The day started at 7 am with breakfast at Sheila’s. I think she’s still amused over our American accents. At 7:30 we went down to the hospital for morning prayers and got introduced to the hospital staff. After experiencing some technical difficulties with the French translations of our documents, we decided to wing it with our English versions. This morning’s class (Monday) was for the ER staff. We had to teach the class in the x-ray room as many of the staff who were in attendance were also on duty.
Our translator this morning was the anesthesiologist. After class he asked if would teach the material to his staff in the OR. By the end of the afternoon we were booked for three more classes than anticipated including two all day seminars. We are finding we have to make a few alterations in the material as we go but overall things have been going quite well.
After class I went down to the ICU for bit. I walked by a bed which appeared empty and noticed an IV dripping into the bed sheets. Upon further investigation I found a tiny 5 pound baby lying in the bed. The baby had quite the hernia for being such a tiny thing and was in need of surgery. Unfortunately the hospital’s only surgeon is out of town so the baby will have to be transferred to another hospital far away.
After lunch Naomi and I worked on our ever evolving curriculum to meet the demands of our unanticipated class load. When our brains could take it no longer we ventured down to the hospital just to see what was happening. Naomi is quite in to photography so we wondered about saying “photo?” Everyone we asked was delighted to have their pictures taken. They laughed and giggled to see themselves on the screen of the digital camera. Many of them have never seen themselves before as they do not have mirrors. Naomi soon found herself surrounded. I sneakily went to the balcony of another building and shot a photo of her “Muzungu moment.” In late afternoon we took a walk about the town. As I’m sure you could have guessed we once again surrounded by children curious of the muzungu.
Our translator this morning was the anesthesiologist. After class he asked if would teach the material to his staff in the OR. By the end of the afternoon we were booked for three more classes than anticipated including two all day seminars. We are finding we have to make a few alterations in the material as we go but overall things have been going quite well.
After class I went down to the ICU for bit. I walked by a bed which appeared empty and noticed an IV dripping into the bed sheets. Upon further investigation I found a tiny 5 pound baby lying in the bed. The baby had quite the hernia for being such a tiny thing and was in need of surgery. Unfortunately the hospital’s only surgeon is out of town so the baby will have to be transferred to another hospital far away.
After lunch Naomi and I worked on our ever evolving curriculum to meet the demands of our unanticipated class load. When our brains could take it no longer we ventured down to the hospital just to see what was happening. Naomi is quite in to photography so we wondered about saying “photo?” Everyone we asked was delighted to have their pictures taken. They laughed and giggled to see themselves on the screen of the digital camera. Many of them have never seen themselves before as they do not have mirrors. Naomi soon found herself surrounded. I sneakily went to the balcony of another building and shot a photo of her “Muzungu moment.” In late afternoon we took a walk about the town. As I’m sure you could have guessed we once again surrounded by children curious of the muzungu.
5 comments:
Hi April!
I was talking to Fran at the Mexicali meeting, and I mentioned your blog, and she's like, could you give it to me?'
And I was like 'hmmm . . . if I remember it, I can go there too!' I hadn't even thought about it before. But I remebered it! And I even remembered your other one too!
I hope you're doing great over there.
-Lindsey *hand hug*
Good to hear your classes are going pretty well even with the language translation setbacks. We're all praying for successful classes; but it sounds like they're so successful already that you've been asked to do several more!
Oh, that Naomi! I love and miss her a lot. April, I look forward to meeting you. What a great blog you have! I, too, was creased over the monkey story (and thanks for the new term for my vocabulary)!! God bless you both. "Aunt Kat"
Hello April, This is "Mom and "Dad". WOW! and double WOW! I loved the monkey pic's. You are really doing a great thing down there, and we are so proud of you. Thanks for the posts you have been able to pull off. Take mass pictures, and stay safe. We hope to see you soon.
Love.
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