St. Mary's

Sanibonani!

The hospital (where I have been doing my learnership), has been incredible (ok, and a little boring at times). 

I have been observing in the antenatal clinic, the labor ward, and the maternity ward. Most of the staff I'm working with are wonderful. They are always willing to answer my questions and translate. And getting to hold newborn babies is awesome, they are super adorable! :-) 

When I speak (my limited) Zulu to the patients, they often respond with "Hauwu!" Which pretty much means, "OMG this umlungu speaks Zulu!?" It's often quite hilarious, but they give me a higher level of respect, and I feel proud of my Zulu skills :-) (Even if they are limited).

The hospital can be pretty intense. One day while in the low birth weight nursery, I saw this giant baby sleeping in there. I was talking to the lady I was with and was like, Whoa! Omg, look at this huge baby! He was super adorable, but so obviously health and not underweight. I soon found out he was 5 months old, and had been abandoned by his mother. It was so crazy, because I would imagine that something like (the following) would not happen in the States. The staff had named him, taken care of him, played with him, and even given him an HIV test, for 5! months. When I came back the next week, he had been adopted by a staff member. (Everyone was really happy for him!) :-)

One day a young girl came in after having given birth at home. She hadn't done any antenatal care, and she ended up finding out she was HIV+. It was heart-wrenching. But this is rare, the majority of the mothers come in to the clinic and follow all of the steps to prevent HIV transmission to their children. Mothers who are pregnant and children under the age of 6 get free healthcare. Also, if you have a certain CD4 count (number of healthy blood cells, the higher the number, the better your immune system), you get free ARVs. (ARVs are the drugs usedto suppress the HIV).

Tomorrow my roommate and I are going to get 90 minute massages (for less than $40)! It's pretty exciting. Hope everyone has a fabulous weekend!