It is hard adjusting to this culture. My mind races each night, so the sleep I am getting is minimum. The taste of the food here is not appealing, so I am also getting minimum of that. Only the missionaries and healthcare workers speak English, and the Kenyan healthcare provider's "English" is a struggle to understand. Adapting is very hard! With all that said today started off pretty well. Nathan and I got a tour of the hospital, the we went to Doctor's Devotional which takes place every Wednesday morning. This morning the devotional related to covenants, since an intern is about to marry this weekend. I enjoyed the devotional very much since I too am about to become a wife. We had prayer time which was a refreshing way to start rounds. Afterward we got a brief orientation...mainly about HIV precaution, then split into the units we will be working with for the next 3 weeks. Nathan is in OB/GYN and I am in Pediatrics/Neonatal. At this point my day took a slight decline.
We started our rounds with the teenage children, one of which died this morning due to Heart Failure. Heart failure in children in the US is rare, but in Kenya is quite common. Parents of children with infectious diseases don't seek care immediately due to cost. Infectious diseases left untreated often turn into rheumatic heart disease causing the heart failure. With the younger children common problems were: meningitis, pneumonia, malnutrition, malaria, and of course the majority had HIV.
Intensive Care Unit (ICU):
Pediatrics:
During lunch I sat with some of the missionaries who were able to provide me with much comfort and prayer. As for the ones who know me well, yes of course I cried the whole time.
After lunch and after I thought the tears had ceased, I went to the NIC Unit (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit) for rounds. As soon as I walked into the room the tears started flowing again! There were about 30 babies between 2-3 lbs in the hand built wood boxes...many with IVs, NG tubes, and heating lamps. The rate of mortality in this unit is about 1 in every 5 babies. After I gained my composure, I finished out the rounds with my team in that unit only to move on to the ICU. In the ICU we were seeing two children that had been poisoned by their mother the night before. The mother had decided to poison herself and her three children...one child was dead, one unresponsive, one beginning to show signs of improvement, and their mother was alive and well a few beds away. I can not and will not lay judgment on this mother for I do not know anything about her situation, and after the past few days I can not begin to imagine what it might be like...but how sad when someone feels like they have no other choice but to kill their three children and themselves.
Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU):
After many tears were shed, I was able to share my night with new friends which provided me with much encouragement. The missionaries at this facility are powerful followers of God! The mission statement at Tenwek is "We Treat - Jesus Heals" and they wholeheartedly believe in that statement! I know I have mentioned many negative things in today's post, but that is the way of life here and I want to paint an accurate picture. Through all the hardship that is faced though, Kenyans are very kind, loving people. I can learn so much from this way of life! God is truly teaching me how to rely fully upon His strength! God is and will always be our ultimate healer!!!
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