Okanagan Community Clinic

The View Driving up to the Clinic

For the past 3 days, we have had the privilege of working at the Okanagan Community Clinic which was handed over to Ghana Health Services in November, 2014.  This clinic has been a vision of Vida and Philomena Yakong and has been a work in progress for several years.  It is situated in a beautiful and peaceful village called Nyobok, and was a nice change of scenery from the Tamale Teaching Hospital. Nyobok is the village where Vida and Philomena were born and grew up.  

We were informed that people had been lining up over the weekend as they heard that we were coming to perform health screening. Over the course of three days we were able to see over 300 villagers! They were long, tiring days, but the satisfaction that we felt at the end of each day more than made up for it. We each felt that we had made a valuable contribution and impact on the health and well being of those individuals that we were able to see.  

Okanagan Community Clinic, Nyobok

Ogopogo Maternity Ward

We set up a station where we each had a specific job- one person took vital signs, one person documented the necessary information, and the last person dispensed the required medication. Although it took a bit of time on our first day to work out an efficient system, we managed to eventually! While we were busy at the clinic on the first day, Jeanette heard of a young woman (Mmabil) requiring medication and medical attention for a wound on her lower leg. She visited her in her home, and with Vida's help encouraged her to come to the clinic for treatment (she had just been using traditional medicine).  On the second day imagine our joy when we saw Mmabil using a cane and walking to the clinic just as we pulled in for the day!  

Waiting Patiently

Samaya and Kyla organized what supplies they could in order to perform a dressing change. They had to improvise (Samaya used a pair of scissors as tweezers), but together they made it work! They took the opportunity to teach Philemon, the Community Health Nurse how to change the dressing, so he could perform it independently. Mmabil agreed to return daily for dressing changes, and on the second day her leg already looked much better!  

Philemon is the only staff at the clinic right now and his role is immense. He is expected to independently assess, diagnose, and treat clients as well as fill out their insurance paperwork. We have a lot of respect for his role! He was so kind and patient amidst the chaos, he does beautiful work! Overall, our experience at the Okanagan Community Clinic is something that we will never forget, and we hope to return again in the future!

Visit by the District Director and her Team.