Since Monday I’ve been working almost everyday at the babies home. We help get the babies fed, bathed, and dressed. Then it’s playtime for awhile and then nap time. Each room has a different age group of babies, 3-6 months, 6-9 months, 9-12 months, etc. One small room is for the premies which has about 6 babies.
Apparently, the managers of the orphanage are nervous to have medical staff take care of the premies because they usually try to do things differently. A couple months ago some nurses from Australia changed the formula, which messed up the babies’ digestive systems and a couple of them died. Right now they won’t let me work with the premies. None of the staff are nurses and they have very limited medical training. So I’m a little frustrated that I’m not being used to my full potential. However, yesterday they asked me to put a feeding tube in one of the premies. Maybe they will learn to trust me quickly.
They’re also planning to build an extension that will be more like a hospital neonatal unit and they asked my advice on how to design the unit, what equipment would be needed, etc. After working in many units across the I’ve learned what I like and don’t like about each unit. I’ve always said it would be great to design my own unit according to everything I like. So it was exciting to help them plan the extension.
Thursday was my day off. Casey and I spent time at the internet café, went to lunch, swam, and went for gritty gelato. Supposedly, it’s usually very good gelato but they’re out of the real stuff. Last night we went to dinner at an Ethopian restaurant for a farewell party. The food was great even though it looked scary! Afterwards, we were able to watch them roast our coffee beans and make the coffee on an open fire.
I’m having a great time getting to know everyone that I’m working with and staying with at the guesthouse. I usually hang out with Casey, Kirra, and Jemima after work and we’ll go to a café or the mall. Casey is from Montreal. She's taking a year before starting college to volunteer in Africa. Kirra is from Australia. She traveled here with Jemima who's from New Zealand. Jemima tells the best stories and does great impressions of her Scottish father! Next week I’ll be going on safari with Kirra and Jemima for 3 days. That’s going to be amazing!
Most days we take a taxi to work and share the cost. Sometimes we're adventurous and ride on the boda bodas for transportation. Those are motorcycle taxis with daring drivers! It's really fun! T.I.A.(this is Africa!)