March 9, 2009
Clinic at Mwogo
Dr Dan took us to clinic at Mwogo today- an easy drive of about 45 minutes. Along the way Dan told us of his many ideas- he never stops thinking! One thing that he thinks would be useful is a mobile clinic- with an x ray, an ultrasound, a portable lab, etc. It is so difficult for people to make the trip to Nyamata for the services that are not available in the health centers. Dan is an amazing person- aside from his work at HDI he also works full time as an ER physician and King Faisal Hospital. Many times he has been with us during the day, then worked his shift, then come back to work with us again.
When we arrived we could see the lines of patients waiting to be seen. There are always so many to be seen and it is hard for the staff to get away from their duties to go to a class. Dr Dan jumped in and started seeing patients- mostly malaria and malnutrition, one fellow had been run over by a cow. He kept a running tab as we saw patients---- that would have been 5 ultrasounds and 4 x rays, etc. The mobile clinic is a great idea! It was heartbreaking when we saw a boy who was 5 years old and weighed 24 pounds… I could have wept so many times. One mother came in with her older child who was ill and I offered to hold her darling infant daughter—then a few tears came… I miss my kiddos so much.
We decided at some point to go outside and have a break- we wondered also if we were slowing the nurses down in their work. The clinic was a pleasant spot with many flowers growing- everything grows so well here (except the people I guess).
Finally we were ready to start teaching. The nurses were quite receptive- they always want more education. Frequently when they have difficult cases they have to refer to Nyamata- this includes the horrific situations like shoulder dystocias- they transfer mid delivery- needless to say the baby is lost. Showing them simple maneuvers to hopefully get them out of a situation is really useful. One nurse, Hyacinthe, really wants to become a midwife… and I said I would try to get her some books to her.
