1. i prayed at dinner the other night. i don't know if i've said this, but i really love when this family prays. part of it could be because just about every night they pray for my family and friends back home, but its also because i love exactly what they say. the girls (carol and faith) have been trying to get me to pray for a while now, but i don't really like to pray in front of anyone, let alone this whole family. the other night everyone was gone and it was just me and the girls for dinner, and they asked me to pray, so i did. i think it went pretty well. i'm glad i did it.
2. one day last week i saw the BIGGEST baby and the smallest baby! the big baby was more than double the average/healthy weight, and was enormous and adorable. the nurse had to explain to the mom about obesity. the little baby was only a week old and was born 2 months premature. needless to say she was teeny teeny tiny. that same day i also saw four different babies pee on their mom - they were all boys.
3. one of the most interesting cases i've seen since i've been there was a 1yr old baby that couldn't look straight. by that i mean, she could only see out of her peripheral vision. she couldn't look straight ahead, if she wanted to look at something right in front of her she would have to turn her head and looks to the side. (does that make any sense?). it was really very fascinating. also she was unable to stand on her own. the nurse didn't know what to do so she sent her to the daktari (doctor).
4. a couple of weekends ago, peter and i were on the matatu on our way home from the city, and there was a lot of traffic (as usual), and all of a sudden the men on our matatu were sticking their heads out the windows and yelling, and people were jumping out of their matatus and running by. it was pretty chaotic. come to find out one of the matatus in front of us was high-jacked and they were robbing everyone on the bus. it was kinda scary for minute. but the cool part was how everyone came together to help the one matatu that was in trouble. the men all got off and ran ahead to help. after the initial fear, it was exciting to see everyone working together.
5. besides when i get to give an injection, my favorite part of the day is the faces of the babies when they get the injection. i know that sounds cruel, but it's not. i'm talking about how the baby usually is pretty happy and looking around at the nurse like "oohhh... heeeyy... whats that shiny thing in your hand" just happy happy. and then they get stuck. and all of a sudden they realize that it hurts. and they just flash the saddest, most heart breaking look at the nurse and everyone in the room says "aaawww... poli poli poli" (aww... sorry sorry sorry). i'm not sure if this is really making any sense... but don't worry, i'll show you when i get home. it's adorable. and by the way, most of the babies stop crying pretty immediately after the injection is given.
6. ever since i volunteered to take the woman's blood pressure, i've kinda become the "blood pressure girl". it's probably just because they think i have a fancy bp cuff, but now not only do i take every patient's bp, but the staff comes looking for me just to take their bp! i'll be in the immunization room in the middle of diluting a hepatitis injection (one of my favorite things to do), and some one from the maternity ward will come in and say they have a friend back there whose bp they'd like me to take. the other day, they gave me a whole room to myself where i called the women in to take their medical history and bp. it was pretty great.
7. when i prepare the syringes for the nurses, after i fill them, i actually hold them up, flick it a few times to get the air bubbles out, and i even squirt a little out the end. it's so cool... and i gotta say, i'm gettin pretty good at it.
8. i worked with two nurses today. it was so great... we were totally a team. one nurse did all the paper work, i prepared the syringes and gave polio and vitamin a to the babies, and the other nurse gave the injections. we were like a well oiled machine. i can understand enough swahili now to know what each baby needs. it was so fun. then at the end of the day, the nurse asked how much longer i would be working there. i told her this was my last week. she said they would be sad to see me go, that i was "one of them now" and i told her how wonderful they have all been to me. we totally shared a moment.
9. last week I worked in the clinic weighing babies, and all morning i was working with this well-spoken, very kind, pretty woman named sally. she told me she was also a volunteer and that she normally works at the larger hospital as an HIV educator and counselor. she told me about what a hard time they have convincing people to get tested and what kind of challenges they face with educating people, and how there is such a terrible stigma attached that even when people find out they are HIV+ many of them refuse to believe it and go into denial and won't get any treatment for it. i spent the whole morning talking to her. in the afternoon when we were taking tea i told her that i just got my degree in psychology and originally wanted to persue counseling, but had decided to go into nursing instead, and she said i could stop by the hospital and see how she works and shadow her for a day or a week or as long as i wanted. she was so kind to me the whole day. it wasn't until after we exchanged numbers and just before we had said good bye, she told me she was HIV+ and had been for 5 years now. i was totally caught off gaurd. this of course opened a whole new can of questions. she was of course more than happy to answer all of them. she's not the first HIV+ person i've come across since i've been here, but i'll be completely honest, i was a little uncomfortable and uneasy around the patients that i knew were positive, but she completely changed the way i felt about it. the nursed do that too. they don't act the least bit different. at first i thought that maybe wasn't the best idea - for obvious health concerns - but after meeting this woman and talking with her, and watching these nurses work, i realize now what i believe makes someone a great nurse... the ability to care for a person as an individual. by that i mean, even though much of their day is routine and they end up doing the same thing over and over, they always seem to give each baby and each child exactly the personal attention they need. nursing is so much more than taking care of someone's physical needs. whether its giving a baby an immunization and realizing they have a rash and talking to the mother about what to do about it, or talking to a woman in family planning about the right kind of birth control, or counseling a mother in the ante-natal clinic that just found out she is HIV+ and helping her move forward... these nurses seem to care so deeply and fully for every single patient in every single situation. more often then not they are speaking in swahili and i only understand bits and pieces of what they are saying; but i can fully understand their caring tones, and warm body language, and the relief the patient feels at the end of the conversation. it's incredible.
i can't wait to be a nurse.
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