Our clinic was set up in the church, with rooms made out of sheets and rope. In the middle, there was a waiting area, and at the door we had a table set up for BP/temp. Outside, they had a table for registration and scales for weigh in. Beyond that there was a line of benches. ( I just explained that completely backwards oopsss). I was supposed to be in charge of injections, but for he first couple of hours I only had to give 2 or 3, so I was outside with the kids. I laid out a coloring banner, then walked up the the children who were waiting outside and handed them a marker. They all came over to color, and I almost teared up because it was exactly how I hoped it would be, they were all so excited. Luckily, Ashley and I thought ahead the night before and tore out each page from the coloring books, so that each child could have a page (there were a LOT of kids).
Right before tea time, I was referred an old man who needed to have wounds on his feet cleaned. So I'm thinking, "okay, a cut or some blisters, no big deal" Wrrrronggg. The two sores on this man's feet were worse than any wound I have ever been that close to. The one on the bottom of his heel looked like it had been there at least a year, and was a black hole that probably went to the bone. I managed to cover my shock and started to clean it off. The smell was pretty bad, but I'll hold off the rest of the details because I know it isn't the loveliest thing to read about. He was sitting in the chair and the translator was holding his foot up while I squatted down in front of it. While I was down there, I noticed that he was pulling up his shuka (skirt like cloth) and saying something to the translator. The translator told me, "He wants you to know that he cannot control his urine. He just urinated on himself and did not know it. Also he has a rash" I made the mistake of looking up from his foot while he was talking... And all I'm going to say is, the Maasai apparently do not wear underwear... I wrapped up his foot and gave him extra dressings, but I don't know how his heel will heal on its own. All I can do is just pray that he follows my advice and doesn't try to leave the bandage on there forever. Later, I found out that he has had sores like that in his feet for at least 15 years.
After lunch, I gave some more shots, but there was a local nurse helping and our cubicle was small, so I used that as an excuse to go out and play with the kids. One of the little girls, Sophia was around me for a lot of the afternoon and at the end of the day she asked me to take her with me to America. She was 100% serious and I didn't know how to explain why I couldn't. I would have in a heartbeat. We finished around 6, and packed up the van. There was a little boy who was probably around 2 who had been hanging around us while we prayed and he looked really sad. I picked him up and started trying to make him smile. When I turned him upside down, he started laughing and it was one of the cutest belly laughs I have ever heard. When I threw him up in the air, his smile took up his whole face. When it was time for us to leave, everyone was in the van and I was standing outside the door holding him. He hugged me and put his head on my chest and I melted. I felt stuck like I couldn't put him down. I just wondered when was the last time someone had hugged him or held him. I knew he realized I was about to leave and for a split second I thought about just sitting him on my lap in the van. When I got in, he waved goodbye and we left.
On the way home, everyone was talking about what they had seen-the foot sores, the woman who had been eating charcoal, etc. Then, all of the sudden our driver hit the breaks and when we looked up we saw a ZEBRA running across the road. We came within 4-5 yards of hitting it! Apparently they are like deer around that area, but I felt like I had just hallucinated..
I'm sure I missed a bunch of details, but as I think about them I will add them!
It is Friday now, and we just finished lunch. I have been typing all morning trying to catch up! We are having another clinic on Tuesday (leaving Monday), this time it will be in Sultan Hamud.
More later!(:
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