SALT LAKE CITY — A group of medical professionals and volunteers is getting ready for a journey that will have a major impact on the other side of the globe.
The Utah group represents a non-profit called Ghana Make a Difference.
In April, they will travel to Accra, Ghana for a medical and humanitarian mission. The trip includes nearly 10 days of providing medical and dental care to some of the world’s most vulnerable individuals.
“It's really a beautiful relationship,” said Dr. Dayne Jensen from Huntsville. “They are grateful and they are understanding that you are changing their life.”
The organization founded in 2012 not only provides medical care, but also operates a children’s home that rescues victims of abuse and trafficking. Volunteers take several trips each year because the need for medical care is so great.
“They will hear that we are coming and several days before they will start sleeping outside on the floor outside the building waiting for us to come,” Dr. Jensen said.
Jensen adds that many of the procedures heal ailments that are easily taken care of in the United States, but for the people he serves in Africa, they are life-changing.
“There are a lot of times, things we would take care of quickly here, like a tumor that could be very, very small. We would go immediately to the doctor and get it taken care of, he said. “Because there is no access to care or means to care or education that the care is needed, it grows and grows.”
In addition to doctors, nurses and scrub technicians, volunteers without a medical background will travel with the group to help in any way that is needed.
“I don't have a medical degree or anything like that – what can I help with,” said Sidney Roberts, an intern with Ghana Make a Difference. “When he [Dr. Jensen] showed me pictures of these people camping out in the days before, he’s like, ‘Check people in and make sure they are ok with postoperative stuff.’”
The all-hands-on-deck approach allows the doctors to see as many patients as possible.
“Everybody puts their head down and goes to work,” Jensen said. “It’s 70 people pulling in the same direction for the two weeks we are there.”
When the trip concludes, the volunteers look forward to their next mission because the need never ends.
“We could operate every day all day for weeks and weeks and weeks on end and we would still not even crack the surface,” Jensen explained.
While the work the group accomplishes has a profound impact on the lives of their patients, the team of volunteers believes the people they serve have made a profound impact on their lives.
“It's very easy to pat yourself on the back and be like, man I am making a difference,” Jensen said. “I can promise you, if you interviewed any of the doctors or any of the nurses or scrub techs that go and work and do these things, they would say, ‘My life is the one that actually changed. I am a better person because I have gone.’ And that's what makes it magical.”
CLICK HERE to learn more about how to get involved with Ghana Make a Difference.
