Today was screening day and things did not go exactly as planned.
Let me start from the beginning.
I woke up at 4:40am, grabbed some breakfast, and helped to load up some trucks with supplies (As I type this, it seems like this happened soooo long ago.). From there, 9 of us loaded into a Land Rover and headed for the Freetown National Stadium. The ride was my first experience being outside of the port, and I was so surprised to see how many people were out and about at 5:30am. Streetlights are a rarity here, so it was very dark on the streets with the exception of car headlights. Freetown is known for having horrible traffic, but more on that later. The air this morning was thick with humidity, so the ride to the stadium was very sweaty, to say the least.
Built in the 1970s as a partnership between the governments of Sierra Leone and China, the once grand stadium now lies derelict. Peeling paint, garbage, and dead grass surround the building, yet the interior marble floor, brass railings, and wood paneling remain in fairly decent condition. Since we arrived while it was still dark, setting up for the screening was an interesting experience. Hundreds of us set up chairs and tables and stations using only a handful of flashlights and headlamps. None of the building's lights turned on. It took a while but eventually we had a moment to rest and apply sunscreen and bug repellant. Screening began soon after.
At first, I was paired up with Liz, a physician from the U.K. and a day volunteer. Day volunteers are locals who help out with various jobs on the ship, as well as translating. The three of us were stationed right inside the main entrance to the compound, while the rest of the eye team attempted to screen people as they waited in line. At first it was very chaotic, as patients with eye complaints surround us asking to be seen. With some help from other Mercy Shippers, we managed to set up a line so that Liz could evaluate the best choice for the patient. Basically, the options were:
- Record the patient's name and give them a pink card that assigns them an appointment on the ship for a more in depth secondary screening.
- Refer the patient to the Kissy Eye Hospital, our partner clinic where we will be holding additional screenings on just about every Monday during the 2011 outreach.
- Tell the patient that we cannot help their condition and direct them to the prayer tent.
Once we got the line established, things were going pretty smooth, and eventually the other 2 doctors and the other eye team members cam and joined us under the tent, allowing us to evaluate more patients at a time. It was an heartbreaking experience having to turn people away who we could not help, especially children, however it was equally as exciting to tell people that we may be able to cure their eye isses as we invited them to the ship for a secondary evaluation. For those of you who have heard the story of the little girl Celine, I did have the pleasure of seeing a little girl today, Dora, who was also born with bilateral congenital cataracts. We hope that when one of our surgeons arrives in a few weeks, that he will be able to operate of her. I should also add that I was definitely thankful for our day volunteer, Safiatu, as she was so helpful in translating between English and Krio, an English-based dialect.
As screening progressed, I could see through the gates that the crowd was becoming a bit rowdy. The next thing I know, the shouting became louder and we were being called to keep people from jumping the fence and to form a human chain. I quickly stowed my clipboard in my backpack and ran to join hands with Mercy Shippers I had never met. More and more people were released into the stadium, but I believe that the damage had already been done. Several people were frantically being carried, bloodied and trampled, crying, gasping for breath. The tent I was working under quickly became a triage area as nurses and doctors, without a second thought, quickly tended to the needs of these victims. The official statement is as follows:
Dear Mercy Ships Staff and Crew,
A very sad incident occurred in the course of screening activities today in Freetown, Sierra Leone of which you need to be aware.
Initial incident reports indicate that when screening personnel arrived at the stadium this morning there were 700 people already allowed into the stadium and a large crowd outside. Sometime after 9:30 events yet to be conclusively determined occurred to agitate the crowd and cause it to storm the gate. In response 200 more people were admitted to relieve pressure, but tragically 13 were injured, including one fatality and two life threatening situations. Mercy Ships personnel on site cared for the victims and accompanied them to hospitals. No Mercy Ships personnel was injured. Ongoing investigation will determine the facts. Please keep the individuals affected and their families in prayer, and pray also for the entire crew. This is certainly a time to pray and believe that God will work all things together for good in this tragic situation.
The following is the statement being released regarding the event:
Mercy Ships is deeply saddened by the tragic events that occurred today during medical screening at the Freetown National Stadium when a crowd stormed the gate resulting in several injuries and one life lost.
Mercy Ships personnel working at the site attended the injured and accompanied them to local hospitals.
"Our hearts and prayers are with the individuals and families of those affected by today's events. The occurrence of this incident in the course of activities intended to restore lives is tragic. We move forward with tremendous sadness, but great determination, to assist as many people as possible in the next ten months," stated Mercy Ships Founder, Don Stephens.
Mercy Ships exists to serve the forgotten poor and has served Sierra Leone five times over the past two decades, also helping establish two land based health care facilities. For the next ten months, Mercy Ships will be providing surgeries for qualified patients while working alongside the Sierra Leonean Government to support its five-year healthcare plan and strengthen the functions of the national health system.
Once everyone was taken care of, the decision was made to have just a skeleton crew of Mercy Shippers remain at the stadium. The Eye Team was ordered to go back to the ship. Once again, we piled into Land Rovers and set off for the quay. Needless to say, we were all feeling pretty dejected with the outcome of the day. Yes, we had gotten some work accomplished, but there was so much left to do. Unforunately, it was out of hands.
To make matters worse, on the ride back to the ship, we got caught in the infamous Freetown traffic. To give you an idea of it, imagine any major city, and then make the streets narrower and dirt, add in a few thousand motorbikes, and then make sure there is no differentiation between the road and the sidewalk. People selling everything from fresh fruit to towels to candy to DVDs come right up to your window, as children, motorbikes, and businessmen all weave in between the moving vehicles. It took nearly an hour to get back to port, a trip that should have only taken 20 minutes. I have never seen anything like it. When I return to the states, I will honestly try to never complain about traffic there again.
The rest of the day was quiet, as waves of MSers returned to the ship. The captain had us write down our individual accounts of what happened, and this evening we had a debriefing meeting to discuss the day's events. It was emotionally and physically draining, but we all knew that the day was in God's hands, despite how hard it was/still is to see where He is in all of this. We will still carry on with our mission of bringing hope and healing to the forgotten poor here in Sierra Leone. Regardless of what happened, God has brought us together in the place for a purpose and we will continue to seek Him and His will in the coming months.
I can't say thank you enough to all of you have been supporting me throughout all of this.
