Day 6
Tuesday, Sept. 16
Ngodzi
This morning our team split into three groups. Hank and Kim were off to a village outreach clinic along with a nurse, HIV screener, and pharmacy dispenser to the village of Matowe, about 8 km from here. Together they saw 22 patients and screened several hemoglobins with the portable meter that we brought. Kim dressed a baby’s foot that had been deeply burned in a fire. They are able to give a variety of medications in the field.
Mark stayed at the clinic, observing with Andrew (one of the clinical medical officers). He taught Andrew to do his first thoracentesis to drain fluid off the chest of an older man with pneumonia, probably tuberculosis. Then, he had a chance to spend time in the HIV testing and counseling area, learning in-depth about the excellent program and counseling available at the clinic. About 15% of all tests done are positive for HIV.
The other team members went to Mbalame, another village 10 km away, for mosquito net presentation and distribution. When they arrived, a large crowd of women and children had gathered, and were singing as they arrived. Steve gave a speech (some in fluent? Chichewa) and the HSA’s gave a demonstration and teaching about the use of the nets. We were very impressed by the organization done in advance by the HSAs, with a detailed list of families and the exact number of nets to distribute.
Tonight we had our first taste of traditional Malawian food, with nsema “seema”, a paste of maize flour that tastes a bit like cream of wheat. It is rolled in the (right) hand into a little ball and dipped, in our case, in goat stew. We’re all tired, with full stomachs, looking forward to tomorrow.
Laugh of the day: Mark introduced himself to Pastor McDuff on four consecutive days thinking he hadn’t met him yet!
Tuesday, Sept. 16
Ngodzi
This morning our team split into three groups. Hank and Kim were off to a village outreach clinic along with a nurse, HIV screener, and pharmacy dispenser to the village of Matowe, about 8 km from here. Together they saw 22 patients and screened several hemoglobins with the portable meter that we brought. Kim dressed a baby’s foot that had been deeply burned in a fire. They are able to give a variety of medications in the field.
Mark stayed at the clinic, observing with Andrew (one of the clinical medical officers). He taught Andrew to do his first thoracentesis to drain fluid off the chest of an older man with pneumonia, probably tuberculosis. Then, he had a chance to spend time in the HIV testing and counseling area, learning in-depth about the excellent program and counseling available at the clinic. About 15% of all tests done are positive for HIV.
The other team members went to Mbalame, another village 10 km away, for mosquito net presentation and distribution. When they arrived, a large crowd of women and children had gathered, and were singing as they arrived. Steve gave a speech (some in fluent? Chichewa) and the HSA’s gave a demonstration and teaching about the use of the nets. We were very impressed by the organization done in advance by the HSAs, with a detailed list of families and the exact number of nets to distribute.
Tonight we had our first taste of traditional Malawian food, with nsema “seema”, a paste of maize flour that tastes a bit like cream of wheat. It is rolled in the (right) hand into a little ball and dipped, in our case, in goat stew. We’re all tired, with full stomachs, looking forward to tomorrow.
Laugh of the day: Mark introduced himself to Pastor McDuff on four consecutive days thinking he hadn’t met him yet!
posted by Dr. Hendrik Visser at 8:01 AM
<< Home