I found out Monday morning that I was to be working alone for the rest of the week since the midwife was to be away attending an inservice on AIDS. So far, I’ve been keeping busy treating malaria and all sorts of bacterial infections, rehydrating people, stitching and dressing wounds, and diagnosing STDs – most of which are outside of my comfort zone! Seeing all kinds of weird and wonderful things and wishing I had someone to tell me what they all are! Last night I was called out to a family’s home whose grandma was ‘sick’. I quickly learned she was over 100 years old and hadn’t had anything to eat or drink for 2 days! She did not look well to say the least and died shortly after. Let’s just say I’ve made it through ‘hump’ day and am looking forward to the weekend - not that the weekend promises rest since the sick find me at all hours wherever I am.
JP on the other hand is whipping the administrative end of things into shape and has been a great support to me…he’s losing as much sleep as I am over our villagers.
The minous on the other hand, are ready to look for adoptive parents since they don’t see much of us and are starting to feel neglected. Little do they know how much comfort they bring to us. Below is a picture of my boy trying to escape the heat…he cracks me up!
1 comment:
Sounds like you're getting into the swing of things. When I first moved to the village we were told someone was 'sick' so went quickly went to his house. 19 year old Mamadou's legs were withered and twisted to the point that he couldn't walk or even stand. We were clueless.
I found out weeks later that he'd been 'sick' since birth.
Lesson 1: learn the words to ask "how long" in Wolof!
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