Eye screening in Dakar

I arrived to Dakar for more than a week ago and it feels like I have been here so much longer. I have enjoy every second of it. Reunion is one of my favorite thing and it is so fun to spend time with Ria and the country screening team. Some of the teammembers was new for me, all with lovely personalities who have completeed the strenghen the team.

My friend Ria picked me up from the airport on Thursday January 25th after the most smooth flight and passport control. It was so nice to see Ria again. I enjoyed our car drive, a good time to chat and catching up. It is around an hour driving from the airport to the appartment where the team stayed with three fun and lovely roommates..

My job started already the next day when we train all daycrew who will join the eye team. The training was localted at the HOPE CENTER, just 10 – 60 minutes from the appartment, dipending of the trafic. Me and my collegue Woody spend 3 hours together with the day crew, Alioune, Sangone, Samba och Mor was there. We shared some facts about the eye, overview of Mercy Ships mission and lots of talks about patient flow and how to say no to patients. We had a fun time checking each others eye vision.. pretending we was almost blind.

My new colleague Ella came in early on Saturday morning and it was fun to finally met her. She will take on the role as the eye team manager. Me, Woody and Ella talked about eye stuff almost the hole day, but I also had a really nice walk by myself in the morning. I walked on a very quiet streets and there was no cars and so much more quiet than it use to be. I passed some young boys playing football on the street. I walked along the seaside and saw a small beach where I sat down on a rock and had a important talk with God.

I met the country screening team on Saturday night and we had dinner together. There was a time to reconnect to old friends, but also a time to meet some new team members as well..

Sunday morning is one of my favorite times of the week. I did a long walk this morning as well and I sat down och the same rock as yesterday.. I also picked up some beach glas and chat with interested people around me. I passed the Lagon hotel a place i like, where a part of my family stayed when they visit me for thee years ago… Lots of memories came up in my mind when i passed there, it was so special to have them here in Dakar, and also for them to see my work and to visit me onboard. They came in the right time.. just a few days later there departure, the ship was closed for visitors because of the covid situation and the world start to close down February – March 2020…time flies..

Woddy, Ella and myself had a long working day on Sunday too, but we also had a buisness lunch with Ria and Judith. Later i met a very close friend from the ship, Clementine. She was in Dakar with the hospital chaplaincy team for a week of training. I invited Clementine and her new colleague Irene for tea and we had a good time. We shared some stories and had a time of prayers before we said ”see you on the ship”…

The eye screening was planned month before I came to Dakar. Eric, Ria and the screening team had organized the screening sights and put on adds on radio ect. It is a big job to prepere something like this and I like to shout a big thank you guys and for your willingness to work together with the eye team. We are so thankful for all support we got.

DAY 1 of eye screening: YOFF 30/01/2023

The first team start the mornig already 6:00 and I was in the second car who went 6:45. We was late because of some bad traffic but started as soon as we could. We saw many patients sitting on chairs in the shad. The first screening day use to be little confusing at the start, but we was inproved after some adjustment in the patientflow. Me, Ella and Woody all start to screen patients ouside and after some time, Ella and Woody went inside for the secondary screening and a better exam. The country screening team had some patients too and we was done late that day, all happy but tired!

DAY 2 of eye screening: PIKINE 31/01/2023

We was a little better organized the secound day and the patient flow was much better. I really enjoyed to be in the middle of all this and I felt that i needed to pinch myself to know that this for real. I love to be here as a team and we can be in Africa together as professionals and give hundreds of patients advide and send in people to be scheduled for cararact surgery to recive sight. We saw people who wa blind because of many reasons… dence cataract, late Glaucoma or many many patients who have had a simple infecton who have turn the eye completely scares and the cornea is white and no light can pass in to the eye.

I saw two small boys and one lead the other. They was around 10 years old and the older one had no vision at all and his eyes was no longer visible, we call it Phtitis bulbi. The other boy had bilateral Glaucoma and an abnormal eye with a really bad cornea on one eye and the eye had poped out with bad scares on the cornea. He could see with the other eye though, but i think his eye pressure will infect that eye as well sometimes in the near future. I saw them go away together. The boy who saw a little bit, lead the blind boy, who hold his hand on his brothers shoulder and walked behind him. I looked at them when they walked away and I was touched about the picture of this two boys and I thought about there future. I took a deep breath and then continued my eye screening.. I have many pictures of patients that i need to say no too, but to see healthy eyes who need glasses or cataract patients who can recive sight through surgery, give me happiness.

