Day 4 – Diabetes Screening Clinic
Patients coming into today’s diabetes clinic at Mercy Hospital
Hello Floris Family,
Today was an important day for the community here in Bo, Sierra Leone, because Mercy Hospital worked with the expertise of the medical professionals on our team to provide an annual diabetes screening clinic. The clinic team also treated hypertension, triaged other conditions, and provided supportive medications. Diabetes has been a silent killer here for many years due to limited resources, very constrained access to insulin and ways to store insulin due to the infrequency of refrigeration and electricity, and lack of broader health education.
Mercy Hospital, with the support of medical professionals from South Carolina and a grant obtained for Mercy Hospital by the SC missioners, is attempting to make a dent in this problem. Since here, I have heard stories of people being screened with extreme out of range blood sugar levels from as low as 1 to as high as 500+. People walk into hospitals and clinics like ours today on the verge of death not knowing why they feel so bad.
This work of addressing diabetes will have to be a long-term vision for the staff of Mercy Hospital and HCW. In our context in Northern Virginia, some people are competing for diabetes medication to simply lose weight. Here, people do not have access to basic diabetes care. I heard at the governmental hospital that they have the machine to calculate A1C levels, but they cannot afford the cartridges. Things that are simple for most American diabetes patients are just not possible here. The good news is that with our support ant that of other HCW partners a foundation is being laid where the risks, loss of life, and substantial health complications of diabetes can eventually be minimized, as has been the case with other diseases being addressed through medical outreach.
The diabetes clinic continues for a second day tomorrow. There has been a non-stop flow of people coming for screening. We expect the same tomorrow, even with the rainy season.
Students of the UMC supported school in Bo
In addition, I traveled with the educators on our team and the lead education liaison at the CRC to visit local church-run schools today, including the local Methodist School for all ages in Bo. This July team has collaboratively resources teachers over many years and developed a “master teacher” curriculum with the help of HCW staff.
In the school visits today, we found students at the end of school session time studying for their final governmental exams (kind of like our SOLs). I learned about the need for more classroom spaces at the UMC school and the growing leadership and talents emerging from girls in the UMC school. The CRC helps families by providing supportive resourcing to encourage education. In our interview time today, the pastor spoke proudly of the dreams and brilliance of his students. He is both pastor and teacher appointed by the UMC.
As I write, it is late afternoon, and what had been off and on rain today is now a steady pour. The rain falling around the MTC where I am housed reminds me of how God’s grace pours over all things. God has been at work here through HCW and the work of Floris-Restoration for more than 24 years, but that grace continues to stream from your faithfulness and that of others who dream of God’s vision for all people.
Thanks for your prayers. I hope to share with you about what tomorrow hold.
-Gina