During our month in Litein, Andrew spent 1 week on pediatrics, 1 week on internal medicine, and 2 weeks in surgery.
Below is a female ward. Each nurse is typically responsible for up to 20 patients. Patient daily care is mainly the responsibility of family members. You can imagine how many bodies end up being crammed in one ward. On top of that, during visiting hours, it is not uncommon for one patient to have 5-8 visitors. Slightly crowded and maybe not the most pleasant smelling place…
While Andrew was at the hospital, they also had 6 medical students from a Kenyan medical school doing a rural rotation. The students were in their 4th year (out of 6) and Andrew was very thankful to have them to work beside. Below is Bromwell who quickly became our family friend. He helped Andrew with translation, joined us for dinner many nights, and even took us on a day trip to a nearby city.
This boy is actually 15 years old and made a big impact on Andrew during their short visits. He suffered from severe malnutrition secondary to a bowel obstruction and multiple abdominal surgeries.
The OR was open air (ie sometimes steady breeze and flies…) and slightly different than what Andrew was used to in the US. They wore a rubber apron covered by a cloth gown and rubber boots.
Weekly, the hospital held prayer meetings for all employees. During this time employees sang praise songs, prayed, and shared a brief devotion. Except for the few devotions led by our Canadian friend, language was a large barrier for Andrew. In general, language restricted much of how Andrew could work with patients. Because of the different tribal languages, sometimes even the medical students couldn’t understand the patients. Because they were very busy, nurses were often unable to translate as well. Andrew relied strongly on his handshake and limited Swahili vocabulary.
Outside of the hospital, the medical students spent 2 days doing an outreach blood pressure clinic in Kericho which was approx 20 miles from Litein.
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