Welcome to Ghana!

*Written June 2, 2010*

Today marks my second day in Ghana, and I am slowly but surely growing to see this place for what it truly is. My attempts at writing a pre-arrival and a first day post obviously failed, so let me catch you up on what you've missed...

Upon arriving in Accra on Tuesday morning, eleven other UFS volunteers and I were greeted by several members of a UFS welcoming committee, many locals requesting that we use their luggage-carrying services, and the sweltering, humid, cloudy,yet beautiful weather of Ghana. We stacked and packed ourselves and our luggage into a large van and a small station wagon that led us to our hotel - The Telecentre Bed & Breakfast. I share a room with two other girls - one is a rising Junior at Johns Hopkins and the other is a first-year medical student. The room itself is quite nice; however, our bathroom is not exactly high class. Well...I guess the primary issue is that the shower is a weak trickle of cold water that comes out of a small shower head and never seems to get warm. I must say that I was quite alarmed about these less-than-ideal conditions at first, but I must say that when one is in desperate need of a shower (like my housemates and I were after the first day), a weak trickle of cold water will do just fine.

After exchanging our US dollars for Ghanaian cedis and stocking up on water and other essentials, we explored some local restaurants and got to know each other on our first day. Some of us snuck in a nap along the way, and then we all got a needed and well deserved good night's rest.



Today was my first day at Crystal Eye Clinic. After some minor delays in the morning, John (one of the drivers and our new friend!) drove some of us to Crystal. It's about an hour from the Telecentre to the clinic, but that gives us some time to get in another nap! We toured the facilities and met several nurses, other staff members, and Dr. Clarke, the primary ophthalmologist at Crystal. I observed my first cataract surgery and was amazed as Dr. Clarke performed three cataract surgeries in less than an hour! All of the staff are very welcoming and genuinely happy that we are all here.

The most memorable part of my day was most definitely when I was observing Margaret, one of the nurses, in the consultation room. One man (who, might I add, was dressed in the most beautiful clothes!) wanted so badly to express his sincere appreciation and satisfaction with the work that Crystal Eye Clinc had done. He had just received cataract surgery in his left eye yesterday after being blind in that eye for over five years. He was so touched and appreciative of all that Crystal Eye Clinic and Unite for Sight had done that he wanted to donate 4 acres of land to the organization so that more clinics could be built and more lives could be touched. This man's utter joy and gratitude for what was given to him is the reason why so many people give their time, money, and energy to organizations like UFS. I have a feeling that I will hear of many more stories like these before my departure from Ghana. :)