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Local plans trip to Africa |
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Thursday, 03 July 2008 |
By KAY LOUTH
Staff Writer
ST. MARYS — A New Knoxville woman is heading to the West African nation of Ghana later this summer to help set up eye clinics in an impoverished area.
Tori Mason, a pre-med student at The Ohio State University, is volunteering with Unite for Sight, a non-profit organization that helps fight eye disease in the West African nation. Since Unite for Sight started in 2000, more than 600,000 people in impoverished nations have received free eye care. The organization conducts its outreach efforts in Ghana, India and Thailand.
“Unite for Sight is the first organization to provide free eye care in those areas,” Mason said.
Mason once heard a prominent United Nations advisor say that no one can understand how things really are until they see it for themselves. Mason said she took the message to heart.
“I think it will really help me discover if this is my passion to see if I want to continue with it,” Mason said.
Mason will be based in Tamale (Toe-ma-la), which is the capital of the northern region. Mason said the region is among the poorest in the nation.
As a part of her work, Mason will travel to the region and help to set up clinics, conduct screenings and assist patients in pre and post-operative phases of treatment. There is only one surgical ophthalmologist based in Ghana and he is unable to cover the entire region in a year’s time. Mason said the doctor and his staff often operate until 3 a.m. and are away from their families for extended periods of time.
“The government does help out a lot in those regions with HIV and malaria — things they consider life-threatening diseases,” Mason said. “Eye disease has been overlooked because they don’t think of it as life threatening.”
Volunteers with Unite for Sight pay for their own expenses, plus they raise extra money for the organization as well. Mason is raising another $1,400. She also is taking 500 pairs of eyeglasses along to Ghana.
Mason sought help from the Lion’s Club, since group members collect eyeglasses for the those in need. Mason also is taking a computer scanner along for the medical team in Ghana.
So far, Mason has raised $500 and is getting started on the other $1,400. She has a Web site at http://www.uniteforsight.org/intl_volunteer/ages/?name=Victoria%20Mason where supporters and well wishers can make donations.
Mason leaves for Ghana on July 26 and will stay until Sept. 15.
The trip takes 20 hours there and 28 hours when flying home. Mason also has been immunized for numerous diseases including typhoid and yellow fever and has a prescription for malaria prophylaxis as well. She also has to bring a mosquito net with her to Ghana.
Unite for Sight estimates that there are 300,000 blind children and 6.5 million blind adults in Africa today. Those who are blind in Africa have a four times higher mortality rate than those with full sight.
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 08 July 2008 )
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