My first sighting of the African coastline. I was so excited as I looked down from my window on the plane, but I had no idea what to expect.

The streets of Accra, the capital city where I spent half of my trip

Two of the other volunteers and I pose outside the airport. Marie, my roommate for the trip, is from Boston, and Marloes is from the Netherlands.

Each volunteer brought over 300 pairs of eyeglasses and sunglasses in suitcases to donate. This is only a small part of my group's mountain of glasses.

Two volunteers, one from Russia and one from Ghana, are giving young students a visual acuity exam to test their vision. This type of exam gave a rough estimate of vision impairment before a more detailed fundus exam was carried out by a trained ophthalmic nurse.

After the exams were finished for the day (about 160 total!), the school's choir sang for us. They sounded incredible, and after the rehearsal some of the volunteers joined in with singing and musical instruments. I played on a big bongo drum.

The girls, squished into the back of our big white van. The van was purchased by Unite for Sight a few years ago and has drastically expanded the program by allowing for storage space for glasses, medications, and extra volunteers...most of the time!

On our way to the Adansi South region of Ghana where my group spent our last five days, we stopped at the Liberian refugee camp in Buduburam. Many people had already gone home to Liberia since the political turmoil was dying down, but it was eye opening to see where they lived and what Unite for Sight had done there.

Loading the van for another long but rewarding day.

Wherever we went, people were lined up waiting for us. During this visit, we gave our exams in a village's church.

Kartee, an ophthalmic nurse from Liberia, gave a talk about eye health and safety at the beginning of each day. The woman pictured decided to come forward and speak about her positive experiences with Unite for Sight. She had severe cataracts in both eyes and was completely blind a year ago. She would still be blind had Unite for Sight not been there.

Working at the refraction station was the most rewarding for me. Each person began reading the smallest line they could on a card with different font sizes. This woman could not see any at first, but by the time I moved through the lenses to our highest prescription she broke into a huge smile. "I can see the top line!" I gave her a new pair of glasses to take with her, and she did not stop saying "thank you" until I could not see her anymore. That moment made the entire trip worth it.

We stopped to eat at a beachside restaurant in Cape Coast next to an old slave castle on the way back to Accra, and Kartee went to sit by the ocean while we waited for our food. This was one of my last sights of Ghana, and it was utterly beautiful.