Ghana Medical Mission

by LaDonna Carlton, M.S. & Board Member of GMF

We arrived in Ghana on March 7, 2008 to join a medical mission planned and funded by Our Children International (now Our Chance International - OCI) to perform much needed surgeries free of charge for underserved people.  Two of Chicago’s top surgeons affiliated with  Global Medical Foundation—Robert Weiss, MD and Oswaldo Lopez, MD performed eye surgeries on children and adults. Seven surgeons working with other physicians and support personnel completed 140 surgeries in two hospitals during the week long mission.

Numerous children and adults had a growth on their corneas resulting from prolonged sun exposure.  These growths, known as pterygia, can lead to debilitating visual loss.  The dedicated surgeons on this mission were able to correct the problem and give these Ghanaians their eyesight back. Many adults had cataracts that prevented them from seeing clearly.  Their vision was restored to crystal clarity by the eye surgeons on this mission who surgically removed the cataracts that clouded their vision and placed a new artificial lens into their eyes.

Another major problem for the people of Ghana was tumors that form on the face, head and neck. Dr. Robert Weiss was assisted by Dr. Bryan Traubert in a 7-hour surgical procedure to remove a disfiguring tumor the size of your fist from a little boy’s eyelid and face.  Other physicians made cleft/palate repairs; burn scars corrections and hernia repairs.

The task of performing these surgeries was even more difficult because the doctors had to go back and forth between the Military Hospital in Accra and the Central Regional Hospital in Cape Coast, which was three hours from the capital city. Sometimes the roads were crowded with people, goats, sheep, chickens and dogs and sometimes they were just very narrow and bumpy. But we all braved the travel to bring medical care to the people who needed it most.  I had the privilege of being one of the photographers on this mission and was allowed to photograph surgical procedures; as well as, document the trip and post-op observations of a few patients that were flown to Chicago for their surgeries prior to the mission.

Not all patients were Ghanaians. Some were from the Liberian Refugee Camp located about an hour out of Accra. This camp was built for 4,000 people, but at the time of our visit, there were 40,000 and at one time there were as many as 80,000 individuals occupying this crowded space. Needless to say, living conditions were very poor. The main health problems at the refugee camp were malaria, tuberculosis and malnourishment. One four year old child from the refugee camp had an injury to his eye whereas surgery could not correct his vision or save the eye, but the removal of his eye alleviated the severe pain he was experiencing.

In addition to providing medical treatment, supplies and equipment for the two hospitals, we were also fortunate to have supporters of our mission provide us with much needed everyday items to hand out during patient assessments and post-operative care.  The Chicago Bulls gave us t-shirts, ball-caps and travel mugs with their logo on them and it was not even necessary to explain who this team was, for their fame and reputation preceded our visit!  This made it even more exciting when smiles emerged on the faces of the recipients of these items. The ball-caps were an especially important article of clothing to give to the people of Ghana.  They provided an added benefit of helping them protect their eyes from the harmful UV rays of the sun. The travel cups with snap-on lids were given to the hospital personnel.  They were thrilled to have a cup that kept the flies and other insects out of their drinks.

We also gave away dozens of toothbrushes for both children and adults from the office of Dr. Eli Lawrence, a dentist in Chicago.  These everyday items also caused excitement among those who received them.  One three year old child in the pediatric ward was blind and when he was handed his toothbrush he immediately began to tap on his crib and make beats that made him giggle.  For people unaccustomed to receiving gifts, it warmed our hearts to join OCI in helping to provide medical care that is virtually impossible for them to receive along with presenting them with a simple pleasure of life; like a new, colorful toothbrush.

Mission in Ghana