Mother Baby

Starting off on a positive note, our water came back today!!! YAY for showers!!! I never knew how great a shower could really really feel. Also our power left us, but then came back, but then left us again. Whoever created flashlights is a genius. Also many people cannot afford to take the bus to work so I decided I would not take the bus to see what it is like. Let me tell you it is exhausting. I walked 3.25 miles to work, after I had already ran 3.5 miles and by 10:30 I was utterly exhausted! I guess if that is your only option you get used to it. Could you imagine how different our world would be if we had to walk to work. It would not only change your job and school situation, but also our health and our lifestyle as we know it. To be honest I maybe see 2 obese people per 2 thousand people and even then the obese would only be considered over weight in our country.
Today I started out at the mother baby clinic. There is a little building with two rooms. Each room is about the size of a persons half bathroom at home. Outside the rooms is a “patio area” with some benches where literally 100-200 people are waiting with their babies to be seen. The waiting area is about the size of a normal 2 car garage. Women can wait all day to be seen and it is nothing to see women breastfeeding in the open. No one really even bothers to cover up. If the mother is by herself she is typically coming to get her tetanus injection. After giving birth women are given a series of 5 tetanus injections. The women are gathered into the tiny rooms in groups of around 10 and are lined up and given shots. Giving shots here is an entirely different procedure. There is no putting air in the vial, cleaning off the top, cleaning off the skin, checking landmarks for the shot, no aspirating, no wearing of gloves, no anything. When the mothers are there with the babies they first must get the babies weighed. There is a scale hanging from the roof similar to what we would put of fruits in at the grocery store minus the basket. So basically it is just a hook. Women must bring the one sling type device in which the hang the baby from the hook. After the weight they must wait around until it is their turn. When it is time around 7 mothers and the children are brought back into the small room where the babies are given the vaccinations. They are given two drops of oral polio, a shot of DTp, hepatitis B, and yellow fever, and they are given a shot of BCG, which is for Tuberculosis. As soon as the child receives the shots they are taken out the door. Another difference here I was able to see today was the diapers. The children wear. It is a washcloth wrapped around the baby’s genitals and then that is tied on with some plastic. Also here, even though it is 85 degrees, babies are dressed in warm sweaters, and winter hats and thick clothes. I also saw today a woman who brought in a baby that she had to have at home yesterday because she did not have time to get to the clinic. We had to retie off the umbilical cord from what was done at home. It is hard to really describe the situation, but could you imagine standing/sometimes sitting for 5-6 hours holding a child in 85 degree heat with no fans, no food, no anything. There are no strollers here, women always carry their children. Do you think you could do that? How you feel about it? Could you even imagine??
After volunteering I tried to go see the Rwandan war crime trials that are being held in Arusha, but they are off this week for the holiday so look forward to reading about that next week!