Mondays are Nurse Rebecca’s busiest days; within two hours, I was able to observe almost 6 patients. Many of the patients had traveled far distances to the Elohim clinic but don’t mind the commute or the cost for the high quality of care they receive. The first two patients were elderly women who both had extremely high high blood pressures (~187/174) and high diabetic levels. Their conditions had worsened since their last visits because they failed to take their medicines. I also saw a young lady receive estrogen injections for family planning purposes and an elderly man with edema in his legs due to his previous congestive heart failure. Between patients, Nurse Rebecca would quiz me over the female reproductive system, which we had been studying together, or answer my health-related questions about the patients or my students.

After classes on Monday, we took a handful of our girls to the nearby Red Cross Clinic for HIV testing. Susan and I were highly disappointed and quite frustrated after our experience at this government clinic. We found a group of nurses sitting in a corner, only willing to take one girl at a time to get a “rapid” HIV test. The other nurses were too busy chatting with one another or asking our girls condescending questions about why they wanted to know their statuses. Although we could not fully understand what they were saying in Sesotho, it was clear that their tone of voice was disrespectful and rude. Later, we found out that the nurses made our girls feel utterly inept and dumb; in fact, the students at our school choose to not get treatment rather than go to this clinic because of how badly they are treated. That afternoon, the girls only waited because they so desperately want to know their statuses. It is a shame that a clinic which plasters “know your status” posters actually discourages it by the attitudes of their workers. We were sent away after only 2 students because the nurses wanted to go home early, and we vowed never to return. We will take our students to Baylor Clinic next week.

For the past two days we have used the PSM for career guidance. We gave our students a career assessment test, did individual consultations, allowed them to draw their life maps, and invited two guest speakers. On Wednesday, Nurse Rebecca spoke to Form D and E students about health-related careers. She shared practical information about how to apply and COSC requirements as well as engaging stories. Today, Mr. Qwa Qwa, a teacher at Letsie HS and an accountant, spoke to the students about careers in finance and commerce. Many of our students are interested in becoming nurses and accountants, and they seemed to be inspired by both speakers.

Next week is the last week of camp! We cannot believe how quickly these past 5 weeks have gone by, but we are encouraged to see how far our students have progressed.

Beverly