Hey- Well we came back to Kumasi today because we had a couple more errands to run that we didn't get done with before. For those of you who are curious and do not know yet my research topic is on malaria treatment practices in a rural area of the Ashanti region of Ghana. In the last few years things have changed dramatically in the world (and especially western Africa) in the treatment of malaria. The parasite has developed resistance to common treatment methods and new treatments have been needed. My goal is to look at what the Ghanaian government has done in recent years to change their previous policies and impliment more effective treatments. I'm looking at what the health care providers are using, why they're using it and the perceived effectiveness of the treatments. My data-collecting includes interviews, listening to consultations, reading previous (recent) works done about this subject and other things as they come up. I've come to realize that the area I am in is pretty much the perfect setting because about 70% of the patients that are seen have malaria. I've also been able to see a variety of other interesting and painful ailments including serious cases of gangrene, typhoid, huge abcesses, and some other things. I am basically allowed (and encouraged) to do whatever I want. It's a really interesting mix of medicine and cultural exploration because the two are inseperable here. The doctors are very open, but the language has proved to be a huge barrier (one that is really difficult to overcome) but I'm still working on it. So that's what I'm doing until early December!