Give Us the Money!!!

We arrived safely in Adansi on Sunday evening. The road getting here was very long and very bumpy. I think we all looked like gigantic bobble heads in the backseat as John tried his best to avoid the never-ending potholes and bumps. The place we are staying is basically just like an American motel. The doors to our rooms open to the outside where there is a cover patio. This is where we have all of our meals and watch the soccer matches (Ghana has a big game on Wednesday against Germany, and the US plays on Tuesday!). This is a very small village with very limited entertainment options, but we are trying our best to have fun anyways. Also, there are some serious communication issues within the community that could prevent us from reaching all the patients that we had planned to see. Today, traveled to a community about an hour and a half from our hotel, and no one was there waiting for the clinic. Apparently, many men and women leave their homes early in the morning to head to the farms for work. There was also confusion in which day we would be coming for outreach. Consequently, we only saw about 30 or 40 patients today. Ernest was especially disappointed on the low number of patients present. On the bright side, there were five cataract surgery referrals, which is a lot for such a small number of total patients. The need for eye health clinics is obvious in the communities we have visited. One man who came today was very close to being completely blind from advanced glaucoma. There is of course no cure for glaucoma and its damage is irreversible. There was really nothing we could do for this patient. However, if he had been seen earlier, his vision could have been saved or at least preserved for a little bit longer. It was a heartbreaking scene when the man started to cry because there was nothing we could do for him. There are undoubtedly more patients just like this man who need the help of eye doctors who can diagnose and treat conditions like glaucoma before it’s too late. Tomorrow we will be working closer to the hotel, and we are hoping for a better outcome.

Some of us decided to take a walk into the town after work. On our way, we came across a large of group of boys playing soccer in a big open field. Some of the other volunteers actually had some soccer skills themselves, so they kicked the ball around for a little bit. I have to say that the local Ghanaian boys were not too impressed with our moves, but we were in awe of theirs! We hung out for a little bit, and as we were leaving one boy shouted, “Give us the money!!!” Another boy asked one of the other volunteers for a pair of sneakers. The assumption that all White people and those from the United States are wealthy has definitely held throughout my time in Ghana. Children, especially, are in awe when they see the White and Asian volunteers casually walking through their villages. It’s quite a funny sight!

Adansi is great so far, and we’re all looking forward to a great week here!