I had a hot shower today! Whoooooo!
I woke up at 5am this morning and recieved a call from you boys not long after. It sounds like you are having a great time with Nanny and being totally spoilt...lots of new clothes! I then spoke to Dad for a while. It sounds like he misses you guys but is getting lots of jobs done while you are away so you better make sure you don't mess up the house when you get home!
I then went for a lovely hot shower (first one since I left home last friday!), had breakfast and headed off to Pasua. We are still catching a taxi to and from placement.
We sat in on handover which was delivered in English however I still did not understand it! Tabitha, the director of nursing, explained that one of the patients had taken off during the night. Someone asked if the police had been notified but Tabitha said no, he is so sick he will be back.
Sandy and I went to the Womens/Childrens ward and help with the cleaning. We wiped down all the surfaces and unused beds with a bowl of cold soapy water and a rag. The rooms get very dusty but the surfaces are wiped down every day. Then the local student nurses arrives and we divided up with our buddies. I went with the student nurse whose name I can't pronounce. We went to the Antenatal clinic and sat in on the assessments. Each time a Mama comes for their first appointment they are tested for the HIV virus. The test is a lot more simple than I had expected. The patient's finger is pricked and a blood sample is collected on a test strip. Two drops of liquid is then added to the blood and after three minutes either one or two lines come up. One line means negative and two lines means positive.
One Mama came in because she had not felt her baby move for two days. Both the Sisters (that is what they call the nurses here) tried for a long time to find the heartbeat with a fetoscope without luck. The Mama was then taken to the maternity ward where they tried to find the heart beat with a doppler but still without any luck. The Mama had to be transfered to a bigger hospital and was transported by ambulance however it is likely that her baby is still alive.
Another Mama came in who had previously tested positive to HIV however was denying that she had tested positive and was refusing to take the anti-retroviral medication which prevents the Mama from passing the virus to the mtoto (baby). She was also asking the sister to change the record to say she was not positive for HIV. The conversation got quite heated between the Mama and the Sister. The Sister was not happy with the situation and tried to talk the Mama into taking the medication for over an hour without success. The issue for the Mama is that if her husband finds out she has the HIV virus he will kick her out of the house and she will have no where to live. It is a very difficult situation for the Mama. There was also a birth in the maternity ward today. Unfortunately I showed up a little late and only arrived in time to view the delivery of the placenta.
We returned home for lunch and after lunch I had a nap on the lounge (I am noticing the effects of caffiene withdrawral!) as my room was too hot. Some of the girls thought this was a great opportunity to take a photo of me and post it on Facebook! Cheeky buggers!!!
Tomorrow is Saturday so we don't have to go to placement. We are going to sleep in a little and then head off to the fabric market and then have lunch at Union Cafe with a friend of Leonie's. After lunch a couple of us are going to get henna tattoos. I am going to get a foot tattoo.
Love you all <3
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