Snow in Africa!
We saw snow this weekend!! I can’t believe it – I’m in the middle of sub-Saharan Africa, and it literally snowed. After a really awful, cold, rainy day on Friday and Saturday morning, we began to see snow outside out window! Later during the weekend, after the weather cleared up, we were able to drive up to see the mountains. How beautiful!
Field Trip to an Outreach Clinic
Every day is so different! One day, we’re in the nursery, fiddling with the phototherapy lights and incubator to get it to work. The next day, we’re in the boardroom having meetings with doctors and community members – and then hurrying across the border into South Africa to get groceries.
On one of these unusual days, Melissa and I were on our way to the nursery to fiddle with the incubator when we come across one of the surgeons, Dr. Tibenda. He greets us warmly and asks how we’re doing. He then informs us that he’s about to travel to one of the outreach clinics about an hour’s drive away from the hospital. After waving him goodbye, we then run into our Dutch doctor friend and find out that he’s going as well. As he’s walking away, Melissa implores, “Can we come too??”
It turns out that there was room in the hospital van, so we clambered into the van filled with nurses to travel to the community of Pitseng and drove off. Mind you, we literally just took what was in our backpacks at the time – luckily, we had a few technologies with us, but beyond that, we had zero food and only a half liter water bottle. But off we went!
Once we arrived at the Pitseng clinic, we talked with patients (or at least – communicated as much as our language barriers allowed) and interviewed the doctors and nurses about how they deliver their care.
A picture of Melissa and I with Dr. Tibenda at Pitseng
A large part of this outreach clinic centers on family planning services. There I learned how many of the women at the clinic came to receive their bimonthly injection of birth control medication. As each woman filed through the clinic, I was surprised by the fact that not a single nurse gave any counseling about the prevalence of HIV. I find that hard to believe in a country where 1 in 3 partners may be infected. At the same time, I know that the hospital does do a significant amount of HIV education outreach – I suppose it’s just not here at this outreach clinic. I hope to learn more about the logistics and report back.
Although it was definitely a spur-of-the-moment trip, I learned a lot and I’m so glad we went.
Showing Off Breath Alert
Today I was finally able to demonstrate Breath Alert (once again, my senior design project. So proud of my awesome team!) The device detects when babies stop breathing, and then turns on a vibration motor to stimulate breathing again. Often, the babies most at risk are those who are born premature.
Today, I interviewed one of the nurses in the obstetrics department, and he was describing to me the challenges of caring for pre-term infants. As he put it, “Sometimes, the babies just…forget to breathe!” When I showed him my device and how it was designed to solve that exact problem, he ecstatically proclaimed, “This is fantastic!” He thinks that the device can be easily integrated into their current standard of care and feels comfortable trying it out on some infants soon. After we get confirmation from the doctors, we’ll hopefully be able to test how well Breath Alert works on some patients by next week. So excited!
Awkward Cultural Communications, Part II
Back by popular demand, here’s another slightly uncomfortable scenario that took place recently.
The scene: One day Melissa and I were walking home from the hospital. The sun was setting, and patients and nurses were milling about. At one point, we notice a Basotho woman, probably a patient, walking alongside us.
Melissa and I: “Dumela ‘M’e!” (translation: Hello / Good day, Ma’am!)
Woman: “Dumela!” *smiles warmly at us*
Melissa: “How are you?
Woman: “I don’t speak English.”
*brief pause*
Woman: “Can I have your jacket?”
Melissa: “Oh…it doesn’t…fit.”
Woman: “Oh, okay. Goodbye!”
*woman waves, still smiling warmly*
Melissa: “Okay, goodnight! Goodbye”
Such is how we make friends.