August 26th, 2017 by jenniferolmstead

I am sleeping better in the heat, though not by much. After breakfast, I walked to the hospital with the other two volunteers staying here with me. We were picked up by one of the nurses and rode in a motor rickshaw, it was fun. I’ll have to try it again one day when I have a camera with me. I was taken to the pediatric ward and introduced to the nurses to start my day. It was a bit frustrating at first as they just kept telling me to sit down. I would stand and try to follow and would be told to sit down. Then it was explained that they were waiting for the doctor to round and were just preparing for that. So, I sat and waited. The doctor rounded and still I was told to sit. An 11-month child was brought to the ward and I just walked myself over and got in the middle of the admit. Turned out to be a good idea. I attempted to start an IV, but failed. The child was moving so much and had very rolley veins. The more experienced nurse in the ward tried and failed as well, so I felt a little better. The room is very dim and the only light source is the window, I had difficulty even finding a vein let alone keeping it. As she prepared for the third attempt she stated that this was the last chance. I felt bad for the child as she had to chase the vein which is always painful especially in the wrist area. A surprising point was that the nurse reused the needle and cannula on her second attempt. I was very stunned to say the least.
I was able to review the chart for the child that I saw brought in yesterday. The child is on several antibiotics and special feeding through an NG tube. There I no specific diagnosis yet, though labs have been drawn. The child is 2 years old and weighs 8 kg, that’s about 16 pounds. The nurses state that children come in this way often. The parents look the same way. They are educated on proper nutrition for a child, however many simply do not have the financial means to provide it.
I was able to remove 2 IV lines for children being discharged. The first on cried like crazy. The second started to cry but stopped when I looked at him and shushed him. Most people understand a little English but I was not sure how else to communicate that it would not hurt. Watched me very intently, but did not pull away. Later before leaving his father made him say thank you to me, it was quite wonderful.
Next was my new not so secret admirer. I’m guessing he was about 5-6 in a bright green shirt. He just stood in the doorway and smiled at me. He laughed very loudly when I spoke to him. Eventually he began to make motions indicating inserting an IV or giving a shot in the back side. I offered to give him one and he just laughed. The other staff tried to talk to him and ask him why he was there but he either ignored or laughed. Someone ran him off and he returned with a little girl, she wore a pink and purple dress and looked to be about 1 year younger. She ran off the first time I waved at her, but he was persistent and stayed. I tried ignoring him so he started stomping his feet to get my attention. He eventually got up the courage to come and sit next to me on the bench for about 1 minute, then he was up and back to the doorway. This whole process took about an hour. The nurses had shift change during this time and thought it was very cute. I was told I had an admirer for sure. One nurse tried to be logical and tell him I was too old, but he just laughed at her.
Before leaving I was asked if I would-be back tomorrow and I said yes. I was asked when to leave and said that was up to her. I was there to learn and help so I would do whatever she wanted. She smiled told me to leave and she would have a list for me tomorrow, with a big smile. As I was on my way out, walking with one of the nurses, we saw the boy in a motor rickshaw with his family and he was still smiling big as could be, so of course I had to wave.
After dinner, I was playing a game with the other volunteers and the youngest daughter in the house, I’ll tell you her name as soon as I learn it (I think it’s Deborah but not sure with the accent). Anyway, we were enjoying our game when all of a sudden, we hear this loud horrible noise coming from the next room. It was the rooster. I thought it was being prepared for tomorrows dinner as loud and obnoxious as it sounded. It turns out that the rooster had gotten into something, not sure what, and was being placed in the chicken coop. They normally wander freely here, so I we figured the coop was like chicken prison. We all laughed until we cried. It was just the most horrible noise and unexpected.