5/28/19
Today as I was walking into the church for the outreach, a woman approached me who was limping. She lifted up her dress to show an enormous scar on her left upper thigh. She told me that she was afraid that her leg “wouldn’t be okay” again. My heart broke a little bit. She then continued on her way to get her eyes screened and I didn't see her again. I really wished there was more I could do to help her.
Later that day, we drove to our overnight outreach, about 4 hours away. The moment we got to the village though, we ere greeted by children. I opened the car door to the van and spotted a little boy with downs syndrome. We made eye contact and he jumped into my arms without hesitation. We were then buddies for the entire day.
6/4/19
After observing surgeries today, I got into a conversation with the Optometrist there who had finished seeing patients. He asked what I was studying in school and I told him medicine and special education. He seemed very interested in special education.
When he asked me what I wanted to do with special education in Ghana, I told him I wanted to support children and families living with disabilities in poverty. He seemed fascinated by this and asked more questions.
What I have come to realize is that when I share one idea about the work I would like to do, there are always stories of a child, friend or family member who could benefit from this service.
This Optometrist told me the story of a friend's child who was brilliant, but struggled with testing. When the time came for testing to determine placement in post-secondary school, the child was not even enrolled and had to stay at the educational level they had already achieved.
He asked what strategies could be implemented to help family members with their disabled children and I cited an article I had just read for one of my study abroad courses and shared the findings with him. I explained my role as a behavior technician and peer helper in the United States and suggestion similar programs/opportunities here. I told him I’m very interested in community led initiatives that address mental and physical health problems.
I explained that with Unite for Sight, we met with village chiefs to discuss bringing eye exams via outreaches to their people. I suggested a similar model of those kinds of counsels to bring awareness to intellectual disabilities and help people understand that symptoms of autism and other disabilities are not demonic possessions or spiritual curses.
He said that a great need here is building a special needs school that has a dual approach of educating children with autism and uses donations/tuition to directly help people with disabilities in poverty. We brainstormed a couple ideas and he researched some special needs school in the area and suggested I contact one and stop by to visit them. I reached out to one and hope to hear back soon.
6/5/19
Update: I heard back from the special needs school that night.
So I went to the special needs school in Adenta and realized that it is next to Crystal Eye Clinic (one of the hospitals we shadow at). Once I arrived, I met with the founder of Woodfield Manor special needs school, Corneila. Within a few minutes, she asked me to teach a class there. If I can change my ticket, I would love to stay for another month to support their program.
Ideally I would like to collaborate with them and Unite for Sight and do outreach trainings for performing visual acuity and eye exams on patients with special needs living in rural villages.
I am really excoted to learn more about how special needs programs work in Ghana.
On the way home, Cornelia ordered an Uber for me and it kept jumping between drivers. Eventually, the driver came and as we were pulling off the dirt road, he called Cornelia and asked her about the special needs school. I couldn’t hear all of their exchange, but asked him about in in the car later. He then told me that he has a nephew who has “complicated issues.” He asked what I did, and I told him that I work with people with autism and special needs in the US and am interested in helping in Ghana as well. He seemed very grateful and then began telling me the story of his nephew.
I could feel his frustration coursing through his veins and sensed his desperation. He asked if we had a special needs school in Kumasi (central Ghana) and I said not that I know of, but I believe there are resources that can help.
He told me that they initially thought they found a special needs school, but then they realized that this organization was “fake,” and all about publicity. So his family was back to square one.
The driver seemed pretty sure that his nephew had autism. I asked him lots of questions like, how old he was, if he’s a picky eater, if he prefers certain textures, if he has tantrums/throws thins/screams, if loud noises bother him and if he has certain topics or objects he preferred.
After every question, there seemed to be a lightbulb click, and he got more excited as he answered each answer.
The nephew is nonverbal, but can speak if he wants to- particularly when he is being bothered. But it is not uncommon for him to go 3-6 months without speaking. He reads and tests well in school, but does not communicate with teachers of peers. He “only had 1 friend out of the entire school and will hold only his hand during break times.”
The family has taken him to the hospital, doctors, therapists etc. no one has diagnosed him with autism. They keep referring the child to a speech pathologist, but the one speech pathologist they found in Acrra (over a 4 hour drive away) decided not to work with them because he could find more clients at a closer distance in Accra.
When I asked what kinds of tests were used for autism, he explained just the doctors did basic reading tests and since the child could read they said no diagnosis of autism.
I explained that in many cases, children on the spectrum are brilliant— often scoring even higher on tests than their classmates— but can fall far behind socially.
He said to me,
“I understand.”
This really seemed to resonate with him.
Then he looked at me and asked,
“Does this mean our only option is to send him to the US?”
I almost did a double take. I said absolutely not.
He took a sigh of relief and told me he was really grateful to hear hat, because the child was just barely 6 and would have to be taken away from his parents and sister to live with extended family in the U.S.
I told him there are many trained professionals that specifically study this, and that there were strategies that could be implemented that would still allow the child to stay at home and thrive in his local school.
He got my WhatsApp information and we parted ways.
He told me he was so very grateful to meet me. I told him that not everyone understands my mission, but the few who do are more than enough.
I have continued to remain in contact with those in Ghana who are looking for special education resources for their families, community and children. I hope one day I will be able to build a special needs school there and continue my work in public health in places like Africa.
Ghana has forever changed me.