I have not felt like the most useful person on my trip to Kenya. Staying on a compound full of doctors and researchers can certainly make one feel that way. I’m not trying to find a cure for any disease or figure out the best way to screen for communicable diseases. I’m just along for the ride. My liberal arts degrees do not come in too handy either, although the French minor helped immensely in the Swahili lessons. Luckily my previous “Money Grubber” positions seem to be of more relevance than I had anticipated. I have offered to help with a small project in the pediatric oncology ward.
It started out that I would be helping take some photos of the oncology patients to use in fundraising and marketing materials. I was very nervous at first about bringing the camera out and taking pictures on the wards. I did not know how people would feel about having their photo taken. Turns out, everyone loves to have their picture taken! I began by just taking photos of kids with cancer. But it was impossible to explain why I was only taking photos of just some patients and not others, so I ended up taking everyone’s photo. Little kids who do not look old enough to talk quickly learned “picture” and would start to follow me around when I walked into the ward.
Here are some photos of the patients.
After a three hour escapade through town and at the photo film processing center, I had prints made and passed them out on the wards. I think enlisting a body guard before I began might have been a wise choice, as I had so many people reaching, and grabbing, and excited to see themselves in print. So while I might not be saving lives today or making a huge impact on medicine for the future, I think I have at least made today a little brighter for the kids and families.
ADDENDIUM
I received the following on Wednesday, September 28, in an
email from a doctor friend who is still in Eldoret:
things
here have been, well ... down right terrible. it's a very long story, but
... due to hospital politics involving issues with the old director and
corruption, the accounts of the hospital are frozen by the government, meaning
that we can't even buy the basic necessities right now. we are out of
pretty much every supply you could need to take care of patients. we
haven't had any antibiotics in the pharmacy in 3 weeks (hence, i have been
making daily antibiotic runs to town to keep our kids from dying). radiology is
out of film for printing images on, so they are refusing to do xrays (you can
sometimes sweet-talk your way around this, but it takes lots of effort and a
signature from the HOD). last week we ran out of reagents for running
basic blood tests and a few days ago i couldn't even find an IV to put in for a
patient who was obviously septic. today the surgeons went on strike
because they don't have supplies and they don't have antibiotics to give
post-op, so even when they can find the supplies, people are dying from
infection. needless to say, things are pretty bleak here right now. kids
dying left and right. several of our kids who have died had their last
and only picture taken by you. had a parent return to the hospital yesterday
to ask if i could give him print outs of his child from the pics that you took.
such a blessing to him in midst of his grieving. it's just been
really hard lately and it's incredibly difficult not to feel like this is all
an exercise in futility. i know it's worthwhile work, but the last couple
of weeks have made me feel like having our doors open is a bit like giving
false hope. just hard ... that's all.
ok,
i'll quit whining now and get back to work.
--
At
the time she sent this message I was presenting information to 80 first and
second graders about hospital conditions in Kenya and showing them pictures of
all the Kenyan kids in the hospital. It
took me by surprise when, as I was showing photos and looking at these
beautiful, healthy, unknowingly-privileged children, I broke into tears as I
mentioned that not all of the kids in these photos are still alive.
No comments:
Post a Comment