Here and There
I know you want to hear more about my days in Swaziland and the patients I see. I’ll try to combine a bit of both in the next few chats. My days at work start at 730, arriving at the clinic well after the patients have already started lining up, as there are no appointment times. You can see that now is Jackoranda season here in Swaziland, and there is an especially beautiful tree right in front of our clinic; these trees rival the cherry blossoms and when it rains the ground is coated with a purple blanket. On an early day the clinic team finishes about noon; on a late day we work until after 3, just seeing patients. This past week I saw many sick children. Many are malnourished, either moderately or severely. Some children are given Plumpy Nut, a malnutrition feeding treatment provided to us by the Clinton Foundation. When they don't improve, we send them to the hospital, often having to convince the families that the children need to be hospitalized.
Our main clinic is about 10 minutes from where I live by car. I also venture “far” from home with drivers who take us to provide outreach to rural communities in Swaziland. The nice thing about living in a small country is that everything is about “an hour and a half” away. You can see some photos of one of the sites I have visited, helping the nurses that work there identify and treat HIV exposed and positive children.
I have spent the last two days assisting with a training program for nurses on how to evaluate and care for infants of HIV positive moms. Most importantly, we are very lucky to have DNA PCR testing here in Swaziland; the test is sent via dried blood spots to South Africa with results known in about 6 weeks. Without getting too technical, this is a fairly definitive test for HIV that can be performed in young infants and helps these children get “quickly” diagnosed and treated.
And although Mbabane is a small city of 50,000, there are traffic jams; the above photo was taken through my front window as I waited about 10 minutes for the various buses, including the “Soul Provider” to figure out how to get out of the “jam” before continuing on my way. Downtown rush hour traffic at its finest.
My hiking recently has taken me to the beautiful Ezulwini Valley about 30 minutes from where I live. Although I have also discovered a “luxury hotel” with a beautiful swimming pool that I can visit for the mere price of ordering a drink. Not a bad way to spend a relaxing Sunday afternoon.
I know you want to hear more about my days in Swaziland and the patients I see. I’ll try to combine a bit of both in the next few chats. My days at work start at 730, arriving at the clinic well after the patients have already started lining up, as there are no appointment times. You can see that now is Jackoranda season here in Swaziland, and there is an especially beautiful tree right in front of our clinic; these trees rival the cherry blossoms and when it rains the ground is coated with a purple blanket. On an early day the clinic team finishes about noon; on a late day we work until after 3, just seeing patients. This past week I saw many sick children. Many are malnourished, either moderately or severely. Some children are given Plumpy Nut, a malnutrition feeding treatment provided to us by the Clinton Foundation. When they don't improve, we send them to the hospital, often having to convince the families that the children need to be hospitalized.
Our main clinic is about 10 minutes from where I live by car. I also venture “far” from home with drivers who take us to provide outreach to rural communities in Swaziland. The nice thing about living in a small country is that everything is about “an hour and a half” away. You can see some photos of one of the sites I have visited, helping the nurses that work there identify and treat HIV exposed and positive children.
I have spent the last two days assisting with a training program for nurses on how to evaluate and care for infants of HIV positive moms. Most importantly, we are very lucky to have DNA PCR testing here in Swaziland; the test is sent via dried blood spots to South Africa with results known in about 6 weeks. Without getting too technical, this is a fairly definitive test for HIV that can be performed in young infants and helps these children get “quickly” diagnosed and treated.
And although Mbabane is a small city of 50,000, there are traffic jams; the above photo was taken through my front window as I waited about 10 minutes for the various buses, including the “Soul Provider” to figure out how to get out of the “jam” before continuing on my way. Downtown rush hour traffic at its finest.
My hiking recently has taken me to the beautiful Ezulwini Valley about 30 minutes from where I live. Although I have also discovered a “luxury hotel” with a beautiful swimming pool that I can visit for the mere price of ordering a drink. Not a bad way to spend a relaxing Sunday afternoon.
2 comments:
Stephanie; thank you so much for sharing your amazing experience. I know this must be life-changing, and it's wonderful to catch glimpses of the work you are doing.
It sounds amazing in all aspects of the word. Do you feel you can help most children you treat? Do you have enough medical resources? How does the availability of supplies compare to a hospital here at home?
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