DAY 3 of eye screening: KEUR MASSAR 01/02/2023

I was standing under a tree durning screening to have as much shade as possible, to have a chans to see in to peoples eyes. I look at the iris movement, how clear the cornea are and what i can see in the pupil.. If the pupil are white or not transperent. All patients who is a yes, will be sent in to Ella and Woody for a better examination. I love the first screening procedure and something I have done alot in the past. We know of experiance that the eye team need to see 3000 patients at the primary screening, to schedule 300 patients for surgery, it is 10%. It meens that most of the people we see will accually be a NO.

DAY 4 of eye screening: RUFISQUE 02/02/2023

I will always remember this day as the most fun day. I worked with a team but close to Mamy and she was so much fun and have a big sence of humor. She had the most beautiful way to comunicate with the patients and most of the had a big smile when they went home… and some was laughing. She have a big voice and at one point she talked to someone in the crowd at the waiting area and everyone was laughing load. I couldn’t undestand what she was talking about but she love to see people smile. What a gift!!

I observe one lady who came and go and she passed us so many times. She had a bright yellow dress and she had a big smile and had some coversation with Mamy as well. Just before lunch, she came to me with a bag of popcorn. She smiled and I think my smile was evan bigger than hers because I love Aftican homemade street popcorn and i was so hungry after hours of screening. I had a little pause and shared some popcorn with the team who worked around me and.. When she saw that, she came back with another bag of popcorn and asked me to keep it 🙂 so funny. We got some nice pictures and i will never forgot the blessings it can be to recive popcorn from this “popcorn mama”

This was also the day when we saw most patients and the patient flow was very good. The place where the screening was located, was an old hospital where the roof was so bad that it look like it should collapsed any second. The secondary eye screening was on the second floor but everything went well, thank God. It was a plan to build a new hospital close to the old hospital and I observed a new building beside the hospital.

DAY 5 of eye screening: DENI MALI GUEYE 03/02/2023

This screening sight was the one who was most far away from Dakar portside. We hit the road early in the morning and the traffic was nit bad at all., Patients was already there waiting for us and somebody was already screened by Ella who went with the early car. I took over from her and the sun started to be so bright that it was almost impossible to see in the pupil so i asked for a solution and Eric found a small room close to where i was located. We didn’t have so much to do, so I could see that we can use the time to walk them in one and one into that room and close the door, to have a better chans for a good screening of the eye. This room was great and i could easy see and I gave many advice before we send them home.

It was our last day of eye screening for this time and it was also the country screening teams last day of screening and follow ups. This team have travel around Senegal and Gambia and have screen at many different places, and I heared there was only two hotel who had hot water in the shower. This team have done an amazing job! They have prepared and schedule our patient who will recive surgery onboard. Mercy Ships does not just leave the country, we have a country engagement team who stay some years after the ship sail to a new country and a new port.

We had dinner together that evening. The screening teams celebrate successes and we shared some great stories together. Ria, the Bos, had a encouraging talk to everyone around the table and she is so loved and valued by her team. We know that it is not always fun and easy days to do this work, but we celebrated Gods faithfullness this night and the unity in the team. God is good!

I love to take some time for myself too and journal the best parts of the day. When i was on my way for a walk this morning, friendly people always come up and like to talk and walk along side. They ask about my name and where i’m from. I look a long walk this morning and a new guy show up and liked to pay for a cup of street coffee and give me, I coundn´t say no. He asked my name and i use to say that my name is Lilli when i’m in Africa.. he like to keep me safe and walked by my side until I told him that I like to sit and write my newsletter. He was little sad and I think he like to spend the day and married me 😃.. well, Africans are really friendly and he was a very caring. I said goodbye.

I relax mostly today and had a buisness lunch with the eye team together with some people in the team.

I have enjoy Africa and Senegal, Dakar. The plan have change for me though, so i will fly to Teneriffe tonight 3am and be back to ship tomorrow morning. It will be very nice to join the OR team and reunite with good friends.. more soon…