This is actually what my day was like on Wednesday, but I was up pretty late and too tired to get everything posted yesterday. Not a lot happened yesterday. Nina, my partner, and I went to visit the clinic, Icyuzuzo, in the Nyamirambo district of Kigali that serves a much poorer area of Rwanda. Hard to imagine being any more below the poverty line.
We toured the clinic which consists of two main buildings. One for HIV testing and counseling that also houses a meeting room for large groups. The WE-ACTx clinics are part of an association that all work together to coordinate care along with the national TRAC program. TRAC is the government's agency that focuses on HIV treatment for all Rwandans. The offices were created from one large stone building with sheets of plywood acting as office walls and doors. We then walked past a grassy area where the kids play while they wait and an outdoor toilet, that as far as i can tell is a wall that people walk behind to go to the bathroom. We went into the clinic and met a lot of staff. The women have and outdoor education area that begins a new health related education session each morning at 7/7:30 which lasts about an hour and the patients really seem to like it. They also have a comment/suggestion book that lets the women ask for certain topics to be addressed each day.
There is one doctor for this clinic and three nurses, along with a lab technician (one microscope and some test tubes and blood draw tubes), a pharmacy tech, and many trauma counselors. Too often, the trauma counselors outnumber the rest of the staff. The clinic is clean and nicely organized. The doctor sees patients with difficult cases, those that need prescriptions and referrals, and anyone starting Antiretrovirals (ARVs) for HIV. The nursing staff is given a lot of opportunity to treat patients in a way that physicians do. This clinic truly would not survive without the fabulous nursing staff! On a busy day 80 patients are seen and no one is ever turned away. Dr. JMV sees every patient that comes to the clinic each day. It is even open on Mondays when he is at a rural clinic in the association, and on Wednesday and Friday mornings when he is at meetings for TB and pediatrics cases in the mornings. He is such a nice man and I look forward to talking with him and learning from him. Odette is by far my favorite staff member because she greeted us with hugs and kisses on the cheek. (How very French indeed!)
After our tour, Nina and I went back to the clinic and went fabric shopping with the other interns. I bought some fabulous fabrics, including very lightweight Tanzanian cloth. All of the colors are so bright! I think the clothes I'm having made will turn out very nice.
Later Nina and I worked on finishing our ARV survey and focus group stuff and just relaxed a little. Truthfully, we were pretty psyched about our new fabric and spent about an hour planning clothes. We do get to have some playtime here.
So I feel I should say a word about the food here, seeing as that is the first question my mother asks me each conversation I have with her online. Seriously. Every time. We have excellent cooks at the WE-ACTx house, Seraphine and Candida. There is a lot of rice and potatoes. Our main dishes include fish and tofu, which actually does taste just like chicken if prepared correctly. I really can't describe the sauces except to say they're nothing like I've ever tasted before and incredibly yummy. Each night also includes a vegetable mix with sauce. For lunch it's peanut butter sandwiches all the way with the best PB I've ever had! Breakfast is usually toast or oats, which are good too, like bigger pieces of oatmeal. I'm going to attempt eggs for breakfast this weekend and hopefully I'll learn how to make crepes. We also have delicious spinach/broccoli soup puree and homemade french fries! The hills are a rough climb so I'm sure I'll come back a little lighter.
P.S. Dad I ate my vegetables, now go get your damn colonoscopy. I'm holding you to the deal!
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