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| 4 month old malnourished baby girl...extremely small for her age |
Just finished dinner and on the verge of passing out from both physical and emotional exhaustion. Long and tiring, yet rewarding day. We went with a different strategy for admitting patients to the clinic today. We gave out 250 tickets on a first come first serve basis and hand picked 50 of the most noticeably ill children around the church. This allowed us to really help those in need and also those seeking care.
We saw and treated a variety of cases today. We had a 4 year old boy come in that we diagnosed with tuberculosis. Unfortunately we didn’t have the proper facilities or meds to treat him so he will have to visit the local hospital for treatment and x-rays. We saw little girl with mumps, a few kids with chicken pox, quite a few with worms and GI problems and also a three year old girl with a severe case of pneumococcal pneumonia. If she wasn't treated, she would most likely have died in two days.
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| Boy with Tuberculosis |
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| Little girl with an umbilical hernia and worms |
The most unfortunate thing I have seen so far was 4 or 5 young girls (11 and younger) throughout the day that presented with symptoms classic to that of major STDs. It was absolutely heart breaking to see and know that this could have been prevented. The girls were so ashamed that they would not admit to us they had ever been raped. My heart broke. Things like this make you take an extra minute before bed to pray for all those innocent little girls, who very often, have that innocence stripped from them in a flash.
On a brighter note. We treated 300+ people today in the medical clinic. Dental saw 88 individuals and optical 500+. Tomorrow we will be at it again and expect to see the same amount of patients, if not more.
The third world environment is taking a toll on me and Im starting to get a bit of bug. Dealt with a stomach bug this am, but better now (btw, last time I checked a hole in the middle of the ground doesn't count as a bathroom!). Now i'm fighting a respiratory issue caused mostly by allergies and irritation due to all of the pollution, dust and other junk floating around. Its times like these when you really appreciate all of the amazing resources and privileges we have back in the states. I am so blessed to have been born in the US and have so many incredible rights and opportunities available to me. We should all take time each day to step back and realize how good we have it. Its so easy to focus on what we don't have and never realize all that we do have.
Take care!
Lauren
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