Group delivered medical supplies, volunteered at a hospital and provided HIV-prevention training
A medical mission to Ghana last month became a return home of sorts for several Brown students. They spent two weeks in the West African nation delivering medical supplies, volunteering at a teaching hospital and providing HIV-prevention training to secondary students.
At the heart of the trip were presentations about HIV/AIDS. Ghana, one of the most stable countries in the region, also has one of the lowest rates of HIV infection in sub-Saharan Africa. "But people understand that AIDS is an epidemic," said trip coordinator Vanessa Toney, a third-year M.D.-Ph.D. student. "Disease prevention is a primary concern."
The Brown students represented the University’s chapter of the Student National Medical Association (SNMA), which holds free health care programs in and around Providence annually. SNMA focuses on the health care needs and concerns of people of color. The Maren Foundation and New Scientist Program funded the trip, which was the first international medical project for the Brown chapter.
When it came to talking about HIV and AIDS, "we were well received," said Toney. Many of the teens they met with had received lectures on the topic. The Brown students spoke about the virus, followed by a small group question-and-answer session featuring facts, questions and myths.
The format "allowed a more intimate and in-depth discussion," said fourth-year medical student Sumayah J. Taliaferro. "Students opened up about a private, often taboo topic to ask honest and sensitive questions and to voice their concerns and fears."
In addition, the Brown students held an informational session about HIV/AIDS at a Catholic church and visited a home/shelter for those with AIDS. "People were grateful that we had information," said Toney.
In fact, a group of young people trained by the Brown students will help lead a follow-up HIV/AIDS education program in remote villages.
The Brown students also visited cultural centers and markets as well as the W.E.B. DuBois Museum, Kakuru National Park, a former slave castle, Aburi Carving Village and a Kente weaving village. (Ghana has renowned weavers, and Kente is a multicolored cloth woven by the Asante and the Ewe.)
Participants included a former Brown medical student, now a physician at the National Institutes of Health, three current medical students and two undergraduates. One undergraduate, Ka-Akpema Yelpaala, remained behind to conduct an independent study project on HIV.
The trip "greatly increased my perspective on the economics of developing nations," Toney said. "Ghana has an established government, natural resources in diamonds and gold, decent rainfall and intelligent, talented people, yet the country is still poor. The mineral and other resource wealth is exported. Ghanaians do not control the market price of raw materials.
"I was also impressed by the number of black role models," she said. "For example, the schools were very well run and I saw how good leaders can have a profound influence over their institutions. I’d never seen that number of black people concentrated in power before."
Five of the medical missionaries are African-American. "Maybe it made a difference that we were African-Americans presenting the medical information," said Toney. "Maybe people were a bit more receptive. But Ghana is rich in hospitality. We were welcomed with open arms. People went out of their way to be nice and helpful."
The trip felt somewhat like a family reunion, Toney said. "There, I met cousins for the first time, and was able to draw connections of a similar heritage and still appreciate our divergent yet intermingling paths."
It was an "opportunity of a lifetime," Taliaferro said. "What began as solely a medical mission emerged as a homecoming journey for me as an African American," she said.