Internship in a military hospital

We got the chance to take a look in a Ghanaian military hospital in Accra thanks to a very good friend of Rachidatou's father. He is the head nurse in the hospital and was very helpful in aranging everything we needed for the internship before we came to Ghana! He was also very helpful during our time in the hospital. The 37 Military Hospital is a big hospital which counts around 400 beds. The organisational culture is very hierarchical and strict. Even though we already got permission for the internship when we were in the Netherlands it still took us ages to get the official permission stamp from the highest officer. Slow slow slow that’s how the African go! 

Finally, after the permission process was done we interviewed different departments. The process to get an appointment with any department was very cumbersome. We were being shuttled here from pillar to post, but at the end it all worked out! It just takes some time, like my Dad always said: The Europeans got the watches and the Africans got the time! It really is true. Another striking aspect of the organisational culture is the way they speak; people talk very quietly to each other. Sometimes we got the feeling that we were screaming because we were talking so much louder! Also, when certain military employers met each other they would salute. How the salute was done and who was starting with the salute depended on the status of the military employer.

Graduation ceremony for nurses
To celebrate the graduation for the nurses the hospital arranged a ceremony. The ceremony goes along with a lot of music and dancing! (see video)