Ilula

Kam wene!  (Not sure exactly how it's spelled, but it's HeHe for habari gani). 

We made it to Ilula on Friday night just in time for dinner.  It was a long bus ride but I'm happy to report that I did not get car sick along the way!  I also got to see my first giraffe, buffalo, elephants, impala, zebra and baboons.

We are staying on the grounds of Ilula hospital.  The view is amazing from our porch.  We have a cook who is making all of our meals -- all sorts of fried goodies and bananas for breakfast and a variety of rice, beans, peas and etc for lunch and dinner.

On Saturday I traveled with a group to a monthly HIV outreach clinic in a nearby village.  104 people came through the clinic that day to receive medications and counseling.  Most were adults, but there were a handful of children too.  I worked in registration, where my recall of swahili numbers was actually helpful as I recorded weights and checked record numbers.

On Sunday morning I spent a very short amount of time in hospital rounds before I went to observe an c-section of a woman who delivered term twins weighing 6-7 pounds each.  It was definitely different that my OR experiences in the US...  It was an wonderful experience to hold a healthy newborn all wrapped up in a kanga and deliver him to his dad and other waiting family members.  

After the c-section, I quickly changed back into my church clothes and we attended church in Ilula.  I survived introducing myself in swahili.  The music at church was amazing -- I really felt like I was in Tanzania! 

On Sunday evening we made a quick trip into Iringa.  I was not able to find a computer at an internet cafe, but I did buy a SIM card for my phone and made a quick call home before my airtime ran out.  Hopefully I can manage to buy some more minutes today.

On Monday morning and this morning I spent much of my time completing rounds in the hospital with our team.  Sickness and disease are everywhere and in some cases there is so little to offer.  So many of the patients have multiple diagnoses yet very vague past medical histories.  I have spent quite a bit of time with a little boy who feel into a campfire about 2 weeks ago and sustained burns to much of his backside.  People have said that until I spent time with him, they had not ever seen him move.  I am happy to say that not only did I teach his mother how to do stretches to maintain his range of motion and get him standing, I was also able to make him smile.  It will be fun to continue working with him the next several days.  One thing that is very similar here to the patients and families that I work with back home is the insight and of parents (especially mothers) regarding their child's condition and the presence of hope even through extremely difficult times.