday after work with guys from work and some local kids. We play against the kids (all of which are like 5 feet tall at the most) and they school us, no jokes. These kids have probably played every day after school for years and are sooooooo good. They play well with eachother and although they are smaller and slower than us they pass around us like its nothing.

Also everyone is gearing up for the world cup. It is getting intense. I'm sure people will be taking off of work/watching the games at work :P

Last weekend some other Abrunis came to visit us in Mampong and we watched the champions league final betweenthe team I grew up watching in Germany, Bayern Munich against Inter Milan an Italian team. Everybody here was against Bayern because they never have any African players. Makes sense. I internally showed my support because everyone at the place we were at was an inter fan.

The funniest thing ever:
My friend, Co-worker, and fellow University of Michigan student Nick Burtch gets called out all the time here because they think he looks like Michael Ballack, the captain of the German national team. Honestly he is getting celebrity treatment. People yell "Ballack!" at him all the time as we pass through markets and stuff. The other day this guy asked to take a picture with him. And last weekend the guy pasted us talking on the phone, stopped and said, "I have to call you back I've just seen Michael Ballack!" and after he hung up he took a picture with us and got Nick's impersonation of Michael Ballacks autograph. We all couldn't stop laughing.

You decide for yourself:


Nick
&
Michael Ballack





















I don't know how true it is, but its hilarious either way.


till next time. Thanks to everyone whose sent me messages. Its great to hear about whats going on with you at home. I miss you all.

Alex

The C.S.R.I.P.M

As I mentioned before, I work at the C.S.R.I.P.M. (Centre for Scientific Research into Plant Medicine). It is the only one of its kind in Ghana.

Myself and Nick, my fellow traveler from U of M are here to work on a project looking for an herb that could be used in the labor process. One of the biggest health disparities between the US and the developing world was the Maternal Mortality= the number of women dying during childbirth. In the US it is 11 per 100,000 while in Ghana it is about 440 per 100,000. In the US we use drugs like pitocin and mitoprostal during childbirth, but these drugs are often too expensive and not widely available to Ghanaians. We are hoping to find an herb that is safe, and truly works to make deliver smoother and reduces bleeding during childbirth. It would be much more available and affordable here. Previous work hints that the herb might be Spondias Mombin.

We just harvested the herb from the tree growing in the garden in the back of the center, and we begin our experiment next week.

Some pictures of the center:

Samples of all their plants are dried, pressed, and made into samples like this to be placed in the archives of the hebarium.



Some products manufactured by the center. These are sold in their clinic after they have been tested to see if they work efficiently, toxicity levels, and appropriate dosages. They are not tinkered with, all these products are 100% plant extracts.

This is the factory where all the plant extracts are manufactured.
But I'm in Ghana!?!?! A clip from the Ghanaian newspaper.

AO

TIA its Hot Here!

A quick update:

Dear parental units: I am alive and well.

We just arrived at the Centre for plant medicine where we will begin our research project, in the rural town of Mampong. I've never seen anything like the Center before in my life. They have gardens/farms where the plants are grown, laboratories where the medicines are researched and prepared, and a clinic where local people can come to receive treatment for things like malaria, typhoid, joint pains, and many other things. The center was started by a Ghanaian man who traveled to China to be trained in Herbal medicine. He then toured Ghana gathering up various medicinal practices of the traditional healers around the country, which he then began to research scientifically in his laboratory which is now the Centre. Its truly a mix of traditional Ghanaian medicine and Western science. The medicines are very affordable, which is really great. It should be a very exciting experience and I am lucky to be apart of it.

More to come....

AO