Death and Life

Today we worked the pm shift 3:30 to 9pm. When I walked onto the unit I noticed that the family that had the preemie baby was gone. My heart sunk as I thought of what most likely had happened. I asked the nurse at the desk and she confirmed my fear. The baby had passed away. I had mixed feeling about what had happened, crushed that all of our efforts to do what we could to help the baby were not enough and my heart ached for the family as it was their first baby and all of them were so evolved in trying to save the baby. But I also felt at peace that the baby was no longer suffering and would not have to endure the very hard life of having to live with a lot of medical problems in a place were healthcare is very limited. But I cling to the fact that I will someday in heaven I will be able to meet this little girl again and tell her how much I tried to help her and how much I cared. Death here is something that is common but I thank God that I have not had to yet deal with it face to face. (I was glad that the baby went when I was not working.) The other day we were leaving the hospital and 2 men were carrying, actually they were running, a wrapped up body on a stretcher out of the hospital. I guess when the family finds out they all start whaling so they hurry them out before the noise begins and disturbs the other patients. He had died of HIV. I know that soon enough I will have to face this reality and see the death that is so common here. I just pray that God will help me to stay strong.

On a happier note, the nurses that we got to work with on our shift were so much fun. They knew some English so it was nice to be able to communicate some. They tried to teach us some of their language which is very hard and we all had a good time laughing at our inability to pronounce their words correctly. It was very slow with no laboring pt’s so Linda and I decided to clean and organize the nurses station. It was in much need!!! I am sure that the nurses think we were crazy because whenever it is slow we find things to clean and organize, and they just sit and talk and make gauze 4x4’s. Having things clean to them is not a priority by any means. After the nursing station was clean to our satisfaction (who knows how long it will stay that way), we all got to talking again.
Linda and I had wanted to ask someone about the female circumcision that is done here so frequently and we thought this would be a good time to ask. So we brought up the question to them and we were very shocked to hear what they told us. They do what is called level 1 circumcision. It appears they remove most of the labia minora and they say the clitoris as well. (I haven’t been able to tell that the clitoris is missing) They told us that it is done when the girl is 7 or 8 years old and it is a big celebration. They said they would have their girls done despite known efforts to get them to quit. The only reason they would give for doing it was – tradition and then laughingly to prevent them from running off with other men. Of all that I have seen and heard about, this isn’t as bad as most. At first I didn’t even notice the difference. There is evidently a village person who does the procedure and without anesthesia or antiseptics. They did say it was VERY painful and they all remembered it vividly. Yea, I bet!!!!
The culture is defiantly very different here but it is interesting to learn how other people live, even though some of the practices are well to put it softly are dreadful! This is for sure cultural experience!
Well no babies on this pm shift L maybe tomorrow though!

Until next time…