Well lots of things have happened since I last posted. Some have been good, some bad but all thought provoking. I have witnessed witchhunts and patched up the elderly women afterwards, done CPR on a dying person rather than a mannequin, seen the death dance and heard the mournful wailing, watched someone die of a black mamba bite, rehydrated a baby who then died anyway, heard about a 2 year old that died of alcohol poisening and helped stitch up a woman who was attacked by a rabid fox. I think that's enough for the bad...
I have handed out presents of soap and toothpaste to immensely grateful patients (they also got fruit and a cup of tea), played chase with a formerly malnourished toddler, taught a young boy how to write hello/mwani and boy/girl (he is in hospital to start ARV therapy as he is HIV+), seen a severly malnourished baby who was started on Tb treatment and has improved, helped in c-sections, drained many abscesses, seen a sucessful breech extraction and a symphysiotomy (sp?), and given Oxygen (among other treatments) to a septic baby with sats = 82% and HR = 220 - he was happy and breastfeeding well when I last saw him.
I have also drunk a lot of tea (our favourite pastime), tidied the paeds ward office, had a go at cutting grass with a 'slasher' (kind of a manpowered weed eater), made an edible pizza without cheese, wandered around the village during New Year's Day celebrations and toasted marshmallows over a NYE bonfire.
I am now in Livingstone on holiday with my mum. She is due to go back to NZ next week. She has a blog at 5weeksinzambia.blogspot.com
That's all for now. There are lots of photos on Winsome Brown's Facebook page, which is public, if you are interested.
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2 comments:
I couldn't find a facebook page for Winsome Brown - well at least not the one who is your Mum. Do you know what name it's under?
Hi, I'm a med student from Australia and I was hoping to talk to you about Zambia. What would be the best way to contact you?
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