INTRODUCTION – The Rafiki Village
The Rafiki Village is an orphanage situated in the Effutu Municipality in the Central region of Ghana, about 20 km east of the Winneba township. The orphanage houses approximately 80 children. It operates a clinic and a school to serve the needs of the children and staff. The clinic is managed by a retired nurse. There are also supporting staff for the clinic’s dispensary and laboratory, but these two departments are led by a pharmacy assistant and laboratory assistant respectively. The range of services offered are limited and very basic. There are two consulting rooms and two wards – male and female – which are used to detain patients when needed.
THE MISSION
The purpose of the mission by KADEM was to provide medical care and dental screening to the children and staff of the orphanage as well as the surrounding villages.
The mission took place from the 1st to the 3rd of August 2024. The first two days were purely for medical care provided by Drs. Ekua Agyeman and Gabriel Molley from Canada.
In all 201 patients were seen by the medical team. The conditions the team saw includes malnutrition and fungal skin infections in the children, non-communicable diseases such – mainly hypertension and diabetes – in the adults, general musculoskeletal pain as well as a few ophthalmic cases. The team also saw some surgical cases – mostly inguinal hernias – which were either referred or booked for a future surgical mission.
On the third day, 3 dentists – Dr. Victoria Afari, Dr. Sheila Ayim and Dr. David Dompey – and a dental nurse from the University of Ghana Dental School (Korle Bu) in Accra joined the team to offer dental education and screening.
The dental team provided dental education prior and screening to patients. In all, the dental team screened 46 patients for various dental conditions.
RECOMMENDATIONS:
- The next mission should include a plan to do full pediatric malnutrition assessments on the kids. The mothers and staff in general should be provided education on positive discipline and developmental delays, as well as identifying and managing ‘abnormal’ behaviours relating to ADHD and other related conditions.
- Medications: KADEM should partner with Canadian / Ghanaian pharmaceutical companies to provide medications for the facility and for use during the next mission. This should include but not limited to antifungal creams, dewormers, antihypertensives, analgesics, antibiotics, etc.
- There is the need for more ‘consulting rooms’ (or consulting stations) as there will be more medical professionals during the next mission. The Rafiki village should consider converting the male and female wards into consulting rooms during the next mission.
- Supplies for the children: KADEM should consider presenting some used clothing and toys to the orphanage for the children.
Report Authored by: Dr. Gabriel Molley
