Dead Weight

Here's a quick, kindof crazy story.

Earlier this week, we stopped by the hospital on our way to dinner to help take vital signs on all the patients. Unfortunately, on arrival, we discovered a patient who arrived that morning had just passed away. She was a thirty year-old woman with very severe malaria. Well, we finished taking vital signs on all the patients (not her though, she didn't need them!!), and were about to head to dinner, when one of the nurses asked us to stay a minute to help them carry the body to the morgue- of course we we're in! So the hospital guard goes to get a stretcher, and comes back with a pretty old-school looking device- two long sticks with heavy cloth wrapped around them (no wheels!). We put on a pair of gloves, rolled/lifted the body in it's sheets onto the stretcher (note that the whole ward is watching us struggle to get the body off the bed) and headed out to the morgue. None of us had ever really thought about it, but we all decided that we had never thought we were ever gonna be pallbearers! The morgue ended up being a one-roomed building with no air conditioning across a small field (maybe a 100yds) with knee-high grass and no path. The four of us dressed in skirts and flip-flops, led by the guard with a flashlight (it was dark by this point) traipsed across the field, the whole time hoping that none of us tripped (there were a few close calls) and ended up in the dirt with the body on top of us! We made it without incident, placed the body on a table (postmortem body fluids and all). Before leaving, we had to get the sheets out from under her so that they could be returned to the hospital and washed...the hospital is very strict about only giving the patients what they pay for! Mission accomplished, we headed out...only a little late for dinner!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!! Hope you guys all enjoy a big feast...though I'm sure it won't compare to the hot dogs, mashed potatoes, and for a special treat- ice cream with M&Ms, that we had for our dinner! Actually, all jokes aside, we had a great Thanksgiving, even if it wasn't a typical American one.

Another week is almost over, time is flying by! This week saw the opening of an American daycare in Kowak (we're still trying to come up with a name for it). For whatever reason, all the neighborhood kids finally got over their fear of white people this week (maybe it's because we've been here a month and haven't eaten anyone yet, we've been told that's what some kids think white people do!), and have made our front porch/courtyard their afternoon hangout spot. It started on Sunday when we were playing Bananagrams outside (thanks Fran!) and attracted a little audience. The kids were fascinated by the pieces (they look like scrabble tiles for those who don't know the game), and started spelling words, which evolved into making towers out of the tiles, which evolved into using them as dominoes. Who knew there were so many uses! Anyways, between Bananagrams and the discovery that we have some coloring books and crayons, they were hooked!

All week we have had kids knocking on our door in the afternoon, asking if they can come play. They stand outside our gate and yell, "Mzungo!" which is a Swahili term for white people. Yesterday, at one point, I think we had 15 kids playing in our yard- some coloring, others playing cards or with Bananagrams. Occasionally we bust out our cameras or computers- which they get the biggest kick out of- they love having their picture taken. One afternoon we gathered a bunch of random pots and bottles and had them playing drums...I'm sure the neighbors love us! The best part is that they leave right when we ask them to, and they always clean up after themselves!! It's been fun, the kids are great, and hopefully it will help our Swahili. Who knows how long this will last...I'm guessing they'll come for awhile, well, at least until the coloring books run out!!

the ants go marching

Our curiosity in safari ants in has increased exponentially here in africa, as they daily invade the only path from our house/the hospital to the Church/ fathers house. The other night after dinner we were heading to the hospital to get vital signs. We threw on our skirts over our pants and started walking. I wasn't careful enough to make sure that my skirt was not dragging and apparently I walked right through the line of ants and they attached themselves to me. By the time I arrived at the hospital (a 2 min walk) I noticed a slight biting on my legs. When I looked down I saw ants all over my shoes. I started lifting up my skirt (luckily I still had my pants on) and started seeing the ants crawling up my legs. I did the "ants in my pants dance" and quickly took off my skirt. Meanwhile the other nurses working and several patients gathered and were laughing at the commotion that I was making. One ant had even made it to my waist. That was enough. I quickly ran home and got out of my clothes on our porch and sprayed them them bug killer. Feeling pretty creep-crawly I scrubbed extra hard in the shower. The next day when washing my clothes I had to pull off over 25 dead ants that had attached to my skirt. I told father and he laughed telling me everyone knows the "ant dance," stepping through the ant path is the only way to know to never do it again!
These ants are really quite amazing (pics to come soon). There are thousands of them that make a line (usually across our path), one distinct line but when you look closely the ants are going different directions. The ant line will be there when we are on the way to lunch but an hour later the line can be completely gone with absolutely no trace they were even there. There seem to be larger ants that appear when it is/has rained recently and they kind of make a covering for the smaller ants (the big ones are super creepy). We look like little kids, everyday we spend at least 5 minutes inspecting the ant line. When we decide to cross we all hike up our skirts and take the biggest step we can!!

