"If you had told me on April 28th that I would be traveling to the country of Ghana to work with an international group of optometrists and opticians to care for over 9,000 patients, I would have laughed it off immediately. But after being approached about the possibility of participating in this, the prospect of me going became more and more appealing as I thought about in greater detail. After quickly gathering the visa, vaccinations, and luggage that I needed in order to leave, I flew off thirteen hours to the capital of Ghana, Accra (pronounced ah-CRAW). The first few days were spent getting to know my fellow teammates and developing a cohesion among the team. Before landing, I had no idea that there were going to be fellow team members from countries all around the world! They ranged from Italy to Australia to Canada and made for a unique experience I had not anticipated. Not only did I get to learn and dwell in the Ghanian's culture, but I got to learn about other areas around the world at the same time. It was as though I told a trip around the world in a mere two week span!
Speaking of the culture, I was thankful that the weekend was specifically devoted to experiencing Ghana's rich history. On Saturday, we drove four hours to Cape Coast, a city that contained one of the sites for the slave trade. Walking through the holding spaces and feeling the bars on the windows made the history I learned about during history classes far more real. On Sunday, we went to the memorial of Kwame Nkrumah, the countries first prime minister and leader towards independence. Along with the various sites we viewed, we also were able to experience their local cuisine. The main component of the Ghanian diet is rice. We had it at practically every meal and it was accompanied by a variety of beans, chicken, or roots. Let's just say I wasn't sad to return to American food by the end of it all...
The first few days of clinic consisted of setting it up and being oriented with how it was to be run. Being a first time member of the team, I quickly realized that there was going to be a large, but quick learning curve. Because darker + irritated eyes = greater drops required to sufficiently dilate patients, we had to develop a customized version of a dilation station in order to increase patient flow. Traffic control outside the compound was difficult at times as people without tickets were creating commotion, causing us to close the clinic doors for a time. All in all, my clinic experience was so valuable! I was able to see things that I had only seen in photos to this point. Cupped out nerves, macular drusen, choroidopathy, cataracts of all types and densities, toxo scarring, etc. I also worked with Rx tabulation, something that allowed for a challenge due to not having as much experience with. While I didn't have a specific experience with any particular patient, I did hear of and see many children who couldn't focus on faces, but once the correction was in place, could see them for the first time. There were also at least 500 referrals for people needing further treatment! Each patient was able to receive a pair of suglasses from their long wait in the heat to help limit or deter the development of pterygiums and cataracts that plaqued so many that went through the clinic, a blessing in that people didn't leave empty handed. All in all, it was such a great experience and if only given a month to prepare for another trip, I'm sure that there would be no hesitation to pursue another one!"
Speaking of the culture, I was thankful that the weekend was specifically devoted to experiencing Ghana's rich history. On Saturday, we drove four hours to Cape Coast, a city that contained one of the sites for the slave trade. Walking through the holding spaces and feeling the bars on the windows made the history I learned about during history classes far more real. On Sunday, we went to the memorial of Kwame Nkrumah, the countries first prime minister and leader towards independence. Along with the various sites we viewed, we also were able to experience their local cuisine. The main component of the Ghanian diet is rice. We had it at practically every meal and it was accompanied by a variety of beans, chicken, or roots. Let's just say I wasn't sad to return to American food by the end of it all...
The first few days of clinic consisted of setting it up and being oriented with how it was to be run. Being a first time member of the team, I quickly realized that there was going to be a large, but quick learning curve. Because darker + irritated eyes = greater drops required to sufficiently dilate patients, we had to develop a customized version of a dilation station in order to increase patient flow. Traffic control outside the compound was difficult at times as people without tickets were creating commotion, causing us to close the clinic doors for a time. All in all, my clinic experience was so valuable! I was able to see things that I had only seen in photos to this point. Cupped out nerves, macular drusen, choroidopathy, cataracts of all types and densities, toxo scarring, etc. I also worked with Rx tabulation, something that allowed for a challenge due to not having as much experience with. While I didn't have a specific experience with any particular patient, I did hear of and see many children who couldn't focus on faces, but once the correction was in place, could see them for the first time. There were also at least 500 referrals for people needing further treatment! Each patient was able to receive a pair of suglasses from their long wait in the heat to help limit or deter the development of pterygiums and cataracts that plaqued so many that went through the clinic, a blessing in that people didn't leave empty handed. All in all, it was such a great experience and if only given a month to prepare for another trip, I'm sure that there would be no hesitation to pursue another one!"