I'm Still Alive... and rejuvenated :o]

I went to an RCH Clinic today and it was absolutely amazing. From 8-noon I rotated shifts between weighing babies, de-worming them [not easy, I came home with a bunch of vomit on my pants], giving them their vitamins, watching injections be given, and giving pre-natal exams with pregnant women. I cannot even begin to describe how extraordinary this experience was. It was probably the first time since being here that I actually felt as if I was doing something, instead of observing the wonder going on around me.

We arrived around 8 this morning and there was a group of women with babies/children under the age of 5 sitting on benches waiting for us. When the RCH nurse showed up, it was instant chaos; Sarah, one of the PCV’s who is leaving in April, was like, “Okay, who wants to weigh babies?” I instantly raised my hand and a baby was thrust into my arms. Analyzing their immunization cards and noting their weight change was fun, albeit crazy-hectic at times. Trying to explain in Mandinka that their baby has lost an extreme amount of weight in only a month was difficult… most women would not tell you their child was sick unless you came right out and asked.

During a pre-natal visit with one expectant mother, another mother rushed in with her 2 week old baby girl swaddled in fabric. Pushing aside the cloth, she showed the midwife her child was completely covered in a bacterial skin infection and was refusing to nurse. It was heartbreaking. The most the midwife could do was prescribe hydrocortisone cream and send her on her way… and recommend a legit clinic/hospital. The rest was left in the mother’s hands.

A pre-natal exam for a pregnant woman over here consists of the following:
1. Get Weight. Most of these women were 7 months along and I weighed a good 15 pounds more than them. A bit disturbing…. I need to lay off the rice.
2. Blood pressure. We were taught how to do this, and it is an old-school BP machine, also difficult to hear the pulse with hundreds of screaming children in the room next door.
3. Bring the woman into the next room, have her lay down. The nurse can tell how far through her term a woman is by the position of the bellybutton. She would then place her fingers on the bellybutton and count the length until it reached the sternum. If the woman was 36+ weeks along she would grab the head of the baby [or at least search for it]. We were able to do this… to feel the baby’s head from outside the womb. Very intense! Amazing.
4. Try to find baby’s heartbeat.
5. Depending on how far along, give her vitamins and anti-malaria medicine.

Yup, that’s it. Pretty astounding! These women are incredibly resilient. Honestly. I am still in shock over the things I saw today.

Anyway, I am off to make neem cream with my host family. Neem leaves are off a tree and act as a natural mosquito repellant. By creating a lotion, people here are more likely to use it. So off to do my second good deed of the day :o]

Love & hugs…. And completely happy & content with where I am & what I’m doing right now…

Ps. Marsey goes for a hair modeling audition today at 2pm! I am so excited for her and wish I was home to experience this with her. I will patiently await her phone call tonight around 8pm :o] love you sissy!!!!