Blog 2 from Rachel
24-7-07 – We had our orientation to the nursing program here at the University. It is amazing to me the amount of schooling the students must go through in order to become what we consider a registered nurse. They must complete 4,500 hours of clinical time over the course of four years. When they graduate they are also trained as a midwife. For myself I may have considered a different profession if I was in Africa.
25-7-07 – Our first day in a public primary care clinic. First of all it was quite an adventure just getting to the place. Apparently here they give directions much different than the US (not as easy to map quest every thing). I was able to observe a nurse; here they are referred to as sisters. They function almost identical to the role of a nurse practitioner in the states. One gentleman we saw was #91 in line, he told me he had arrived at the clinic that morning at 6am, and we were seeing him at 12 noon. Amazing isn’t it? All of the clinics the group observed were public, meaning that they are all free, even the medications. The clinics made me think of what it may have been like to do nursing 20 years ago. There are no modern conveniences or resources available like nurses are used to today.
26-7-07 – Today we went into the community. Unplanned we were able to visit a local elementary school. It was so amazing to me the amount of joy and happiness among to children considering the struggles that they face everyday. They loved us taking pictures of them. They would all storm around you wanting their pictures taken so that then they could see themselves on the camera. After our visit to the school we visited a local man’s home who is living with HIV. His home is basically a cement box. Again I also found an amount of joy within him, that you don’t seem to find among people living at home. Another thing I am finding here is a strong sense of community among everyone. Everyone within a community knows one another and looks after one another. At home most people don’t even know who their neighbors are.
27-7-07 – Today was our visit to the Traditional healer. What an interesting experience. He works from his home with the local people who come to him for medical advice. He also described some of his roles as what I would consider witch doctor like. He talked about seeing people to remove evil spirits or curses. From a healthcare perspective I was interested to find that he refers clients to the clinics for western medicine and works with there prescribed regimens, but western medicine does not feel that the Traditional healers have a role at all in medicine.