Pictures/Video

Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Wema Hospital and Giraffe center

In front of Wema hospital. I look a little frazzled because I and Nadir, another volunteer, went for a 7-8 mile trail-run early in the morning and then rushed to clinic.


Some things you simply cannot live without:) 

This is where I am learning to prepare drug injections. Better known as the pharmacy.


I am usually at this desk. The walk-in patients come and sit in the white chair.

This is the back of the clinic. First door is doctors office/pharmacy and then the next couple doors are the wards. There are about 7 beds that can have in-bound patients. Today, one gentleman had cirrhosis of liver (along with typhoid and malaria) and had a bulging abdominal cavity from all the build up of fluid. Medicine here is much, much different than in US. In US most sickness is caused by lifestyle (ex. heart disease, obesity, diabetes) but here most disease is infection based (ex. malaria, typhoid). Malnutrition, however, doesn't help the situation and many patients lack protein and vitamins in their diet. Not many overweight people here because so much walking. Treated a Siamese twin today. One of the patients in the ward should be having child birth within the next couple weeks.


Here we are practising our needle injection skills=) Injections are very common here and so its imperative we learn how to hit the vein. So far I have only missed one vein and that was on another volunteer, Gabby. Quin, another volunteer was practising on me and missed 3 times... I won't lie, I was feeling a little dizzy after that=)


Pics from the giraffe centre.