Eye Clinic

So, after my last post, I have been to the eye clinic twice, now. I spent Thursday and Saturday morning there, and I really enjoy my time there. Thursday was an examination day, so Dr. Carr, Dr. Bouba, and Dr. Tanko spent the day examining patients who have come in for the first time, or who are going to have surgery the following day. I have, thus far, been very impressed with this operation. They are really efficient, and they see more patients in an hour than most American eye clinics see in an entire day. Everyone who works there is very welcoming, too, and I think I am really going to enjoy working there and feel really good about my time there. I spent most of the time on Thursday observing the doctors, nurses, orderlies, and patients in order to get a feel for the place.

Friday was a surgery day, so I didn’t come in, as I would be of pretty much no help in an operating situation. Dr. Kar does 30+ surgeries a day, which is, as Rob pointed out, insane. She’s so incredible, and I don’t know how she does it. This would probably never fly in the US, but a lot of the things that happen in American clinics are just impossible in poor, rural settings. So instead of going to the clinic, I went with Kelly Jo and a few other students to do AUN’s weekly community service trip to read to children. It was such blast. The kids are so funny, and they love, love, love to read and be read to. Fortunately, a shipment of books collected by AU students had just arrived, so they even had some new books to work with. The 4 little boys I was reading with were a riot. They all fought over the books, told me they were ninjas, and said they had gone up in a hot air balloon yesterday. It was hotter than hell, because we were sitting outside this whole time, but it was a lot of fun, and I hope to go back next week if I can. Reading to these kids and seeing how much they love and appreciate the few books they have makes me so thankful for the incredible Hennepin County Library system that was at my disposal my entire childhood and adult life. It also makes you think about how much kids in the US take what they have for granted. Its not their fault; you can’t expect a 6-year-old to know any better, but I can’t help but think about how silly it is when American (or other privileged) kids say they hate reading, school, books, and learning, and all they want to do is plunk down in front of a TV. These Nigerian kids would, I think, give anything to have access to the books that American students regularly reject, and would love to sit in an American classroom if they could. It just goes to show how different people’s life experiences are, and how lucky we all were to born into the particular circumstances we live in.

Anyway, on Saturday, I went back to the clinic. Saturdays are when the doctors examine patients who have been operated on recently. After cataract surgery, the patients stay in the hospital for 2 days, and then are asked to come back after 15 days and after 30 days. Saturday is when they examine these post-op patients. On Thursday, Dr. Kar had pointed out to be two specific patients who were going to have their surgeries done the next day. One was a woman who was totally blind. She used a walking stick and was led around by her family, and the other was a 10 or 12 year-old boy who couldn’t see anything because of hereditary cataract development. She doesn’t usually do children (and I’ll get to that in a second), but this boy’s situation couldn’t wait, apparently, so she did him right away, too. When I got to the clinic on Saturday, she gave me a translator, and sent me to the wards to go find these two patients. It was amazing, and I am honestly tearing up as a write this. After being unable to see anything at all, both the woman and the little boy were seeing clearly for the first time in decades. They were both so grateful to the doctor who gave them back their sight, and it was amazing to see the complete change in both of them after only 48 hours. The hunched over, timid woman was sitting tall and proudly, and the little boy could look you in the eye when he talked to you. It was incredible, and I can’t wait to go back and see more patients. I talked to some other patients in the wards, too, and they were similarly grateful and had similarly miraculous recoveries. It’s hard enough to be blind in the US, where people know and respect the white walking stick and seeing eye dogs are available, but I can’t imagine living in the kinds of circumstances these (primarily Fulani) people do, and then being blind on top of that. Giving people back their sight is just life changing, and the doctors and staff who work at the hospital are absolutely inspiring.


Post-op patients in the wards at the Yola Eye Hospital.

I’ll be going back to the clinic this week, and I am planning to work there 5-6 days a week (they’re open Monday-Saturday). I just want to see and experience and do as much as I can in the clinic for the short time that I’m here. As I mentioned earlier, Dr. Kar can’t do surgery on the little kids with cataracts and other eye problems at the clinic, because general anesthesia isn’t an option there. The adults (and that little boy I mentioned earlier), just do it with a little local anesthesia, but it’s more than a little unreasonable to expect a 3-year-old to lie still while a scalpel comes at her eye. So, the clinic organizes an “eye camp” in Abuja periodically. The next one is taking place at the end of June, and overlaps with the end of my time in Yola and my return to Abuja (from which I will leave for the US), so I will hopefully be able to spend a little time at the eye clinic and help out the doctors at the camp in Abuja. It’s amazing how far the patients travel from. As I have said, this is the only eye clinic in all f Adamawa state, and the closest one for most of the surrounding states, too. People come from so far away to get their eyes fixed, and it’s amazing to be able to see then go home with their sight back.


Tulika and me.

Other than the eye clinic, I haven’t been up to too much. Apparently, AUN campus is home to two Tantalus monkeys, which I didn’t know until last night when Kelly Jo took me out to feed them. Apparently, they were brought to campus by the construction company that was building some of the structures here, and they used to be free-ranging around the place, but then the girl started biting, so she and her partner are now in a large, outdoor cage. They eat fruit, and apparently these two love popcorn, which I think is funny, and the girl is pregnant. She should be giving birth within the next two weeks or so, so it’ll be fun to see a little baby monkey before I leave. KJ and I went with a woman named Betsey, who is the VP of Finance, and who used to live in Northfield, MN. That brings the number of people at AUN who know and have been to Minnetonka, MN, to 2 (other than myself), which I think is fairly impressive, don’t you? Kelly Jo is going to be in the US for 10 days starting sometime next week for a study-abroad conference, but I might be going on a weekend trip with Betsey and her visiting son and daughter-in-law, which would be really fun. I’ll let you know if it happens and where I go!


Jack, the male Tantalus monkey at AUN likes to eat fruit and popcorn.

I’m beginning to miss some things about the US that I never thought I’d miss. I knew I would miss my family and friends, and I really do, but I also miss American food, the DC Metro system, and grass. There is pretty much no greenery to be found here. I also really miss spring in Minnesota, as that’s a beautiful season and the weather is perfect. I am also finding myself missing American movie and TV, which is odd, because I don’t watch too much of either, normally. However, because Yola is not that exciting of a place, as far as my fellow students are concerned, they watch lot of movie and TV on their laptops. I don’t know how they do it, because the internet is far to slow here to download or stream anything, but hearing it makes me mist up a little for home. Especially when I could hear my roommate listening to Mulan, which is my favorite Disney movie. Also, people in Nigeria (and Africa as a whole, as I understand it) don’t really like dogs. They see them as a security tool, and they don’t understand why Americans keep them as pets. The complete shortage of warm, fuzzy creatures here makes me miss Blacky and Rosie and all the neighborhood dogs and cats. I remembered that I have all the Harry Potter books on audio on my laptop, which is nice to listen to when missing home, and it’s also getting me ready to see the new movie shortly after my triumphant return. How are all of you?! I like to hear news of the goings on in Minnesota, DC, and elsewhere, so keep me posted on your lives! If you have Skype, we can do the text-chatting (IMing), but the video and voice feature has proven to be too much for Nigerian internet to handle.

Anyway, I should go eat lunch here before the cafeteria closes, as it is the only source of food on campus. Also, breakfast has proven to be my best meal here, and those of you who know me well will be amazed to discover that Nigeria has turned me into an early riser! The weather is much more bearable early in the morning, breakfast is the best meal in the cafeteria, and I have class at 8am 5 days a week and leave for the clinic immediately after (and at 8:45 on Saturday mornings)! We’ll see if this lasts once I return to the US!