Partners' Hospital

In the midst of Rwink lies the main Partners in Health hospital. I got the chance to have one of the lead doctors show me around on Saturday. It was awesome to see the current baseline version of the electronic medical record system in use, but there are some other, more poignant images that really stick in my memory. Since it was the weekend, it was a bit quieter -- none of the big HIV/AIDS treatment groups meet on the weekends, though there were definitely lots of people around for other purposes...

• Birthing! Want to hear something crazy / amazing? Women in Rwanda are TOTALLY silent while giving birth. I can't imagine. We were walking past the maternity ward, and Michael, the doctor, was like, "hey - want to go in?" He then realized he should check to see if anyone was in labor first (um, YEAH) ... and it turns out there was! And she was not uttering a PEEP. I asked some Rwandans why it is not considered appropriate to scream and shout and curse and whatever during birthing, and they looked at me quizzically. (They were men.)
• Pediatrics: The Peds ward was PACKED. Two or three to a bed. A couple of beds were dedicated to premature babies. There was this one premie who I just wanted to hug forever and ever - she was SO incredibly beautiful, and about the size of my forearm. And she was sleeping in this big bed, all tucked in, but all by herself! It is so, so hard for these mothers -- if they have children in the hospital, they are not caring for the home (which often has lots of other little ones). You'd see tiny babies alone, and mothers rushing in and out -- but sometimes the moms cannot leave the hospitalized kids and are forced to stay in the hospital as well ... and then they either have to find another community member to mind their family, or else BRING all the kids to the hospital with them - UGH.
  
• Hippo mauling: There is a CODE in the diagnosis handbook for hippo mauling.
• Snake bites: The little boy in my pic - he had a snake bite. I think he was super proud of his bravery and valiance - hence wanting it all documented on camera. (I don't think the woman next to him was of any relation -- she just wanted in on the pic!)
• Malnutrition: This is hard for me to see. But the great thing is that a LOT of the people in the malnutrition ward at PIH are recovering really well. Their main treatment is "plumpynut" - this really fatty peanut butter in pouches. Interesting note: they use the "plumpy" instead of regular old rice and beans because you can send it home with the malnourished kids and it is less likely to get eaten by others, because it LOOKS like medicine from the package. Rice and beans, well, they're bound to get divvy-ed up amongst the family. Side note: the malnutrition ward is one of the coolest ones in the hospital -- it has this GORGEOUS jungle mural on one wall, painted by some villagers.