DRUM CIRCLE DINNER!!!

We are pleased to announce the 4th Annual REACH 4 Ghana Drum Circle Dinner! We hope you can join us in celebrating Ghanaian food and culture, while learning about the health needs of the Volta Region.

When: 31 Jan, 6 - 8 PM

Where: MCV Alumni House

Tickets: $10 pre / $12 at the door

(If you prefer to pay with cash/check and no online fee, no problem, please contact 2014r4g@gmail.com)

Meet the 2014 Team

The official blog welcome to the 2014 team is past due...they have already been hard at work, with several team meetings and the team photo under their belt.

2014 Team Page

Interest Meeting

The 2014 Interest Meeting for Medical Students will be held on Tuesday, Aug 27, from 4 to 5:30 in the Learning Theater of the MMEB. Please join us as we discuss REACH 4 Ghana and hear about the other international trips at VCU as well!

The End of the Beginning

It's hard to believe that our trip is quickly coming to an end. Three of our teammates left directly from today's clinic to head to Accra, and the rest of us are leaving at 4:30 AM tomorrow to make it in time for a series of flights starting at 10 AM and ending with the last person leaving at 10:45 PM. It's going to be a long day of traveling, but those of us with later flights are excited to have the day to explore Accra and the cultural market. We have one last team dinner tonight, and we'll be packing up all the medical supplies and donations we brought with us this evening- after that, all our official R4G 2013 tasks are complete, and we'll just be focused on enjoying our last hours in Ghana and making sure everyone gets home safely! 

In addition to being the last day of the trip, today was the last day of our five clinics, and it was a generally difficult day. It was alternately extremely hot and heavily downpouring, several of the shelters built in the village collapsed during clinic hours, and we just couldn't keep up with the number of patients seeking medical care. It was an exercise in management, quick thinking, and tamping down personal needs and emotions in an attempt to focus one others in need. I don't think our team did it perfectly, but we managed exceedingly well given the circumstances. We were able to see most of the patients waiting (nearly 200 patients in 6 hours), and the remaining 40-50 will be seen by a Ghanaian physician and Lillimed Clinic volunteers next Wednesday using supplies donated by R4G. 

Last night we had the opportunity to have dinner with Dr. Victor Agbeibor, the family medicine attending physician at St. Francis who traveled to Ghana with the Bon Secours residents this week. The dinner itself was the usual medley of goat stew, a veggie option, and a million bowls of french fries, but the conversation was inspiring. Dr. Victor is originally from the Volta region (where we have been working in Ghana), attended medical school in Russia, and is currently working in Richmond and traveling internationally for medical missions whenever possible. His short speech was funny and poignant, but his message was serious, direct, and clear: this trip is not the end of our global work as future healthcare providers. 

It has become exceedingly clear to me over the past few weeks that the amount of work left to be done in the field of global health in developing countries is immense. The message we received last night is that coming to Ghana for three weeks does not give us the right to check off a box on our to-do list that reads "International Aid." We have a duty and a responsibility to continue the work we've started here, and as REACH 4 Ghana continues to develop and grow as an organization, the results of our work and the relationships we are fostering between our countries will grow. This isn't the end- it's the end of the beginning.

We can't thank you all enough for your support, encouragement, donations, and love over the past year, and I hope you'll all keep reading as we continue to share our thoughts, reflections, frustrations, and ideas for the future after we get back home. 

~ Shikha

Audrey taking one of our younger patient's height and waist circumference.

Soccer, Skirts, and Starting Clinic- 3 Days in Pictures

Free time has been sparse around here the past few days as we've been spending most of our time planning for this week's clinics. The first two days had their share of challenges, but were overall hugely successful, and I couldn't be more impressed by the team's dedication, teamwork, boundless energy, and true compassion for our patients. 

Because I only have 19 minutes before the internet cafe closes shop, here's life lately in Ghana via photos:

Katya, Sarah, Audrey, Max and Katie sorting donated medications and supplies into boxes for the five villages in which we'll be setting up clinics.

Medical students on the trip hanging out at a hotel situated on one of the highest points in Ho (the city we're living in)- we had an amazing view of the entire city.

The 2013 R4G men showing off their Sunday best before we attended a church service in Ho. The entire team performed a medley of Lean on Me and I Believe I Can Fly (I mostly mouthed the words, don't worry.)

The ladies showing off the skirts we had made over the past week- we each selected our fabrics and had our skirts custom-fitted for us!

Our football (soccer) players looking fierce before our match against the Ghanaian police academy.

Post-match. We lost, but it was a valiant effort!

The team handing over all of our donated medications to Lillimed, the clinic in Ho helping us to set up the mobile clinics in all five villages.

Hanging out with some of our favorite kids after clinic in Adigbo Kofe- they LOVED the funny faces!

Sorry for the sparse post, but expect some interesting reflections on the first few days of clinic as well as some guest posts from other team members in the next few days!

