This summer I had the opportunity to go with International Health Care Volunteers to Cape Coast, Ghana as a Junior Volunteer. I participated in a wide range of activities including helping the doctors in the hospital. I personally did not go in the operating room (probably a good choice based on my fear of blood), but I did spend a lot of time helping the maternal-fetal medicine specialist conduct ultrasounds. I loved watching people find out the gender of their babies and I cried when a young mother found out her baby was never going to be able to walk due to a severe birth defect.
I also spent one day in a small rural village that lacked medical care. With only me, a Junior Volunteer, and one doctor, we saw many patients ranging from a few months old to very old, having problems from malaria to STDs. We were stationed in a small room that was completely filled with patients. I felt for once in my life that I was truly helping people.
Many of the volunteers, including me, also chose to go to work in an orphanage. We found an orphanage for girls of many ages. While the doctors gave check-ups to the kids, I played with them and I handed out toys and toothbrushes. I met kids my age who looked about 5 years younger than me. The whole experience with the orphanage really helped me get perspective on my own life. I realized how lucky I am to have two loving parents and a constant roof over my head.
Along with many of the people we saw in Ghana, I got malaria. Even though I was in Ghana and thousands of miles away from home I got better medical care than I have ever had in my entire life from the doctors on the mission. I had an anesthesiologist giving me shots and intravenous fluids, a pediatrician who checked in with me often, many gynecologists (not the specialty I needed exactly), and many other doctors all providing me with excellent care. They watched over me and made sure I had the right medication to get over my sickness. In Ghana there are millions of cases of malaria each year and many people, especially children die from it because they don’t get the medical attention they need. I was lucky, having a great team of doctors caring for me. The medical care we gave to the people we saw with malaria saved lives. Many people have suffered for years with the disease that tortured me for only a couple of days. Through this trip I have been inspired to find a way to help more people, especially kids, fight malaria. I hope to go back one day to help again.
