Outreach Program
Today, Wednesday October 13th, we went to the bush… The hospital has an extensive outreach program, 27 clinics total. 21 of those clinics are reached by car, 6 are too remote and a plane will fly out. All the clinics are visited once a month. Every month the nurses will teach how to be healthy, one month it may be about hygiene, one month about family planning. Today it was about how long to breast feed your baby. For most of the women this is the only teaching they will ever get.
We arrived around 11AM, after about an hour in a Landcruiser. Since the hospital is founded by the Norwegian Lutheran Church, there is a service before the work starts. We came to the place and were greeted by singing. I do not know how to explain this, but it is the most beautiful music I have ever heard. Makes me want to cry… By the way, there is a church service every morning before work starts , it’s called ‘sala’, I have been in a church more in the past couple of days than I have been my whole life…
So after the service and the teaching the work started. First everybody has to register. All the babies are then weighed. If they are underweight they have to be admitted to the hospital. If they are below average, they will be examined more closely. The mothers have a chart that they bring to the clinic. The chart holds the development of the child as well as the vaccinations that are done. The charts stay with the moms, and now are required in the schools as proof of vaccinations.
So that was the educational part… Now the real thing.
When we arrived, it felt like we were from another planet. Everybody would stare at us. And by staring I mean staring… uninterrupted, non-blinking looks for 5 or more minutes. And then, when you take out your camera people either turn around so you cannot see their faces or hide underneath their head wraps. Luckily I brought my tele lenses and was able to take a lot of pictures. By now I should have been able to download them on the site so please check it out, they turned out pretty good if I say so myself.
We ended up helping to vaccinate the children. Makes you feel bad though, finally the mothers and children are kind of used to you and even give you a little smile, and then you stab them in the leg with a needle…. Even though I know this is for their benefit….
Tomorrow I will be working in the preemie-unit… More to follow!
Comments
Ha Hanneke,
Leuk om jouw verslagen te lezen. Waar worden ze tegen gevaccineerd? DKTP? Is er daar ook meningitis?
Wellicht zijn de mensen bang dat je hun ziel meeneemt als je een foto neemt of gewoon: wat doe jij met een foto van mij of van mijn kind? Ik vond het vroeger ook niet leuk als mensen zomaar foto’s van Geeske en Wiebke maakten. Nu zijn we gewend om overal tientallen foto’s van alles en iedereen te maken, maar voor hen zal het niet gewoon zijn.
Misschien moet je het gewoon vragen. Een beroemde fotograaf deed dat ook altijd. Maakte eerst altijd contact.
Heya Hanneke, those pictures are gorgeous! Keep ‘em coming
Hey Hanneke, I read your entries about your trip. I can’t imagine what it is like to be there! What an amazing expereince it must be! When you wrote about the music, it made me smile just to imagine how awesome and beautiful it must have sounded. The people look beautiful as well. How cool for you!!
Thanks for sharing your day(s) I will check in from time to time and see what is new.
Blessings to you!
Donna ( from body-pump)