5 in 1...

This little kid has been at the center for about 4 weeks now. His mom is a VVF patient and had her surgery almost two weeks ago. She came from a small village near a place called Moyamba and brought her 11 month old son, since he was still breast feeding. I was told the child wasn’t very well and so went in to see him on Friday evening shortly after they arrived. Sure enough he looked pretty pale.

The interesting part of the evening was that I ended up ‘being’ 5 different people for this little guy. I started off doing the job that my receptionist usually does and registered the child. Then I checked his vital signs including weight and height, which falls under the nurses job. Then I examined him like I usually would as the doc. After that I did something that I don’t do too often- I played the role of the lab technician. It was kind of fun to do that for a change. I stuck to the basic tests of a hemoglobin and rapid malaria test and the child got by with a finger stick. The lab results soon revealed a low hemoglobin, but no malaria. So my next task was to be the pharmacist and get the medication he would need. And I made sure he had the food that he would need (which is a powder substance called Bennimix which becomes a porridge when mixed with hot water). All in all it ended up taking about an hour or so; not how I would normally like to spend my Friday evening, but it was interesting to be 5 people in 1 body!

It’s been amazing to watch this kid change from being quiet, pale and inactive to being a lively little boy. I think the food really made a difference; besides the porridge we've started him on rice, sauce, eggs, cheese etc. He turned 1 on Wednesday which was fun too and he pretty much begs me to pick him up every time I enter the ward. He’s a cutie!