Ghost. Celebrity. Superhero.

In the course of the past week I visited 5 schools, 2 projects that focus on orphans, a dispensary, a health clinic, a hospital, attended an HIV event, and went on a hike.  It was an insanely good week.  I have been having so many meetings with “official” people.   I was thrilled to see so many kids and talk kid projects.  No offense to adults but I would rather spend my time with kids most days.  I’m excited for the possibilities and there is so much I can get my hands in here. 

 I am going to the hospital once a week to observe all the wards.  Tuesday I was in the HIV/AIDS wing.  First the patient sees the nurse to assess if  they are taking their meds regularly, how they are feeling, temperature, BP, etc.  Then the patient consults with the dr.  who prescribes the appropriate ARV’s the patient should be taking.  The patients who are losing weight at a rapid pace visit with a nutritionist.   USAID provides nutritional flour for those whose weight is a concern.  BMI and a couple other things are measured.  As well as a serious of questions regarding the patient’s health.  I was able to consult with the nurse and the patients and got to fill out the paperwork.  I usually despise paperwork, but I enjoyed doing this.  How do I phrase this.  It’s sad that the people I am meeting with have HIV, but it felt good to be doing something related to what I came here for.  It was interesting to see what their weight was the previous visit in comparison.  I saw many people coming through the office who were in the severe category for weight and BMI.  The majority of patients on this particular day were mothers with their infants.  The infants are also given ARV’s and have checkups because the virus could be transferred from mother to child.  Some of the babies were scared of me because they think I’m a ghost.  Others played peek a boo with me and a couple brave infants let me hold them.  Before I left that day I spent some time in the pharmacy learning about different ARV’s and observing how the pharmacy works.  I get bored with a job that keeps me doing one thing all day so moving around to all parts of the clinic was just my pace.  I plan on working in this section of the hospital regularly. 

Yesterday I was in my village and I was going to buy bread.  The second I stepped out of my compound I had a kid grab a hand on both sides.  Before I knew it I had a string of kids holding hands.  We walked up and down town like this for a good while. I already have all eyes on me and stick out everytime I open my door, so you can imagine the attention this brought on.

I live right next to a girls school so when I returned home I had 50 girls swarm the gate to shake my hand, actually some of them just wanted to touch my white skin.  They rushed the fence, crowding each other, put a hand on me, pulled back quickly, did it again and shrieked and giggled.  I have never felt more celebrity than I did yesterday.  We talked for about ten minutes then I decided, I need the teachers to like me for future projects, so I shouldn’t distract them from what they called, “cleaning their school.”  Which was actually cutting the grass with machetes.   I almost ran home grabbed mine and joined in.  Actually I think I might next time.  Machete in hand makes you feel pretty awesome. ..Super hero like.  

When a week leaves you feeling like a ghost, celebrity, and superhero I’d say it was one for the books!