Sierra Leone Medical Camp
Friday 17th January – Tuesday 28th January 2014
By Jaishri Mistry, Preston
Myself and Dinesh with 34 eager volunteers departed from
Gatwick Airport on 17th Jan 2014 for a Medical Camp in
Yonibana, Sierra Leone. The Medical Camp is regularly
organised by Better Lives Foundation (BLF).
On this occasion, the volunteers came from UK, Hong Kong,
Egypt and USA, and consisted of dentists, optometrists,
paediatricians, pharmacists, GPs, nurses, a gynaecolo-
gist, ophthalmologist, and general volunteers (as we were).
In Yonibana there were a further 60 local volunteers from
surrounding districts, all eager to take part in this wonderful
seva and to help and at the same time learn various IT, ad-
ministration and medical skills offered by this medical camp.
To support the 11 day camp many logistics are involved. A
total of 72 boxes, weighing 23 kilos each, were packed with
equipment, medicine, books, clothes, food and educational
resources to provide much needed health care/education to
the community.
When we arrived at the camp in Yonibana, I was surprised to see
a compound with a house already equipped with beds, and a fully
furnished kitchen and a freezer packed with food and drinks for the
volunteers. Opposite the house was the Yonibana Sai Hospital. A
small but beautiful hospital equipped with facilities for doctors/nurses/
dentists to work in.
I had a wonderful experience helping in the optometry, pharmacy and
going out to the local villages where doctors assessed patients, whilst
we helped distribute clothes, food, assisted with Educare Programme
teaching about health and hygiene, and best of all to meet people.
Having been on a number of previous camps since 2007, Sierra
Leone was my first experience. BLF also sponsor young students for
higher education and they are privileged to use their knowledge and
gain work experience when the volunteers return 3 times a year to
conduct medical camps.
As you can imagine with the recent Ebola outbreak, BLF is providing
much needed hygiene items. You can donate by logging onto:
http://www.betterlivesfoundation.org
Yorkshire 3-Peaks:
In support of this Medical Camp we also participated in the Yorkshire
3-Peaks challenge on 4th May 2014. It was an overcast day and we
started at 6am. It is a 24.5 mile trek with the three peaks at heights
of 691m, 728m and 723m. People who took part completed 1, 2 or
3 peaks according to their capability. We are pleased to say that we
raised £802.50 for the future medical camp. Our sincere thanks to
everyone who donated.
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