Days 4 and 5

On Tuesday, our second full day in Migori, we started out, like we will every day, working in the hospital. Even though there are a ton of places to go where you can be very hands on, I’ve been easing into it so I began in the laboratory. I spent the majority of my morning with Katie and Justin, a couple who arrived the same day I did. Katie is a second year med student, so with our combined knowledge we felt like we understood a lot of what took place in the lab! It was actually really cool, even though it was mostly observing, because almost everything they had in the lab we have talked about in school at one point. They actually own some pretty quality equipment, so we got to see things like centrifuges, sensitivity and culture discs, and other machines to analyze blood or other bodily fluid samples. We got to look at a few microscope slides as well, so we saw what malaria looks like and how it affects your body cells as well as other bacteria that may be found in an individual’s system. Although we didn’t actually get to perform any tests or deal with patients, Katie explained to me the best way to draw blood (so now I’m basically a pro) and we got to see a few tests occurring, like an HIV rapid test.

 

  Saint Joseph's Mission Hospital!

Lovely pharmacy volunteers!

After a while, the lab got a bit slow and since we couldn’t actually help out, we wandered a little to see what we could find. Both Katie and I had just finished our pharmacology classes, so we were very excited to stop in the inpatient pharmacy to see what we could find. I’m continually impressed with how organized and well stocked everything is and the pharmacy is no exception. They had a ton of drugs that we reviewed in class, including some I really wouldn’t have expected. The more time I spend at the hospital the more I realize it really isn’t the medical knowledge that is lacking here, instead it’s basic skills that were never taught, like avoiding contamination or spreading disease. Like in the lab, instead of examining urine and fecal samples that were contained between two slides, they only used one slide, leaving the samples exposed to the air and to potentially contaminate the microscopes or other equipment. It’s hard because resources obviously are not as abundant as they are back home, so it’s really a choice between treating more people and risking contamination, or only being able to help a percentage of patients who they see now.

The last part of our morning, we followed around the physical therapists (physiotherapists here) as they saw a patient who had been in a road traffic accident and had a compound fracture of her tibia and fibula (these are the two bones that make up your shin). The two physical therapists that are on the trip here with me, along with the doctor who works full time in the hospital, applied traction to her leg and then tried to immobilize it the best they could. The doctor told us that although her injury was pretty serious, the patient wouldn’t be having surgery for another week because she needed to be sent to a more advanced medical facility in Kisii, which is 2-3 hours away from Migori. We all were kind of surprised that it would take a week to get her over to this other hospital, but none of us asked. She was clearly in a lot of pain, so I just felt bad she needed to wait so much longer until she could seek treatment.

In the afternoon, we all went over to the orphanage in Migori to play with the kiddos. The orphanage is actually only an orphanage in name; all of the children had guardians, but none of their parents were alive or present in their lives. So at the end of the school day the kids did return home, but one of the teachers explained that since they attended this particular school, they received more aid and supplies, like soap and toys, which are not provided in their homes. The kids were adorable, to say the least. They performed songs and dances for us and were clearly excited that we came to visit. When we actually got the chance to play with them, it was really overwhelming and kind of difficult. Most of them only spoke a few words of English, so communication was hard, but they were all fascinated by the color of our skin and the texture of our hair. They still thought we were hilarious when we talked but were very shy and couldn’t really hold a conversation for too long. The one thing they did love was taking pictures! I would be trying to talk to a group of kids who weren’t all that responsive, but as soon as I broke out my camera they were grabbing onto me and to each other, really hamming it up. We all had a lot of fun during our visit and now, since we know where it is in the town, we are allowed to go any day we want! I’m hoping to spend a couple of afternoons a week there and I know many of the other volunteers are planning to too.

 Me and some of the kiddos

Now really, what would a trip to Kenya be without some illness? That’s right friends, unfortunately today, day 5 in Kenya, I’m spending the day stuck in bed. It started with one girl yesterday afternoon who left the orphanage to come back to our hotel since her stomach wasn’t feeling so hot. After we got back, I started feeling kind of funny too, and came to my room to lay down. By the end of the night, seven out of our group of 13 were sick and by this morning there were only two left standing. I consider myself lucky because I have the least mild case of the group, but we’ve all had fevers and chills along with joint pain, upset stomach, and some other not so pretty symptoms. It’s really pretty awful. Josh, our group leader and head of Medics to Africa, said it’s not uncommon for volunteers here to get sick within their first few days since it’s such a huge adjustment, so really none of us are too worried. At this point, all we can really do is laugh about it since it is a pretty ridiculous situation. Thank god we’re all medical people here since otherwise I’m sure everyone would be freaking out and we also are all trying to look out for each other and share tips. We all agree, it’s better that we’re going through this together as opposed to just one person being sick! 

 

Our teensie hotel room, which I've been stuck in for almost 24 hours... HELP!

So unfortunately today I’ve spent most of the day in bed sleeping, reading, and trying to stay hydrated; nothing exciting to report. Stay tuned for hopefully more exciting updates than laying in bed!