The Clinic

Just wanted to post some pictures from the clinic. We have been taking vital signs (blood pressure, temperature, and pulse) on all of the patients coming in to the HIV and outpatient clinics.

This morning it was rainy and muddy, but the light was pretty over the mountains. This just gives you an idea of what a typical building in Majengo looks like.

Here's me in our little room in the clinic.

This is looking out from the room into the main waiting area and the courtyard beyond.

Here's Roxy inside.

 And here's a few of our patients waiting to be seen. I will post more about it this weekend when I have more time to write

Thursday we must have taken 100 little kids temperatures, most of who have either some sort of horrible wheezing lung disease (pneumonia?) and the others are burning up with a fever, most from malaria. Friday was a slower day, but more dramatic as we got questioned by the local medical programs director, who, as far as I can tell, finds his job much more important than anyone else does. He asked me who the heck I was, why I was at the clinic, where I was from, and who said I could be there, followed by a very ominous, "I need to see you in my office." Luckily Roxy and I happened to be extremely busy at that moment and a minute later he came back to tell us nevermind. Of course I was a bit concerned about being hauled off to volunteer jail, but we were soon occupied by a woman brought in from the local police station because she had been hit by someone she knew. It was truly the saddest and most frustrating moment because she only spoke Swahili. We really just wanted to ask her if she was ok and help her navigate the crazy doctors who were being more dismissive than helpful. In the end we saw her about three times, and as our normal doctor and translator was away at a meeting I think we did absolutely nothing helpful. Sucked. Hopefully catching babies next week will be a little better. Later. M.