Well Baby Clinic

Today was the first day of offsite clinic. We set up baby clinic at a shanty deserted village an hour away. The drive was nuts, picture off roading. Hundreds upon hundreds of moms with their bambinos. We weigh them, chart them, vaccinate them, then give the moms birth control. It's science. I was charting and giving polio vaccinations today. I finished first and so I got to hang out. Having their picture taken is the countries favorite pastime. Kids swarm you and want to be photographed, but they don't smile unless you tickle them and catch them off guard. Moms come up and ask me to take their pictures too. It's hilarious. I love it. Only problem is that all the babies that we work with have moms, which means I'll have to look for souvenirs elsewhere.....

After baby clinic we went back to the hospital to divy out AIDS medicine. The AIDS medication comes packaged like any medication you would buy in the states, but we have to modify it before we distribute it. We take the pill bottle out of the box. Set the English instructions aside. Open the bottle and remove the "Do Not Tamper" seal, take out the cotton and the preservative packets. We do this bc this "garbage" is used for many other things. The boxes become fuel for the kitchens fire. The medication instructions become toilet paper for when the hospital runs out. The cotton is sterilized and used in the hospital. The preservative packets are removed bc the patients may mistake them for a pill and accidentally swallow, and we also use them to preserve spices. Nothing goes to waste here! And in case you were wondering, we ran out of toilet paper today......