I thought I'd do a little post on what a typical day is like here in case you don't wanna read all six weeks of journaling to get the same idea.
7:00: Wake up and get ready for the day. Don't forget lots of deodorant. And no need to worry about makeup because that stuff will melt off after 10 minutes outside.
7:30 - 8:00: Eat the breakfast the telecentre provides. It's usually toast with something, so toast and eggs, toast and cornflakes, toast and coco, etc. If you're lucky, they also have milo which is basically just hot chocolate and sooo good.
8:30 - 10:00: The Crystal Eye Clinic staff arrives to pick you up. You and five other volunteers pile into the car and begin the drive to the outreach. The drive is usually somewhere between one and two hours and you spend the time listening to podcasts, sleeping, or just talking with the other people in the car.
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| Party van |
10:30: You arrive at the outreach and unpack the car to start setting up. One of the staff talks to the group that's there waiting about what exactly you'll be doing today, how to do visual acuity, and dispels common myths about eye care and cataract surgeries. You and the other volunteers introduce yourselves to the group (in Twi if you can).
Ye fremme Ama: My name is Ama.
Me fre U.S.: I'm from the U.S.
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| Some of the group that's there waiting when you arrive |
11:00 - 2:30: Get to work! Today you're assigned to the visual acuity station where you'll use a tumbling E chart to assess each patient's vision. You'll point to a letter on the chart and the patient will motion which way the E is facing. Some people have a hard time understanding what you're asking them to do, so patience is key. Perfect vision is 6/6, but that is surprisingly rare here. After they see you, they'll go wait in line to see the doctor to get their eyes examined, and from there they'll go to the dispensing table to buy any glasses or eyedrops that the doctor prescribed. The glasses are sold at a heavily subsidized price, about 3 cedis ($0.60) each, to help make eye care more accessible to those in poverty.
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| A mother performing the visual acuity test |
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| Volunteers at the dispensing table |
3:00: Time for lunch! Today you're given banku (cassava and maize pounded together) with pepe (kinda like spicy salsa) and fish.
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| Banku is a "swallow food", so no chewing |
3:30 - 5:00: Finish up with the remaining patients. Since you're at the visual acuity station, now you have some time to kill while the doctors and dispensing table also finish seeing everyone. Take advantage of this time by finding some adorable kids to play with or by talking with some of the patients about their experiences.
5:30: Pack up and head home! There's no shame in passing out during the car ride back because most everyone will fall asleep too.
7:00: Grab some dinner from a nearby chop bar where you'll order some jollof rice and chicken. After you've finished, you'll go over to the little shop right by the telecentre where the cute woman who teaches you Twi words will sell you a FanIce for one cedi.
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| Jollof rice with chicken |
9:00: If you have energy left and the wifi at the hotel is working, you'll do a little bit of homework and complete your daily outcome log that's required for the internship. There's usually some sort of telenovela playing downstairs that you can watch simultaneously.
10:00: Take a nice cool shower. If you don't want to pay for the laundry service, you can also wash your clothes in the shower with a bar of soap. Eat some mango, get ready for bed, and prepare to do it all again tomorrow.
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| Best way to end the night |
Word Count: 612
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