We went to a town called Skoonheid about 30mins away from our Pos 3 town. We held a clinic there, although there weren't many patients. Saw interesting cases of suspected herpes simplex, and a facial fungal infection. The cows there were well behaved, for once. So were the dogs. The local community were working on their crafts, which they sell in Windhoek.
We also visited a small settlement of 4 rubbish-bin huts on a farm, in a place called Hinda. This place is suspected for MDR TB. We had to screen all the inhabitants (about 30 of them in these 4 huts). One 7month old was moderately-severely malnourished and had a cough - we are suspecting TB. Some days later, two visitors to this settlement turned up at the Pos 3 clinic with haemoptysis - ie coughing up blood. They come from another settlement..also TB suspects. You need to send 2 sputum samples/patient before the hospital will take them and start treatment. Or a good going chest xray. They need to be in hospital for the first 2 weeks, then are discharged and continue treatment via clinics.
Today we are taking a teenager back to the Naankuse farm with us in Windhoek. Im spending the weekend there - whoopee!! She's coming back with us because she was hospitalised for nonaccidental injuries and this isn't the first time..she's also got cognitive impairment, so she's vulnerable and naankuse is hopefully going to get her a job on the farm so she hasn't got to go back to her stepmother. she has an aunt..which we are trying to contact to see if she'd take her. problem is, the aunt isn't far from the stepomother. In the UK, I always wonder why paediatricians spend so much time on the social history..making sure the presenting complaint adds up, that the stories add up, and so on. I didn't really like this aspect of the job. I thought it could be left to other professionals, after all, doctors just treat medical conditons right? Well..im learning that doctors are often the first port of call, and its that lovely word signposting! Signpost to different services. You need to pick things up if you need to signpost them. So this girl and I will travel in the back of the ambulance (its our only means of transport!) back to the farm. Im going to have a VERY chilled, VERY lazy weekend. reading, drinking tea, hopefully some football with the locals on Saturday.
Oh, we had a 'mother and baby' project yesterday, where we show films, then have meal, then play. One volunteer here had brought a parachute game with her - the one where you hold the handles in a big circle. The kids LOVED it! We played that a lot. I had to go back to the house to take some stuff to the kitchen and all the kids came running after me! I thought that was sweet. group trip back to the house, and then back to the parachute! They kept asking for the paddling pool, so we're going to bring that out for them next time. They love dancing here, so we put some music on for them and they dragged me up with them so that was fun! The teenage boys looked like they really wanted to join in with parachute, but you know theyre too 'cool' for that I suppose. I haven't yet spent much time talking to them, or to the teenage girls They always seem a little awkward and I don't want to make that worse for them. but now they know us a bit, ill try and chat to them next time. what do cool young Namibians chat about?! ill start off with music. or dance. they're well segregated in the courtyard. the mothers all on one side, the children all on another, and then the teenage girls hovering by the gate, and the teenage boys hovering by the wall. and the volunteers just wonder around!
I love mother and baby project because it gives us a chance to socialise properly with the locals. Getting to know the people here is what makes this whole experience more worthwhile.
Right, better go and get in that ambulance! Off for a 'weekend away' :)
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