In Ghana, normal outreach days started off like this:
1. Roosters and sweeping.
Every morning around 5 am, I woke up to the sound of roosters outside my window, and locals sweeping the pavement with home-made straw brooms. Depending on which area of Ghana you are in- and what time of the year it is- it is not uncommon to be woken up by sounds of worship. I happened to be in northern Ghana (Tamale) during Ramadan, and every morning around 4am we were woken up by the sounds of worship, singing and praying. Even though I was groggy, it was beautiful in a way and I was inspired by their commitment to Allah.
2. Early morning drives to outreaches.
We all gathered into a 12 passenger van and drove anywhere from 30 minutes to 4 hours to rural villages in Ghana. The roads were so bumpy that I was thrown off my seat on more than one occasion. We also debated whether or not you could make ice cream if you just held a bag of ice, milk and salt in the car while the van bumped down the roads.
3. Arrival at outreach
At the outreaches, it was usually at a church in a small village. Sometimes locals would gather around and make food for us, other times we would walk down the streets and buy food. Depending on which clinic we were with, there would be up to 350 patients waiting to be seen. We would split up between 3 stations: visual acuity, dispensing and shadowing optometrists. The patients would first register with a local community member, then they would be screened by the visual acuity team, they would then see the optometrist and finally go to the dispensing table to buy their eye drops, glasses and prescribed medications. During the day, there were often many children around waiting for their parents to be seen, so we would play with them in-between patients.
4. Finish outreach
We left our outreaches after every single patient who arrived was seen. This could take anywhere from 4-10 hours straight. The medical staff never took breaks, so sometimes I would go out and buy food and water for them. After all patients were seen, the drugs and glasses were recounted, money was counted and separated and everything was packed up. We all then got back into the van and returned home. (If the drive was longer than 4 hours, or we were visiting multiple villages in the same area over the next few days, we would have an overnight outreach and find a local bed and breakfast to stay in).
5. Return to the Telecentre Bed and Breakfast in Achimota (near Accra)
6. Hand-wash laundry, try to shower, work on BYU assignments, get food, play games and go to sleep.
7. Next day, rinse and repeat.
This was the typical schedule for basic outreaches during the week. An alternative schedule took place when we visited the clinic.
Clinic days looked more like this:
1. Leave for the clinic between 12:00-2:00pm
2. Drive less than an hour to the eye hospital
3. Change into scrubs and shadow in the operating room
4. After every patient is seen, pack up and head home.
This was usually a 8-10 hour process each clinic day.
And finally, weekends and days off:
These days were typically more flexible, but still usually packed.
On Saturdays, the interns usually explored the Greater Accra Region and were tourists for the day. I went to the Botanical Gardens, did a high ropes course, visited large markets and traveled around the area on these days. On Sundays, we found a congregation of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and attended church. Sundays were nice days to relax from the fast-paced week before-- unless we were traveling to an overnight outreach on a Sunday-- then it felt pretty long.
Overall, I have never been more exhausted for such an extended period of time in my entire life. Also, I have never felt so satisfied and fulfilled with the work I am doing. I loved getting to know the people of Ghana and learning more about myself.
My heart is forever in Ghana.
