Children: More than just shorter versions of real people

Africa fun fact #3: Beards itch WAY more in Africa than they do in America.




And yet again, this is Benton... today's heat-exhaustion-fueled ramblings are about what is undeniably the cutest aspect of our trip here (besides the baby goats roaming the streets): the children we get to work with!!

So for those of you who don't know me (or who just don't know me very well), I'm going into the field of surgery. But for the longest time, my career choice was a constant tug-of-war between the fields of general surgery and pediatrics (specifically pediatric oncology). And, frankly, while I love surgery, I still have moments when I wonder if I made the right choice. Let's just say that this month definitely isn't helping to assuage my doubts.

So I guess I should explain what exactly our role is here with the kids. We operate primarily out of a school in a town called Mallam that has kids from ages 1 to 16... our main job is to run the school clinic here and to be around for any emergency situations (of which there have actually been a few... but we'll talk about those later). But, with the exception of a few minor cases of headache or scraped knees, our days at the school are relatively bereft of medical excitement. We have, however, worked out a nice triage system of which patients go to which of us... any kid with a fever goes to my friend Brown Bear, and any kid with a trauma gets his ABC's done by me. God bless you, Parkland... your training is helping to save the world.

Now, don't get me wrong... we've kept mighty busy during our stay here. As we've said, we spend time at the local Police hospital and at community clinics and, just recently, a local orphanage in Accra. But, while the thrill of actually making a difference in a community does make these excursions well worth it, there's nothing like hanging out at the school and seeing the looks on these kid's faces when we walk by their rooms. In fact, this is one of my favorite stories... so in the local dialect here in Ghana, the word you hear a lot out of people's mouths when we walk down the street is "Obroni". Roughly translated, it means "white guy"... kinda like "gringo", I think. So, for the time being, I've pretty much adopted this as my African moniker and try to wear it proudly wherever I go. And, while the older kids call me "Doctor" or "Ben" or some combination of the two, the REALLY little ones (like the ones who are eye-level with my kneecaps) just call me Obroni. So yesterday, I was walking by their classroom, and I stopped by the window and waved at them. Within a matter of about 15 seconds, the entire class had burst into an impromptu chant of "Obroni has come!" over and over again. And, for those of you music-types who can appreciate this, I took the liberty of writing it out to give you an idea of the cadence:




I'm currently in the process of securing the publishing rights, so don't even think about it.







So while it sounds like the majority of our day is spent basking in the adoration of 4-year-olds, we actually do a bit more than that. When we're not treating medical issues, the headmistress of the school here has us going into classes and teaching, mainly on science and healthcare issues like hygiene or a balanced diet or stuff like that. And, to be honest, I almost enjoy that part a lot more than the actual medical work we're doing. The kids here are really eager to listen to us and to learn, and I've always been really passionate about having teaching as a huge part of my life, and I really do love doing it. So like yesterday, when I gave a big lecture to the 3rd graders on first aid and sanitation and stuff, one of them came up to me during recess afterwards and showed me an injury he had on his shin from a week ago. It didn't really require any medical attention, but when I asked him what the first thing we do for a cut is, and he and his friends all said "Clean it!" like we'd talked about in class, it... was... awesome. That's the exact reason why I love teaching.... I've never had anyone make as much of a difference in my life (other than my parents) as my teachers did. Teachers can change the world one kid at a time, man. I love it.

But in any case, I digress. Sufficed to say, the kids are fantastic, and we're falling in love with every one of them. Here's a few pictures that I'm a fan of:
































If you only knew how many high-fives, thumbs-ups, and wet willies we've given (ok, maybe not the wet willies... yet), you'd be amazed at how much a human hand can withstand. And, against all my instincts, I've been successful in avoiding the temptation to create some weird phrase and try to pass it off as what all the cool Americans are saying (my leading contender was to say goodbye as "Smoke 'em and joke 'em, cheesenugget!"). But there's still plenty of time.

Also, before I sign off, Farhan and I found a few famous faces at L&A Memorial Academy that we thought you'd get a kick out of. First off, fresh from his critically-acclaimed role on "Private Practice", Mr. Taye Diggs:



















Also, we have a celebrity from years past... you might recall him as "Nicky" from the last few seasons of "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air":



















Now, I'll just tell you that I disagree with one of these resemblances... 10 points if you can figure out which one!

So more more blogs to come as our last week approaches. But I'll leave you with my favorite picture of my trip so far... little Stella. Peace out!