Africa -- January, 2015 (Day 5)

January 15, 2015        

At 8 a.m. all 10 of us volunteers headed to the health centre since today is the big day.  Regularly scheduled expectant mother/baby vaccinations will be happening, the doctor will make his monthly visit, normal clinic procedures will occur, and we will do diabetes screening.

A few people began arriving at 8:30 or so.  It didn’t take long for the “plan,” carefully developed in yesterday’s meeting, to be ignored.  Not a surprise, just a bit of a disappointment.  Because this was the one day a month a doctor is available at the St. John’s Kayoro Health Centre, there were many people who came to see him.  The first step is to register and pay at the window where Anthony, the Administrator/Cashier, takes care of the money.

The outdoor waiting space is lovely, but people want to crowd into the building to make sure they’re seen.  There is now some seating inside, but the space is not conducive to an orderly queuing system.  Most of these people are hoping to see the doctor.

One sees sights, not typically observed in a medical facility, like this woman who carried around a live chicken during the entire time she was in the clinic.  Apparently she was on her way to or from the market which is close by.  Both she and the woman in green to her left are wearing the traditional Ugandan dress.  Ray's painting of St John's is on the wall although reflection prevents really seeing it.

Another difference between this medical facility and ones in Minnesota is the manner of transportation used to get there.  Many people walked.  Some rode bicycles (see parking lot).  And some arrived via taxi -- hopping off the back of a motorcycle as is happening at the compound gate.

The inoculation clinic, staffed by a person paid by the government to go to different places to do vaccinations, was underway and brought in a lot of young mothers and pregnant women.  This inoculation service happens once a week, on Thursdays.  

Those who are pregnant get vaccinations.     

They don't look enthusiastic, but are there, 

helping to protect their unborn babies.

Babies are brought in on a regular basis for a series of inoculations, usually scheduled on a four-week basis.  They are weighed and checked for any health problems.  There were a lot of cute babies and toddlers around.  And a lot of screaming kids once the jabs were done, although recovery was usually quick with the comfort of mom.

The vaccination specialist keeps good records.  Each mother had a card which she brings in at each visit where information is recorded, and the specialist maintains her own logs.

The specialist is paid by the government so there is no cost to the families or to the clinic for her services.  But this can happen only because the health centre is there to provide adequate space on a regular basis.  There is also training for staff who take vaccination services out to people who haven’t come into the clinic.

This day there was the added feature of the diabetes screening which was carried on by volunteers.  This was the intrepid screening team of Mary, Lea Anne, and Jered assisted by a clinic nurse with technical assistance provided by Rob [not pictured].

  

Ademun Odeke, visiting his Kayoro ancestral home, was a good sport (and faking his pain) as Mary got the blood sample.

Jered developed some skills, but it was suggested he not quit his day job.

About 65 patients were checked and a number of possible diabetics were identified.  One child was tested and her blood sugar found to be so high that the doctor sent her off immediately to the district hospital.  So perhaps a life was saved.  Not surprisingly, several people were found with low blood sugar; given the scarcity of food for some, they are not eating sufficiently.  Bananas were on hand for them, and they returned to normal quickly.

In addition to the actual testing our goal was to do some education about diabetes.  While this was not as successful as we'd hoped, several sessions were held in which Cammie presented information, which was translated.

As he was leaving at the end of a long and busy day, we finally met the doctor, Thomas Ochar, who comes once a month from the district hospital.  If he cannot come himself, he arranges for a substitute.  Again, if the health centre were not there, the people he saw today would likely not have had the chance to see a doctor.  The distance and cost would have been prohibitive.

Although I didn’t stick people for the diabetes screening, I did undertake one low-level but significant task.  I organized all the many medicines and equipment that had been left on the floor of the supply room so that staff could get into the room and categorize things.  When I left, the floor was clear and all the items were organized by type.  There was a real sense of accomplishment.  I wished I had taken a picture to contrast with the one from Tuesday.

Just before we left Mariam and her cousin with 3-year old child had come by.  So we chatted for a while before the bus took off for the hotel.

Used the rest of the afternoon to work on pictures and my blog.  I finally posted the first blot post and had a relaxing dinner at the hotel.  Others had gone out, but I didn’t want to expend that much energy so enjoyed a quiet evening with a bath and some reading after first eating dinner at the hotel.  So many people post food pictures that I thought I should do the same.  This is a hamburger and fries.  The fries were quite good.  The hamburger questionable.  It was beef but not ground in the same manner as an American burger, and the "bun" was two pieces of bread, toasted, with the crusts cut off.  Most unusual.  And no yellow mustard. . . .  Of course, the glass of wine helped.