Happy
Happy Happy Saturday! (Just realized it is Sunday!)
As
I have stated before the weather is consistently cloudy, and rainy in the
morning and progressively gets sunny, and hot as the day ticks by. This morning
proves to be no different. As I sit in our living room, on our animal print
couch (Possibly donated by Snooki herself), I look out the windows at the grey
sky thinking about how fast time had flown by.
In
nine days I will begin my forty-five-hour journey home. It is hard to believe.
On
one hand, I feel like I have been here only a short time. On the other hand,
judging by what I’ve learned, and my experiences I feel like I have been here
for months and months. Time is very different here. Some hours drag on, and
some days fly by. I feel like I’m stuck in an obscure African time machine. I
kinda like it.
Our
time in P-block (pediatrics) ended yesterday morning. The pediatrician from
Oregon completed rounds for the last time of his duration here yesterday, and
he invited us to join. Because we are here to learn we gave up our Saturday
morning sleep to come in to Mt. Meru.
My
favorite moment yesterday was a conversation between the Dr. Jaclyn and a
seven-year-old diabetic patient who had sliced his thumb open with a machete.
He was stuck in the ward because his thumb had become infected, and diabetes +
infection = out-of-whack blood sugar levels. This statement held true for him
as his RBG levels in four days ranged 2.6 mmol/L – 30 mmol/L. We undressed his
bandages yesterday to see how the wound was doing. You could sense the little
boys frustration, native Swahili speaker or not. The frustration was that the
little boy was ready to go home. He already had to come to Mt. Meru each Friday
in order to manage is diabetes. He was part of the Masai tribe. These tribes
are located far from the hospital near game parks. This little boy owns chickens (kuku) and cattle of his own. During his
conversation with Dr. Jacyln explaining his desire to go home, he mentioned
that the stressful hospital environment causes his spikes in blood sugar. He
goes further to tell the Tanzanian pediatrician, “At home few things cause my
blood sugar to rise.” Dr. Jaclyn translated for us. At home he only gets these
spikes when his family kills his chickens, or when wild animals like hyenas
kill his cows. “Traditional Maasai lifestyle centers around their cattle which
constitute their primary source of food. The measure of a man's wealth is in
terms of cattle and children. A herd of 50 cattle is respectable, and the more
children the better.”
I
COULD NOT, believe I heard this. Back in America blood sugar would rise if a
diabetic kid’s Xbox 360 broke, or if Netflix crashed. So by now you can imagine
this little boy’s home life: carrying around a machete, feeding his chickens
and herding his cows. The cultural differences are very evident, and can be
seen so clearly in the hospital setting.
Masai member (in red) and his cattle.
This photo was taken on our safari journey 4 weeks ago!
If
a patient is Masai we expect worms, brucellosis, and salmonella due to their
eating habits of rare meat and unpasteurized milk. Neural tube defects in kids are
common due to African mother’s lack of vegetable ingestion (main source of
Folic acid). It is amazing what you can learn about a culture through the
diseases they contract.
Read
more about Masai culture here
You met a Masai tribesman! That is a once-in-a--lifetime meeting. And you not only met, but understood him.
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