The countdown begins. In a week and a half I will be back home. We have had 3 busy clinic days. So far we have seen just under 400 patients. This clinic is really different. One of my RNs was pulled to do lab so I am busy screening patients and trying to triage them also, fortunately there is help to keep the flow going. The translators are good, for a short while I did not have one so the one we had handled the translation for 2 nurses. There are a fair number of people here that speak good English.
What was good about the translations was they stuck to translating instead of having a long conversation with a patient then you got a short answer and also had to clarify what was being said then find out that you were totally off tract. We were kept very busy because we had 3 doctors that could see any of the patients. Most of the children were seen by Elaine and the other 2 providers saw most of the adults. This was definitely a benefit in moving the clinic forward.
The people here are really poor. We saw a lot of sick babies and kids, rashes, hypertension, coughs and fevers and even some typhoid fever.
Tuesday, it was warm, the past 2 mornings have been very cool. In the 4 plus weeks here I have regretted carrying heavier clothing. I needed them these past 2 days. Yesterday it rained really hard for about 10 minutes. They had a tent covering for the people waiting in the courtyard. It really changes one's perspective about waiting when you have been at a Medical Clinic here. We much to be thankful for.
The clinic here is about a mile from the guest house. We have been getting a ride to and from the clinic, yesterday we walked back along the village perimeter. We met the witch doctor, some kids demanding money. There was a fence between us and them. It is interesting to see kids and people come in who have been at the witch doctor, black strings tied around there wrists and ankles, or their waists.
We have been well taken care of here each evening we have been invited to dinner at one of the ROS homes. We have lunch at the dining hall, I was grateful that they decided to let us serve ourselves , they had been serving us too much. When you see under nourished people you do not want to waste food In other clinics they would serve African portions or mzungo (white person) portions. Which meant that they served larger portions to the national volunteers.
I am at a loss for words to express the emotions I feel being here. I know it will take me a long time to unpack this trip.
On a good note, Ethiopia got their first 2 children.
On a light note, one of the sights as we drove to the village on Sunday afternoon, was people selling roasted mice on a stick.
Good day and good night.
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