~ Shikha

On Guilt

Guilt is a unique emotion in that it is both selfless and selfish at the same time. It is simultaneously enlightening and debilitating, clarifying and obscuring. Visiting a developing country like Ghana while calling an immensely wealthy nation like the United States home is the perfect breeding ground for guilt to take root, multiply, and, if we’re not careful, spread like a cancer to the degree that accomplishing anything other than wallowing in it seems like an insurmountable task. We teach children about food and nutrition when they don’t have access to the healthy foods we discuss. We encourage hand washing with soap and clean water when soap is considered a luxury. We talk about first aid and germs when most of our students don’t have access to bandages and antiseptic cream. Perhaps most obviously, we sit in a classroom and eat a hearty lunch prepared for us at a restaurant while malnourished students without lunches play outside just steps away from us.

Students in Adigbo Kofe as classes ended for the day and we prepared to board the bus.

It has never been clearer to me that we have it easy- we live the good life, and most of us have never truly wanted for anything that could be considered a necessity of life. This is something I have taken for granted my entire life, and I probably will continue to expect it even after I return from Ghana. There are days when the guilt is somewhat assuaged, but still it lingers; its presence is a constant, dull reminder of privilege and of circumstance. Yesterday Katie, Kristina and I tried to help a young girl with a high fever, dizziness, and a throat and stomach ache. She hadn’t eaten in two days, and she hadn’t taken any medicine for her fever. In less than five minutes, she was eating a plate of rice and drinking water taken from the team’s lunch, and we gave her half an Aleve taken from my personal medication store. For a brief moment, there was a sense of accomplishment and hope that the little girl would get better, and that, in part, it would be because of our efforts. But those emotions were quickly replaced with yet another wave of guilt- why were the rice and water so readily available to me and not her? Why do I have seemingly endless access to medications when people in this girl’s village die because of a deceptively innocuous-seeming fever? At the end of the day, it just doesn’t seem fair- so the guilt lingers.

One of the team's favorite kindergarteners as the students played games and waited for their government-subsidized lunches. It is never a guarantee in these villages that the meals will actually be delivered, so the students often go without a meal during the school day.

Last night at dinner, I asked the team to share their most challenging moment or aspect of the trip thus far. Guilt was an oft-repeated motif that wove its way through each of my teammates brief speeches in a way that nearly broke my heart. I sat at a table with 16 brilliant, motivated, passionate people who truly want to effect change, but they couldn’t see past the guilt to their own accomplishments and overwhelming successes with the students who welcomed us into their schools with open arms and beaming faces over the past week. So I decided not to let the guilt overtake us- how could I let the dark side of guilt overshadow the brightness and light of the pure love for humanity that exists in each member of my team? Yes, we are privileged. Yes, it is unjust and almost cruelly unfair at times. Yes, a certain degree of guilt offers perspective and maintains balance. But (and this is a big, important but) we are making the deliberate choice to use that cruelly unfair privilege to equalize the global playing field to the best of our abilities. Slowly but surely, as more of our peers, mentors, and successors in our respective fields recognize the need for this equalization, the guilt will begin to dissipate. For now, I’ll settle for the ever-present guilt taking a backseat to the other emotions I think my team deserves to feel as our week of public health education draws to a close- jubilation, empathy, sadness, a sense of purpose and, above all, hopefulness for the future. 

The future.

~ Shikha

Favorite Moments: Part I

This week, I’ve been trying to implement some team-building and time for reflection into our family-style dinners (or post-dinner nail painting parties) each evening at the restaurant in our hotel. Last night I asked some of the team members about their favorite moments thus far, and the question resulted in an hour-long group memory share. Here are some of the highlights:

Katya (a rising 2^nd year medical student) said: “I loved seeing the excited look on the kids’ faces as our bus pulled up to each village- they glowed. One girl took my hand the second we stepped onto the field during the first break, and she squeezed my hand every few seconds so I would look at her and smile. The smile she gave back to me was dazzling.”

Lindsey (a rising 2^nd year pharmacy student) said: “My favorite moment was watching Cory run down the hill with the football (soccer ball) we were donating to the village. Every single boy in the school laughed, cheered, and ran down the hill next to him- I’ve never seen so many happy faces.”

Sarah (a rising 2^nd year physical therapy student) said: “When we asked the students what their favorite thing about living in Ghana is, they said ‘love.’ It was simple and pure.”

Kristina (a rising 2^nd year pharmacy student) said: “It meant so much to me to see how content all the Ghanaians are with the lives they lead. They’re appreciative of every little thing we do for them, and they want the best, not only for themselves, but for everyone else in their country, as well.”

Alicia (a rising 2^nd year physical therapy student) said: “I loved teaching the students our names and finding out theirs. We don’t understand each other all the time, but we find other ways to communicate- smiles, holding hands, giving high fives, and so many hugs.”

Amanda (a rising 2^nd year medical student) said: “It’s so indicative of the nature of the people in Ho that religion is a centerpiece of the community, but anyone, regardless of his or her religious persuasion, is welcomed with open arms.”

I can't wait to post the rest of the team's thoughts, memories, and favorite moments over the next few days. Keep an eye out for a post comprised of the funniest moments, too- there are many!

The team outside the monkey sanctuary- one of my favorite moments!

~Shikha