How (not) to use the Library

It's 3.30pm on Friday

Being hard pressed for study time in recent times I figured I could catch up on the reading I need to do for school by spending a couple of hours in the school library before classes begin.  It’s a relatively small room that cannot take more than 25 people at a time but it’s our library nonetheless- at least for now. Anytime I make it to the library, having made off from work earlier than is expected I hope to do an hour and a half at least of effective reading and research. Surprisingly this has proved to be a challenge.

Mobile phones of other library users go off repeatedly with no attempt by the owners to hold back the conversations that ensue while other people prattle away as if they are sitting in their living rooms. Aaaaah, a phone just went off! I cannot see the person on the phone but I hear him tell the other person on the line he’s in the library. Maybe this time he’ll step out to take the call since he seems conscious of his environment. Eerm, it doesn’t happen. The girl at the desk next from me just picked up her mobile phone too and your guess is as good as mine. 

It should be clear to anyone that I am neither reading nor researching anything at this time. The guy is carrying on his very important conversation - “the link, the link” he says. “...yes three Ws. S, T, O, K, A, S dot com. Strike guest... guest, guest, yeah guest...g, u, e, s, t ... yeah commentary...no its not finished, stroke natural law...”. Unbelievable isn’t it? Asking people to shush is not working. I get “what’s with you?” kind off looks when I do. Is the library not one of the quietest places to be? Why do people who use the library feel the need to plug their ears while reading in the library?

Mercy! Here comes the woman who probably spends all day in the library. She is usually seated at one of the only 2 desktops in the library checking her mail on yahoo. Once every 5 minutes she fiddles with her phone; she calls out pleasantries across the room anytime someone she knows walks in and much of the time her head is thrown back over the chair and her eyes are closed. A mediation of sorts maybe. There’s no point prompting her that other users may be waiting to use the computer. 

I am either in the wrong place or my notion of a library changed since I last was in school- more than 10 years ago? ... OMG what’s that smell? Did that man just take off his shoes? ......Time to go!

The Lab “Knows” Your Status Even If You Don’t

The employment agency found the perfect candidate for me; an experienced housekeeper in her mid forties, sufficiently literate and cultured. A relative suggested that a medical examination was necessary to determine if the candidate was fit for the job and I readily agreed.  A few years back, my 19 year old house help gave me a fright when she had an epileptic attack so I figured it was a good idea.  Even so I had no particular parameters for the medical examination. My relative who is a health worker (a nurse by her own claims) indicated that such examinations were routine and offered to have it done at the health facility where she worked. The prospective employee and her agent had expected this and were more than agreeable.

Later when my relative nurse called in with feedback on the tests, she said the employee hopeful was “clean” on all the tests except the HIV AIDS test which was “inconclusive”. The employee hopeful however did not wait at the clinic for the results of whatever examination had been carried out on her so the nurse was somewhat disappointed because the doctor at the clinic had intended, as part of the routine, to send her off with a dose of counsel on account of her HIV AIDS status!   

To say I was mortified is perhaps an understatement. HIV AIDS testing had not crossed my mind; even if it could be argued to be a legitimate concern in the circumstances and the legal and psychological implications of testing without the informed consent of the “victim” was not lost on me. That I did not trouble myself with the details of the examination to be carried out on the employee hopeful was irresponsible but that’s neither the focus nor the troubling aspect of this confession.

HIV AIDS testing on unsuspecting victims I found are routine in many health facilities and health workers justify this modus operandi with the claim that they have to protect themselves.  Yep, by knowing your HIV status and heaven knows which others. But many health workers in both public and private facilities claim to work with limited or no resources including protective gear or insurance back-up so perhaps there is some rational basis to their claim. It seems though that not only health workers are taking steps to “protect” themselves; employers and increasingly those employing domestic help are equally concerned about the possible effect of the health status of their employees on the job, fellow workers, clients. To illustrate the need my relative tells the story of a house-help who unknowingly infected the 2-year old daughter of her employers through her daily practical lessons in teeth brushing with her own (the house-help’s) tooth-brush.

That said, when a person who has not knowingly and willingly submitted to HIV AIDS testing is obliged to receive news of the “fact” of their HIV status after the test is done surreptitiously; it is as unpardonable as it is dangerous. Yet this was only the wound to which the salt that follows was applied.

What would make an HIV AIDS test inconclusive? What did that mean anyway? I could not make sense of the explanation to the “inconclusive” HIV test provided by the clinic’s doctor via my relative- that the patient was probably only in the early stages of contracting the disease.  The real deal is this. There are HIV AIDS tests kits available these days that provide almost instant results; the RAPID or ELISA tests. The kit approach is quite like the pregnancy test available over the counter but in this case a certified laboratory technician, nurse, mid-wife etc carries out the test in a certified laboratory for purposes of quality control. This first anti-body testing has to be confirmed even if positive by a second and sometimes third test if the first two are discordant. As explained by a doctor, this time at the main teaching hospital, the so-called inconclusive test simply meant one of 3 things; the test kit used was expired or the kit was improperly stored and rendered ineffective or the technician at the clinic did a lousy job!

Incredible Math

My math was never up to scratch so rather than argue with my betters, I guess I better work their formulas through and hope for enlightenment. Right, so here goes.

Problem 1

An under- aged girl who gets married becomes an adult (who can renounce her citizenship). The legal age of an adult is 18 years; F stands for female; M stands for married person; MF stands for married female. 

Solution:

If;

M + F = MF = Adult = 18 ≥ year old

Then;

A day old MF = 18 ≥ year old

1 year old MF = 18 ≥ year old

2year old MF = 18 ≥ year old

3year old MF = 18 ≥ year old

4year old MF= 18 ≥ year old

5year old MF = 18 ≥ year old

6year old MF = 18 ≥ year old

7year old MF = 18 ≥ year old

8 year old MF = 18 ≥ year old

9 year old MF = 18 ≥ year old

10 year old MF = 18 ≥ year old

11 year old MF = 18 ≥ year old

12 year old MF = 18 ≥ year old

13 year old MF = 18 ≥ year old

14 year old MF = 18 ≥ year old

15 year old MF = 18 ≥ year old

16 year old MF = 18 ≥ year old

17 year old MF = 18 ≥ year old

And;

An MF may vote; have sex; make babies; contract; get a job. Perhaps be a parliamentarian and sit in the Nigerian Senate?

Problem 2

When the legal marital age is increased from 18years to 23years, population growth will reduce. The legal age of an adult is 18 years; minimum age of marriage in Ghana is 18 years; legal age for consent to sex is 16 years.

Solution:

 If;

Any person of 16 years and above can engage (legally) in sex and sex leads to possible pregnancy and child birth and there is no legal age barrier for child-bearing,

Then;

Statistics on births include births by persons below 18 years of age already. Also child bearing does not depend on marital status.

But a few unknowns persist;

• In which age groups do women/ females having babies fall?
• What are the marital statuses of women/ females giving birth?
• What accounts for the high birth rates?

Conclusion; 
Increase in marriage age will have no effect on population growth unless only married females give birth in Ghana

Relatively painless exercise, I think?