Will you marry me?!?!

This last week, things have been going just swimmingly! The weather hasn't gotten too much hotter, and when it starts to verge on unbearable, a nice thunderstorm roles through and quickly cools everything off. The hospital remains on the quiet side (everyone would still rather be out working in the fields), though there are always a bunch of kids who have had a run-in with a mosquito or two and now have malaria, which keeps things interesting! This past week, for whatever reason, it seems that we have all had a number of marriage proposals. While Americans may only be proposed to once or twice in their lives, that's not the case here!

Let me start by saying that they way Tanzanians view their families is very different. While we are very clear about who is/isn't our biological relative, they consider almost everyone their family. So even if someone is a cousin or brother-in-law, they refer to them as their brother or sister. And throw multiple moms into the mix (polygamy is very common) - family dynamics get pretty crazy! Seems like everyone is related to everyone, so we've just stopped trying to keep track! I guess we should take it as a compliment that all the hospital workers want us to marry one of their "brothers." One nurse in particular has introduced us to at least 3 or 4 brothers! Even though we tell them that we have a boyfriend or husband at home, they insist that we should have one for Tanzania too! They think we're crazy for wanting a monogamous relationship! One time, we thought we'd be funny and say that you couldn't just marry one of us, but had to take all three of us as wives. The plan backfired on us when the guy readily agreed and we had to politely decline! I have started to tell people that I do have a Tanzanian boyfriend. His name is Blessing, very cute and is the son of one of the nurses we work with...he's also 3 months old! When all else fails, we tell them that we will only marry them if we are allowed to have multiple husbands. So far, no one's gone for that...though we promise to send out invites if there's gonna be a wedding in Kowak!!

P.S. I survived my first mosquito bite!! I was bitten 10 days ago (that's how long it takes for malaria to develop after being bitten) and no signs or symptoms.........yet!!!!!!

P.P.S. After writing this blog, We stopped by the Hospital on the way home from dinner, and we were standing around talking with the nurses. One of their husbands walked in and we were all introduced. His wife (one of the nurses), then proceeded to tell Stephanie that he could be her husband too, she could be wife #3! We all pretended that we didn't understand what they were saying (usually our first line of defense). When it became painfully clear what they were saying, poor Steph had to politely say no, with back up support from Rach and I. They didn't quite get the hint, because the nurse is waiting for Steph's answer tomorrow!!! Please note that the husband was quietly standing there the whole time...just a little awkward!!! So different!

Routine..with lots of suprises!

So we’ve told you that we’ve settled into the daily routine but we never filled you all in on what that includes!

0530 - The church bells start ringing (they ring one hour before mass…so it varies a little day to day) about this time the roosters and chickens (yep they are just wandering around everywhere) are cocka-doo-doodling!

0600 - we actually attempt to wake up
0630 - Mass.
- M, T, Th, F in Swahili
- Wed in English (you’d be surprised how exciting this is)
- Sat mass is at 7am and in English ….double bonus!
- Sunday mass is at 7 and 9 (we have only made it to the 9am mass on Sundays so far J )
Mon-Sat all of the school girls attend mass so the church is quite full. Also in attendance is a handful of locals including some kids, the Sisters….and of course us, the three crazy Americans who usually are late (this is only because the time in Kowak is 5 min faster than the rest of the world..seriously we had to change our watches!)
0700- Breakfast with Father..this includes Ugi--- porridge hmm hard to explain except it is bland so it needs sugar and bananas on top! Most days we stick to the toast and hard boiled egg. Occasionally we get a surprise of scrambled eggs.

