My sister had booked us in to go on a tour of all the off ship programs sites - the eye clinic, the Hope Centre and the dental clinic.
The Eye Clinic
We made our way to a back street building where the eye clinic is situated. A lady came and explained to us how the clinic operates and showed us around. They see about 140 people a day. They are screened and eyes tested. As many of the people cannot read letters on a conventional eye chart they use a tumbling E eye chart.
They then go through to a tent which is inside the building to help with climate control for the delicate instruments. They have to use a noisy generator to keep the temperature constant as the electric supply in Guinea is very unpredictable. One of the pieces of equipment has a scope on the side so they can train local people to do the job at the same time. At the end of the screening the eligible people are given a ticket with a date and time to come back to have an procedure on the ship. Cataract operations here are different to ours in that they do them a lot later here. In the UK we don't tend to develop them until later in life and they are operated on fairly early on so they are able to be blasted away. In Guinea many have been growing since a young age and therefore have grown thick and hard, so the operation is different. A Mercy Ships surgeon has developed a method of removing the cataract in one lump which is like a piece of hard candy. It involves loosening the edges and pulling it out. The blasting method we use cannot be used here as the cataract is too thick and would cause too much trauma to the eye.
Cataracts are common here because they don't wear sunglasses to protect their eyes from sun damage. It was explained that if someone has cataracts in both eyes, they will only do one so at least they have some sight and more people can be seen. Training is done so local people can continue the work when the ship moves on, so people's second eyes can be done at a later date. People with 2 cataracts usually have a carer (often a child) so if they have sight in one eye this releases the carer from that role.
The Hope Centre
We then made our way to the Hope Centre. This is a building within the city hospital grounds who Mercy Ships advance team agreed a deal with to renovate into offices, store rooms and 4 wards of about 16 beds each (very cramped) with the carers mattress under the bed. This is a rehabilitation place for adults and children who have had an operation on the ship and aren't yet well enough to go home. When the ship leaves Guinea they will be left with a nice renovated place they can use for continued work, so they help Mercy Ships out and Mercy Ships help them out! Everyone's a winner!!
Among other things we saw people with large facial tumours, legs being straightened (especially on kids) and a flesh eating disease called noma on a young boy. They were all really pleased to see us and wanted to be with us, touch us and hug us. They were craving human touch as many had been ostracised from their families and communities because of their illness or disability. They all wanted photos taken of themselves and with us.
This was a very humbling experience. They all seemed so happy despite everything and having nothing. We both thought we would get upset going there but when you are actually with the people you just see the person, their character and personality and aren't shocked by what they look like. It's not until you go away and think back that you get upset (which we did!). It certainly puts into perspective all the trivial things we moan about at home! These people's lives have been totally transformed - absolutely amazing and a real privilege to see. One boy was so proud, he was carrying around before and after photos of himself which he wanted everyone to see.
He took my camera from me and wanted to take photos of everyone and did a fab job! They we're so happy to see us and they didn't want us to leave.
The Dental Clinic
After fighting our way out of the Hope Centre, we made our way to another back street, behind locked, guarded gates to visit the dental clinic. We were welcomed by the clinic leader who explained to us how it works.
When the people arrive for screening they line up in 3 lines - one for men, one for children and one for women. This is to help stop the fighting which goes on for front of the queue spots. As so many people turn up for the screenings (hundreds) they vary where in the queue they start the process to make it fairer. Sometimes they will start at the back or in the middle so people know its not worth fighting for front spot to try and get seen first.
The first step is to just walk down the line and identify those with infections and bad pain. These people are given an appointment to come back for treatment. They used to give out tickets with the information on but they found that people were selling them to others with less urgent needs, so now they put on a bracelet so it is easy to tell if it has been tampered with.
In the waiting area, the patients are taught dental hygiene until they are called in one by one to give their details and medical history and wait to be seen by a dentist. There are 10 dental chairs at the clinic. There are day workers, who are locals employed by Mercy Ships, who help translate for the patients and at the same time are being trained for when the ship leaves. Before the patients leave the clinic they are each given a basic dental pack to take home with them which includes a toothbrush, toothpaste, information, etc.
This tour was a really good experience and showed us all the other work that goes on off the ship to prepare the patients for coming on board for their operations and gave us a great overview of all the projects the Mercy Ships volunteer crew are involved with.
