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