Godomey: Lundis

On Mondays, we run an ophthalmic clinic at Godomey. 

Here is the entrance:

The children are seen first, followed by the blind and elderly. Then numbered tickets are distributed in an attempt to maintain order....

Patients being registered by one of my Beninoise day volunteers:

After registration and a brief medical history, patients take a visual acuity test:

After the Visual Acuity exam, patients spend a few minutes with our Ophthalmic Specialist. Said specialist is a british man we shall call Bob. "Bob" doesn't like having his picture taken, and has therefore been omitted from the visual representations here. Regardless of said Bob's quirks, he does an excellent job at diagnosing, treating, and referring patients for a great many diseases and conditions. It is no lie to say that without Sir Bob, the Ophthalmic Field Team would cease to operate as we know it.

Glaucoma, cataracts, pterygia, and strabismus are the most common conditions we are routinely faced with. Some of these conditions require medical treatment and others require surgical intervention. The medical patients are given medicine, or referred to a capable local facility for further treatment. The surgical patients come to my table for scheduling.

The empty chair is where I sit:

I couldn't convince anyone at the time to take a picture with me in it, so I tried taking one of myself: (this actually provides you with a nice view of the scheduling table...my head is in the bottom right corner)

Though "Bob" declined consent for a photograph, here is his translator and assistant dilating a patient's eye for examination: :)

Many apologies for the delay in writing... I have been busy.

More later...