I went to the Pediatric ward today. It is one thing to have
to watch adults suffer from burns and cuts. But it is entirely different watch
a child endure the pain of malaria or typhoid or pneumonia or all three at
once. One of the hardest sights of the day was seeing a child with a severe sickle
cell anemia and she cannot respond to touch or pain. The doctor would push the
3 yr old around the hospital bed and it would not react. The mother was sobbing
on the edge of the bed because the baby hadn’t cried in 3 days and she didn’t
understand why. It was heart-wrenching to watch the doctors simply prescribe a
general set of medications and walk away. I actually had to swat away a fly
that was flying around the infant’s mouth because the infant remained lifeless
and lacked reaction.
Most of the children were malaria and typhoid patients;
however, on a more uplifting note, I met Alfred. He is an 8 month old child who
just recovered from malaria and it was so inspirational to be with him. Some of
the children, despite their age, are so strong and beat the worst odds. Also on
the positive, I now know how to properly discharge a patient and write
prescriptions. I’ve worked with a couple of doctors since I’ve come: Dr. Atunga, Dr. Mbongo, and Dr. Josiah. Cool
names, just thought I’d throw them out there.
Some shops just outside our living quarters.
Later on today, I will be going back to the hospital to
check out some labs – looking at various diseases under the microscope. I’m
exciting to see and be able to identify various illnesses on a microscopic
level. As usual, updates to come.
PS, there is some superstition in Migori against left-handed
people. When some nurses saw me write with my left hand, they were so
fascinated. “You can write with your right hand too, right?” and they were
shocked when I shook my head “no”. CULTURECULTURECULTURE. Also, our cooks are making chipatis for dinner—these are an Indian
flatbread (the Indian population in Kenya is about 20% of the total
population).
in the olden days, "sinister" referred to left. obviously bad connotations ensue, and thus, superstitions. like when my grandma was in catholic school and the nuns tried to make the left-handed write with their right hand. no one told them rulers to knuckles aren't exactly learning tools. but i doubt you're getting any of that.
ReplyDeleteand this has been a very long comment about one word. yay english majors yeaaah!