Epilepsy Expansion

This past week I went to Wum, in the North West region, for epilepsy work. It was our first time in the town, and we weren’t sure how things would turn out. There are currently three PCVs living in Wum who did all of the announcements and sensitizations, but they were still a bit worried about how many people would attend. A representative from CODEF also came to handle the consultations and to distribute medicine. Together, we all showed up at the hospital and met with the head doctors to introduce ourselves. The doctors then led us to a separate building where we would be holding our event. We walked through the doors and couldn’t believe it. There was a giant lecture hall packed with people! We had to bring in more benches and chairs, and still there were people who had to sit outside. It was entirely overwhelming. By the end of it, we had met 96 new patients. We began by giving lessons on epilepsy and talking about how to take care of someone when they have a seizure. We then began taking statistics and surveys, and one by one the patients went in to meet the CODEF representative for their consultation. Half way through the day we realized we would not be able to see every patient before dark. We ended up extending our consultations to the next day. We worked from 8:00am until after 6:00pm on the first day, and from 8:00am until 2:00pm the next day. By the second day we had seen everyone. It was exhausting! It was incredible that so many people were affected by epilepsy. This has been our highest turnout yet. We have been talking to the hospital about the possibility of starting an epilepsy clinic, and at the very least, Wum will be added to the list of places CODEF visits each month. We were told that even more people have epilepsy in the area and would have attended had it not been for poor roads and expensive transport costs. We are thinking of expanding in the area and traveling to some of the more remote villages near Wum. As always, everyone was very appreciative. As for myself, I could not be more thankful for the team of volunteers who helped out and made it all possible!