It's All a Blur

The week is a blur.  All told we probably saw over 1300 people.  I  have very mixed emotions about the clinic.  It all seemed so hectic. As I said it lacked organization and efforts to organize seem to lead to some new problem.  The very sweet people at the registration desk would add people without permission, the gatekeeper was letting people in and they were being registered.  You would say stop and they kept sending people to be triaged.  I need to gather my thoughts.  The volunteers were wonderful people but  they lacked experience and there just weren't enough people to provide the direction they needed.

I have a hard time understanding why anyone would wait in line and sit in the sun all day because they have headaches or joint pain.  Then I remembered the year in the US when everyone was panicked about no flu vaccine only to see all the old people standing out in the cold to get flu vaccine.  It makes no sense, but then you wonder about the "free" health care they have here. As I understand it was better before China came in with money.

We did see some very sick people.  The thing that is hardest to see is the beautiful faces of the babies knowing what a sad life lies before them.  Many of the children we saw were undernourished and small for their age.   People in their 60s looked like they were in their 90s.  Then their were some elderly people  who were real characters and made you laugh.  The people were grateful that we saw them, never mind that it felt like an assembly line.  There were people that came from long distances.  There was a man who walked for 5 hours.  He was delighted that we had glasses that we could give him. There were many cases of HIV and malaria.

It's hard to believe that the clinic is over.  We enjoyed wonderful dinners with the ROS staff.  They are wonderful caring people that we will leave behind to carrying on.

I can hardly believe I will have been away from home for 6 weeks. I am not sure what home even feels like anymore.  I just want a hot shower, to soak in a warm bath, clean up. They are sending us home with Malaria medicine.

Tomorrow we head for Lilongwe and will spend the night.  Saturday,  2 of us leave for home, 2 for a Safari and 1 to Nairobi, Elaine will have a short respite before heading home to California.

Will I do this again?  Probably.