Day 10: General Clinic

Went to the General Clinic where I saw how Diabetes and epilepsy are treated and monitored in Malawi. Definitely different than back home. What was even more interesting to me was how medical records are kept. Each child has a "health passport" in which physician's write in whenever they go to a clinic or are admitted to the hospital. It helps with keeping track of medical decisions, but is not perfect because sometimes what is written in the book is not what mom has been giving the kid.

When we got home two of the guys encountered Leprosy on their ward, which is quite rare, even by Malawi standards.




Day 11: To market, to market

Decided to check out the Neurology clinic, where I got to see even more pathology. A child seized in front of us and we ended up diagnosing him with Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome. I had to look it up. Apparently it is when a child presents with different kinds of seizures (grand mal/tonic-clonic, to partial seizure, to absence seizures) due to diffuse neuronal injury. In normal people terms: something affected the whole brain and which is why different types of seizures show up. Additionally, we got to see a child who was having convulsions after eating pork and getting the pork tapeworm, Taenia Soleum.

In the afternoon, I headed over to the A & E (accident and emergency) ward. Saw a child who had severe pneumonia to the point that she would stop breathing. The registrar (resident) would bag-valve mask (breathe for her with the pump) to bring her back around. The only other thing to be done would be to place the kid on a CPAP. In the US, a kid like this would be placed on a ventilator to help her breathe. There are no ventilators at this hospital, only a "sort-of" way to help aid her breathing, which is CPAP here. Mom and grandmother refused, as it was too invasive of a procedure. I left with the registrar to see other kids, and do not know what happened to Honour. Things are definitely different down here.

The next place we went was a triage area, where they were giving out Quinine shots. In all honesty, it almost sounded like a torture chamber. The child would be held down for his/her shot and be screaming the whole time. The next kid in line would see what was coming and start screaming and crying, which became a ripple effect down the line.

On the way home, one of the girls and I stopped at a market, as I needed to pick up items since the luggage hadn't come in yet. I was able to get a shirt with "Who's your Paddy on it" for St. Patrick's day, along with a white skirt, shorts, a watch and a notebook. One of the conversations at the market:

lady: "I help find your size. This your size."
me: "No, thank-you. That's not my size."
lady: "What your size?"
me: "Closer to 8"
lady: "You not 8, you too fat for 8."
me: "Thaaanks."

I wasn't too offended, as she meant it as a compliment. Larger people are more desired and have more wealth and money for food. It's interesting to think that in the US, their selling line is "oh, but you look so skinny." A great example of the different values in cultures.



Day 12: Luggage?

Got extremely lost trying to find the HIV clinic in the hospital. Asked people and got lost for about an hour before I gave up. People gave me different directions or told me the clinic didn't exist, etc.

However, luggage came in! It felt like Christmas because I couldn't remember what I had packed :)

Unfortunately, box of medical supplies were still lost in Africa somewhere.