These first two days at the clinic have been hectic, and that’s an understatement. With some doctors still missing due to taking their vacation around the Network Meeting, the clinic has been fairly shorthanded. Regardless, watching 150 or so patients operate within this system each day for two days has  been remarkable. Danielle and I have been shadowing these days, and we will hopefully find out about some of the other projects the clinic has in mind for us tomorrow.

They face malnutrition on a regular basis, have a reasonable amount of adherence problems with HAART, and see children who are having difficulties battling infections they face as a result of their HIV positive condition. A patient today genuinely did not believe that HIV was real, and that got me thinking about a possible side project of waiting room tutoring at the clinic while we are here. The waiting room is always full, and patients come from hours away sometimes for a clinic visit, so I have begun to think of things that Danielle and I could do with them while they waited – possible HIV/AIDS education or games with the kids who may be responsible for administering their own HAART. I think that anything we may be able to do with people who are sometimes waiting there from 8am to 4:45 pm might materialize into a good idea.

During lunch, we went to the S.O.S. Village to let them know we were here and coordinate a possible meeting with some teachers or maybe meet some students. We walked around a little bit, but no one actually had any idea who we were or knew anything about the program we thought we were implementing. No reason to worry, though. We left our numbers for the person we were supposed to meet, and we expect a call in the next few days to work it out. Seeing all the children there, some of whom were sneaking behind us and attempting to hide in broad daylight, left me itching to start our review course . I’m still crazily excited.

Still Crazily Excited,

Amit