As the second boy climbed onto the mother's lap, the first boy was pulling his brother's pants down to prepare him for the shot. I managed to poke the boy in a jiffy just like the first boy's, but this child started wailing instantaneously. Of course the mother and I tried to console the poor child by patting the baby on the back while using our baby voices. Then the first boy started doing the same thing! He pulled up his brother's pants and started patting the brother on the back while consoling his brother with baby talk. AND He reached out to wipe his brother's tears away!!!
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| Precious, RN |
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| Sitting: Dr._____ and Tabang, who like to be called Tabang and also wants to marry Mallorie, my roommate |
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| Julie, RN. Me, RN. Summer, RN. |
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| Inside the Child Wellness Center |
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| Their wound care center. |
There are 4 major stations at Kanye Main Clinic, and I was working at the station that sort of registered/admitted people and directed them to the appropriate stations for treatment.
At the clinic, a pregnant patient came in with her husband for a maternity check up. After her maternity check-up, she came back to me with her husband. She pointed at her husband and said,
"He need to be a patient". I gave her a very confused look. She handed me a small card saying that she had an STI and said,
"The midwife told me that he needs to go to the doctor to get this fixed." While laughing and looking at her husband, the husband shyly waved his hands saying,
"No no. Hahaha, I don't need!" The wife hesitantly insisted that he needed to get treated as well as the husband stared at the ground with a sheepish smile and repeated that he didn't need to get treatment. "I am afraid of needles", the grown man said.
Finally understanding what was going on, I worked my persuasive/nursing magic and convinced him to see the doctor for treatment! :) I'm stopping the spread of STIs (Sexually Transmitted Infections) one person at a time! :)
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Health care professionals in Botswana are not afraid to judge patients.
The second that the midwife at my clinic saw that her patient was a 17 year old, HIV positive, pregnant patient, she tsked three times while shaking her head. She looked at me and said, "We have a serious problem here" right in front of the patient! (Many patients understand at least some English). I learned a lot about the HIV epidemic and why it is such a difficult problem to solve in Botswana, but it was sort of at in the presence of the embarrassment and shame of the patient.
With another patient with a similar situation, the midwife asked, "What makes you think this man will take care of you and your baby?". She explained to me that men in Botswana empower their masculinity and pride with the number of children they can bear despite the status of marriage. They don't really care how many women the impregnate (although greater numbers are always more to brag about). They convince their prey that they will be there forever, that they would get married, or that they love them. After the child is born, the man has usually already pounced on another prey. She explained that many women know this but they allow it to happen to them anyhow.
The midwife tells women that their deeds are to be ashamed of and that they are responsible for the spread of the disease. I have never witnessed so much direct discipline and retribution in the healthcare setting.
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Today, I worked with the midwife of Kanye Main Clinic. It was the second time I worked with her.
Part of her work entails compare the fundal-symphysis pubis distance with the calculated gestational age, palpating women for the position of the baby, and listening for the fetal heart. By the end of today, I was able to determine the position of the baby, find the fetal heart sounds, and assess the fundal-symphysis pubis distance all by myself without any electronic equipment or re-evaluation by the midwife! I felt like an expert palpate-er -- the midwife totally trusted my assessments and simply recorded my observations :) :) :)
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How we weigh our babies...
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