0800- Sala ya Asubuhi - Morning prayers with the patients in the hospital. They sing a song and one of the nurses from night shift reads from the bible. Any of the patients that are able come!

Monday and Friday- The CTC (counseling treatment center) has patients at 8am. On a usual day the clinic sees about 40-50 patients. Sister Rita spends some time counseling the patients and spends time with them individually to give them the next month of ARV’s or other co-meds for any problems they are having. The clinic is following about 500 patients, some that are on ARV’s and other that are well enough to not have started them yet. When we are working in the clinic we help check in the patients, get vitals, and help pass out the medications. The government supplies the medications for these people (although its usually a struggle to have enough meds somehow we always end up with enough)

At the hospital- we help make meds in the morning, attend rounds with the doctor, help take VS on people going to the out-patient clinic, take admissions, deliver babies…really whatever comes our way! One large difference in the hospital here is that the patients provide their own food, they bathe and wash their clothes when they want. The “costumer service” aspect that is provided in the states is not even remotely a concept here!

12:30- (or when we can get away from work) We have lunch with Father. We pretty much schedule our day around our meals. Having them cooked for us is really nice! We see lots of rice and meat ,which from talking to people is a pretty fancy meal to eat everyday!

We usually head back to work until at least 2ish. If there is work to be done or something exciting is happening we stick around! The nurses here work a 8a-2p, 2p-8p, and 8p-8a…it seems to work!

3:30 Sister Maria has been teaching up Swahili for about an hour a day. We are currently at about the 2nd grade level! (even that is probably a stretch) But either way it is sooooo helpful!


7:00 A sundowner with Fr Jim. He usually has the days news to update us on while he has a beer!

730 Dinner. More rice and meat! We have had the occasional spaghetti (no sauce just meat) We have had pizza twice, burgers once (no buns), and French fries once…a very nice American surprise (yet each still crazy in it’s own way J)

8:00 We have been trying to start a routine vital signs in the hospital. When we got here they did them on admission and that was it. The Doctor has requested that vital signs should be done twice a day . In the evening we have began going to help out to see that the patients are at least getting some vital signs done, We are hoping that it will catch on, no luck yet! Time will tell!

9:00 When we first got here we were all passed out by 930. We were getting a full 8 hours of sleep for sure! I think we have finally stayed up past 1130 but that means an early bedtime the next night!

So that’s the hum drum in Kowak…don’t worry we have pretty much decided even thought we have a routine we are still going to have lots of surprises along the way!

Just another day in Kowak

While we have definitely fallen into the rhythm of daily life of Kowak, most days bring us some sort of surprise, reminding us that we are very far from the United States! Here are some highlights from the week so far...

Sunday afternoon (we have Sundays off!), we decided to explore the area a little more, and went on a longer run/walk to find a nearby river we had heard about. After asking a few people directions, we found the Mori river (which was a pretty muddy), only to joined by a heard of cows and some donkies getting a drink! On the way back, we decided to climb one of the many huge clumps of boulders that are scattered throughout the area. In the process, we aquired a following of about 10 kids, who joined us in admiring the the view of the area from the top! Climbing down, we met an older man, who proceeded to show us a human skeleton that was under one of these huge rocks. He said something about it being the body of a wizard from about 20 years ago...you know, just a normal Sunday afternoon walk!

Working in hospitals, no matter where, will always give you a few good stories. I was so glad Steph was there to experience this one with me (Kat)! Tuesday morning, while rounding on the patients with the doctor, we were discussing different possible diagnoses for a 20yr old woman who had come in that night. She was not in good shape on arrival, having been to multiple other hospitals over the past few years. The doctor was in the process of writing new orders for her, when we looked over, and noticed that she stopped breathing! Steph and I looked at eachother, not sure what to do, being used to calling a code and starting CPR. But there was none of that. We just declared her dead, covered her up, called her family in, and moved onto the next patient, laying in the bed right next to her. The best part was later that day, we were sitting outside, and saw the family drive away with the body wrapped in a blanket, propped up between two people, on a motorcycle!! I guess there are no hurses in this part of Africa! Other highlights include helping deliver more babies, spur of the moment diagnostic bladder aspirations (non medical descrpition = big needle straight into the stomach without any pain meidicine) and assisting with stitching up a 6inch skin tear that went down to the muscle!

