Our arrival into Asaba meant
getting down to business and starting the medical missionary work of trip. We
started our week long task of sorting over a million medication pills to be dispersed at all six health fairs. We spent the first night and entire day
sorting out pills in our hotel rooms. The very first health fair, we we split
into our assigned stations and worked to see over hundred patients less than half-way
through the health fair. Our assigned groups included teaching CPR, dispersing
medication, eye exams, taking weight, temperature, blood pressure and checking blood glucose levels. We wrote down all acquired information to give to the doctors working
the health fair so they could prescribe the proper medication for each patient.
Happy Patients Leaving Asaba-Demetria Walker
The first health fair was my first experience communicating, working one on one with each patient to acquire measurements and data for the doctors. Most patients spoke some form of British English and the native language of their village. I was amazed at my capability to communicate with people from a country over 6,000 miles away from home. If the patient did not speak English, a neighboring patient offered to translate. Also each patient poured into the health fair with excitement to improve their health. As I took different measurements of temperature and weight, the patients questioned if my findings were within the means of good health. I observed patients inviting their friends and family members personally and by phone to the health fair. The excitement of the people in Asaba to improve their health was so overwhelming. I soon forgot about staying up into the early hours of the morning sorting medication and received a boost of energy to power through the day!
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