Tetteh Quarshie Memorial Hospital is located on the outskirts of Accra, Ghana. It was built to serve the citizens of the community who are far away from downtown Accra. The hospital is gradually collapsing. Once a thriving and effective health care provider for its citizens, the facility now struggles to sustain itself. Hospital officials are desperate to find solutions to increase their dwindling resources and to care for their ever-increasing number of patients. From issues such as inadequate facilities and immobile ambulances to being understaffed and overcrowded, Tetteh Quarshie needs all the help it can get. That’s where the International Surgical Health Initiative (ISHI) comes in.ISHI was formed in 2009 as a non-profit organization dedicated to providing free surgical care to underserved communities worldwide. Working in teams of 6-15 unpaid volunteers, ISHI goes around the world to work at hospitals for 1-2 weeks at a time. While the time they spend there is relatively short, the amount of work that goes on in one day is astounding. Volunteers work morning, noon and night, sometimes managing to conduct 10 surgeries in one day. These teams are stacked with responsibilities as soon as they get in, essentially working non-stop. The team of volunteers come from all over, offering their time and money in order to make these trips happen. Everything that ISHI does comes from their own pockets as volunteers pay for their own airfare and other travel expenses. When asked why the team chose to go to Tetteh Quarshie instead of another hospital in Accra, co-founder/president Dr. Ziad Sifri merely said, “Look around.” The hospital is clearly in dire need of help and is often forgotten. After the World Bank and IMF bailed out Ghana’s economic collapse, Ghana was forced to drop the free health care it had offered from the 60’s until the early 80’s. Health care suffered as a result of the restrictions placed upon Ghana and split into public and private spheres. As a public hospital, Tetteh Quarshie depends on government funding in order to sustain itself. However, funds are low. This leaves the hospital often times empty handed. Dr. Sifri believes Tetteh Quarshie is forgotten, because it is so far away from the middle of Accra. Nevertheless, residents of the community rely on the hospital. There is not enough space for the amount of patients that come in. Even when ISHI is there providing free surgeries, they cannot do enough. The waiting room is built for 50 patients but often times sees more than 100+ people waiting for help. ISHI cannot help everyone there. It just is not possible. As much as ISHI wants to help out the hospital and provide much needed health care for this community, it simply cannot bear all of the burden. It was incredible to see what ISHI was doing. I was given the opportunity to go in and see one of the surgeries that the doctors were conducting. It was quite clear, even though they were doing a noble thing, they would not be able to do this for everyone. Walking through the waiting room and seeing so many people in line, some even standing because a lack of space, it is obvious not all of them can be served. The surgical team was given less than an hour to have lunch. When I was talking to them I could clearly see how exhausted they were, being forced to continually work to get through the seemingly never-ending queue of people. However from what I picked up from conversation, they think it is completely worth it. To be busy means they are doing something positive for the community. Even if they manage not to get everything clean. It was daunting to hear and see hospital officials walk around and point out how strapped the hospital was for funds and facilities. As difficult as that was, it was inspiring to see ISHI doing what they are doing. it makes me feel very fortunate for all that I am able to have. Please find out more about ISHI at ishiglobal.org. This article was written by Kevin Pham. Send an email to[email protected] to get in touch. Photo Credit: Kevin Pham