Arrival + First Unite For Sight Outreach

After a long, but uneventful flight to Accra, I arrived in Kotoka airport just before noon on Thursday, June 10th. Getting through customs was really easy and I quickly found the driver with Unite For Sight waiting for me at the airport. I expected the arrival to be similar to my arrival in Cameroon a few years back – extremely hot, crowded, overwhelming, and, honestly, pretty scary. On the contrary, the arrival in Accra was actually pretty pleasant, albeit still very hot. Several other Unite For Sight volunteers ended up being on my flight, including two undergraduates and an ophthalmologist traveling with her son.

We enjoyed a short drive to the Telecentre Guest House, where we got our rooms. I’m rooming with another volunteer, Matt, who just finished his junior year at Duke. The Telecentre works pretty well for accommodations – each room has a bathroom and shower and our room has a great balcony/porch. The Telecentre should also have Internet, but it has been down and/or spotty pretty much since we’ve arrived.
After settling in, all the volunteers (Matt, Nicole, Linda, Alex and I) walked around the city, exchanged currency, and bought credits for our cell phones here. The city is pretty nice, and better developed than I was imagining. Later, we went to a bar (which is apparently called a “spot” here) and got dinner and drinks while watching some football on a large projector screen. It was akin to going to Buffalo Wild Wings to watch football on Saturdays in New Haven. After returning to the Telecentre and enjoying the (amazing!) air conditioning, we met the rest of the volunteers who arrived that day – Laura, another Nicole, and Jamison. We went to bed shortly after because we had our first outreach the next day!

Our outreach was in a community called Ashanti, which I think was in the Eastern region of Ghana. The outreach was great. It took place in a church and (I would guess) about 100 community members had assembled by the time we arrived. Ernest, an optometrist with Unite For Sight, gave a brief introduction about eye health and then each of the volunteers introduced ourselves. We then broke off into stations for the vision screenings. Jamison, Nicole, Matt and I gave visual acuity tests, with the help of our amazing driver, Bismarck. Then, community members visited Ernest or Dennis, an ophthalmic nurse, for a more thorough examination. The other volunteers helped dispense medication and eyeglasses that were prescribed by the clinicians. After working for about 5 hours, we were offered a delicious Ghanaian lunch (our first real Ghanaian meal) – banku and tilapia in a pepe sauce. Banku is a dough-y/starch-y mix that is fermented in plastic. It’s very similar to fufu in Cameroon (which is odd, because Ghanaians also have a dish called fufu, but it is not the same).

I have really enjoyed my first two days here! The other Unite For Sight volunteers are outstanding, as are the Unite For Sight staff, and the people in Ghana. I’m looking forward to the next few weeks working with the program.

A few other things I’ve noticed…
1. Maybe I’ve just forgotten what Cameroon/Nicaragua heat is like…but man, it’s HOT.
2. I am much more comfortable just getting around here…I’ll chalk it up to experience.
3. I feel extremely well-supported and safe.
4. The language “barrier” is odd. Although English is the official language and Twi is also commonly spoken, Ghanaians speak many languages/dialects…yet they all seem to understand each other. I have no idea what people are saying when they are having conversations with each other, but most understand English fairly well when I speak with them.


Much love to family & friends!