Sheree Montoya, nurse practitioner and owner of NoCo Healthcare in Greeley, set out on an exploratory journey to Africa last August. She knew she wanted to start a nonprofit that would send teams to help children and families across the world, but she didn’t know exactly what to expect or what she would find when she got there. Join her through the words of her journal as she and Rachel Esh traveled to remote villages, just the two of them, to see how they can bring healthcare and love from Greeley to Ghana.
Rachel Esh (my friend who is a nurse) and I have started a nonprofit to do village work in Ghana. This trip was about trying to make connections and doing trial clinic days. Rachel has old contacts from living here long ago that have been invaluable for this trip, but we had no idea of what we needed, how to do it or how to pull people together to organize. Let’s be honest, I had no idea of the diseases or treatment/dosing for things like typhoid or “deworming” people…
“Maame nurse” 8/7/23
Strategy, pharmacy, supplies and snacks…
After traveling 24 hours from Denver to Cape Coast Ghana, we woke early and started planning. Meeting with 2 nurses, a PA and a pastor we made a medication formulary. I have no idea what we are going to treat or need. The chiefs of the villages have been contacted for our 2 clinic day trials and we have permission to see patients. There will be a fishing village and a farming village and many people looking to get care. They are looking to us to get the right medications. Thank goodness for Rachel’s friends here helping us or we would be completely lost. After making a list and checking it—not twice but 5 times—we headed to the pharmacy and waited…and waited…and waited. 6 hours later, we headed to the “black market" to haggle for other supplies, simple things, like a “blood pressure apparatus,” scale, glucometer, malaria tests, bags for meds, paper, pens and ALL the other things we did not think to bring. Not going to lie, maybe I bit off more than I can chew.
“Obroni” 8/8/23
Obroni literally means white person. Many, many people waited and held out to see the Obroini. I am a fish out of water and learned all medications are not created equal (which I was prepared for but not to this extent). What I would do and have at home is not what I have here. The blood pressure cuff was broken in the luggage, the pulse ox does not always read, but I had Vincent and Imma. Imma to translate and Vincent to give me a crash course in village illnesses and all the meds we bought yesterday. After 2 hours I was on my own, no more hand-holding. All in all, the day went well. We treated 244 patients, worked hard and used our resources to get it done! Imma encouraged us by saying, "If we can help one person for one moment, we are making a difference.” God bless this man!
“Above the canopy and hospital connections” 8/9
Day off to regroup, count meds and organize for the second trial day. We took the morning off and went to a park to walk around. Very beautiful but was anxious to see how else we can help. We headed to the hospital to see if there were opportunities for our group when we came in February next year. There is no way on earth you could just walk into a hospital, take a short tour and volunteer off the street, is there? Well, yes, there is. The “head nurses” were welcoming and enjoyed walking us around to see their patients. The families let us hang out, take pictures and ask questions. What does this mean? They would love for us to come and help do patient care when we are back. They need help feeding, giving childhood vaccines on big vaccine days and really anything we can or want to do.
“Village clinic day second trial….” 8/10/23
The first day was a success, how hard can the second day be? Everyone wants glasses, we did not bring the eye doctor because we did not anticipate this. So, we had to send our driver to pick him up. He was willing and got right to work. He was pretty proud that he saw 86 patients, as he put it, "all by himself." Everything was going well until a young single mother of 3 had a hemoglobin of 4, yes, 4. For those of you without a medical background, this was LOW. I don't know how accurate the quick testing is, but it's gotta be pretty close. She fit the picture of anemia and needed a blood transfusion. The hospital cannot do one currently and there are other logistical issues. These are the curve balls that village work throws you and smacks you in the face when you're cruising along, patting yourself on the back. Without going into all the details, we had to get creative. Thank goodness for the pharmacist and our driver or else there would not have been much we could have done.
Baby Andrew 8/11/23
Today is the last day before we head back to the city.
There was a report of an abandoned baby that was with a 60+-year-old grandmother. 5 days old, the mother has special needs and wanders. They do not know who the father is. So we bought formula, bottles, fabric, wipes and water to teach the grandmother how to feed the baby with fresh water and formula. She walked with the baby to the hospital to meet us. The custom is to name the baby after the day of the week it was born. They then have a Christian name. The grandmother asked me to name him. His name is Andrew after my uncle who helped today. But we need follow-up.
Amy, our nurse friend, works at the hospital and the grandmother will bring him in to do weight checks every week. They will also bring the mother in if they can find her to do injections for birth control.
Thank you to my family, Rachel's family and friends who have supported us during this and have wanted to help. We have sponsored medications for 444 patients treated, an eye doctor to do exams and 85 pairs of glasses. Then, today, we purchased rice, oil, condensed milk, tomato paste, canned fish, toothpaste and soap for 12 orphans. This has been an unforgettable gift and a humbling experience. We now have the groundwork and structure to come back at least once a year with others who are willing to help and experience the fullness I now feel.
To learn more or get involved with Sheree's nonprofit, Agape World Health LLC, visit AgapeWorldHealth.com.
