No matter how
many times you watch those adverts on the television, especially for things
like comic relief where you see clips of children who are suffering from
extreme hunger, the reality of it will never hit home as hard as meeting these
precious, smiling children with bloated stomachs because they haven’t had
enough food.
Just because of
the geographical location and financial situation that they happen to be born
into, some children will not have access to the same opportunities as children
that happen to be born into a more privileged geographical location and
financial situation. How is this fair that these children are then left to
suffer within these situations?
Foreigner with a First-Aid Kit
I noticed that
a lot of the children had cuts that needed to be cleaned and treated. So I got
my basic first aid kit out, and tackled the issue head on, taking care to
ensure that all cuts and wounds were sufficiently treated. As I set about to
work on the patients, I don’t think I was aware quite what tomorrow would
bring.
People had obviously
spread the word that there was someone treating wounds, because people were
flooding in from all over the village with various wounds to be treated – some
of which were quite distressing and would usually be a case for a trained
nurse. One lady came with a hole in the side of her breast, allegedly related
to a form of infection such as breast cancer. Apparently she had been to the
clinic previously to get it treated but the clinic didn’t have access to the
right materials, so were unable to finish, allowing the wound to become
infected.
Another
‘patient’, a young guy, had sliced his finger almost in half length-ways with a
machine and had left it unclean for four days. If it was not for the news that
there was someone who was helping in the community who had a basic first aid
kit, this young man would have continued to let his finger become infected,
leading to an increased risk of infection and damage to his nerves. His main
reason for not getting his finger treated earlier was because he could not afford
health insurance. Health insurance in Ghana costs very little.
