This month we have a new medical student, Daniele. He is this huge guy that plays rugby and he is very genuine, speaks amazing English, and wants to be an Orthopedist. On Daniele’s first day he saw Dr. Claudio drain an abscess (pus below the skin) on an adult. He stepped outside afterwards and woke up face down on the ground surrounded by nurses. He fainted. Cher. What I love is that instead of being all tough guy, he just laughed at himself.
One day I helped Dr. Giorgio perform dressing changes on children. We have a lot of 2nd & 3rd degree burn patients because of children spilling water and bunna (coffee) on themselves. I helped him with those and also to drain abscesses. I amazingly didn’t almost faint like many times before. I think I’m getting used to the conditions here. Praise God.
A word about Giorgio. He has been my buddy here the last month. He is the first person to notice I’m a bit “alone” here. First time in my life I need to know Italian or wear a habit to fit in. No worries though. Anyways, Giorgio, a retired surgeon who is in his 60’s, always makes sure I’m at his side. Well, at the open market a few weeks ago (where I buy my fruits & veggies), Giorgio pulls me aside and puts an aluminum ring on my right hand that he bought for about 25 cents, and has a heart with “LOVE” printed on it. In his broken English, he says, “So you know you are loved”. Such a romantic. Oh, he also calls laying out in the sun “sunshine worship”. He’s just so cute!
In a package my mom sent me mini-Oreos, so before fasting began for my co-workers (no meat or animal products until Easter) I brought them for our daily bunna/shai (coffee/tea) break. They loved the classic American cookie. However, we don’t really have very sweet cakes here, so I don’t think they were used to the sweetness, so they stuck the Oreos in dabbo (bread). I like mine with milk, but whatever floats your boat.
One day at work my right palm itched, and I said, “I’ll be getting money soon”. My co-worker Ashe heard and said, “You believe that too?!” Good to know family beliefs are practiced in Ethiopia too, but here it’s only if the left palm itches.
It’s interesting the fears you overcome without even realizing it. Pretty much every morning in my shower and several times a week around my house, I find spiders, and they seem to be growing in size and scariness each day. After killing one the other day, I thought, “My God, I’ve grown up…” My sister Mandie knows that I classically, instead of killing bugs, put a cup over it, so that someone else will find it later and kill it for me. : ) Stinks living by yourself. Also, a couple nights ago I killed a spider and at least 50 tiny babies burst from it, and I yelled, “My worst nightmare!” Ewww.
Before leaving Wolisso yesterday, we had the opening of our Therapeutic Feeding Unit. There are 2 types of malnourishment: (1) Marasmus = severely underweight children, who have the appearance of old men (what people typically think malnourished children look like). (2) Kwashkor = overweight children due to the lack of proteins in their bodies that causes severe generalized body edema (swelling). Many children in developing countries have pot bellies because they don’t have enough protein to build their abdominal muscles. Malnourished children are our 2nd most common cause for admissions in Pediatrics, so this is a 16 bed unit especially for them. They will be fed the special formulas by mouth or via a nasogastric tube (since most don’t have an appetite) which go in 3 phases, there is an education area for the parents to be taught about nutrition, a play area to help the children gain strength, and a cooking area for the mothers to learn how to cook nutritious meals. It’s fantastic!
Best part of this month: My dad bought his ticket to come to Ethiopia at the beginning of May! Yay!!! His first trip to Africa, he will get to see where I work & what I do, and we will travel to some of the sights around the country! You can be jealous or make a trip out here. :p
Off to Kenya tomorrow!