The other highlight would have to be yesterday evening. Hearing a bunch of cheering, we headed up to the soccer field only to find a game in process, being watched by about 100 people, mostly school-aged kids. We went home, grabbed a soccerball we had brought, and let the kids play with it. It was so much fun watching 70 kids chase one ball around the sidelines! When the game was over, the older guys who were watching, took the ball from the kids, and started their own game. And because we provided the ball, we got to play! Phew, these guys were fast and pretty good! But we had fun and held our own (aka touched the ball a few times when they let us!). Our game had a fair audience too, lots of the hospital workers, and some of the patients, came to watch! From what we were told, this was the first time most of these people had seen girls play soccer. Hopefully there will be more games in the future, just gotta let our legs recover first!

Airplanes

Some of you may know the song "Airplanes" by B.o.B. Well now Kowak, Africa knows it too! We recently had our first Tanzanian guests. Some of the nurses stopped by to say hi one afternoon, and thay wanted us to sing some American songs...we opted for playing American music instead! One song that came up was "Airplanes." We ended up translating a bit into Swahili, "Ndege, Ndege, iko wapi?" (airplane, airplane, where you at?), and the nurses got the biggest kick out of it! They in turn told the other nurses about it, and started singing it whenever we came. The patients heard them do it, and now they sing "Ndege, Ndege.." when we walk into the wards! Next, one of the nurses translated it into Luo, one of the local dialects, so now we're singing it in 3 languages. The best part is, as I was writing this blog, I listened to the song, and realized that those aren't even the right words! Oops!! Too late to change it now, they love the song!

PS we were able to post a few more pictures!

Going for a run!

11-5-2010

Some afternoons, when it hasn’t been raining, we’ve been able to go for a run (gotta start training to climb Mt. Kili!). It’s been great. There are bunch of dirt paths behind the school we’ve been running on. It’s gorgeous, we go by little mud huts and small gardens. It is mostly open land used for cattle grazing. In fact, on our first run, we were going down the path, and up ahead was a heard of cattle coming our way. We weren’t sure what to do, so we decided it was a great spot to turn around a run back! The best part about going for a jog is the pack of kids that usually ends up joining us. Everyone usually at least stops and stares at the 3 white girls going for a jog. But most of the time, the kids actually join in and run alongside or behind us! They’ll come sprinting and yelling across the fields or jump out of their house and usually run with us the rest of the way. At times we’ve had about 10-15 kids, mostly barefoot, running behind us! They are always so excited and happy, and seem to be getting the biggest kick out of the whole thing. They’ll follow us all the way back to our house, then , once we go inside, turn around and walk home. It definitely makes running a lot more interesting!

The Hospital

11-4-2010

This could turn into a long post, but I’m gonna try to give a quick synopsis of the hospital! As we mentioned, there are about 35 beds, and we see patients of all ages (including delivering moms!). The hospital is broken into 5 wards, each with 5-10 beds, and the patients are divided up by age and gender. Most of the time we have about 20-25 patients (we've been told this is the slower season because now that the short rains are here, people would rather work in the fields than come to the hospital!). It’s been fun getting to work with all ages. The majority are people have malaria, which means we are giving a lot of IV antibiotics, blood transfusions and shots in the behind! The patients come from all over. You’ll see them ride in on a bike or motor cycle. There will be three people on the bike, one person will be driving/riding, then there will be the patient, and behind them will be sitting another person to help support /hold them…and you know you have another admission! There are only 2 scheduled nurses (not including us), so we stay pretty busy. It’s different here because the families are much more involved in the care, there are in charge of bringing food to the patients and helping them bathe and toilet, the nurses don’t do any of that! Sometimes, I will walk into the ward and all the moms will be sitting on the floor with their children, sharing a meal, definitely something you’d never see in America! I’d say that communicating with the other nurses and patients had been the biggest challenge, though it’s amazing how much you can communicate by knowing a few key words, such as medicine, injection, butt…(can you tell what I’ve been doing a lot of?!?!) They all love it when we try to speak Swahili though, and everyone is always trying to teach us new words. If only I could just remember them…