Faces...

Happy faces, scared faces, pale faces, laughing faces, miserable faces, swollen faces, sad faces, curious faces, dirty faces, snotty faces, silly faces. Many faces.

I saw 60 little faces and at least 60 big faces accompanying them. In other words, it was a busy clinic day today. But it was a good day. It’s a strange thought to think about how many people I interact with on a day like today. Just think about the impact I could have.

Hopefully the families leave with the feeling that the kids are well taken care of and know that we are genuinely concerned about their health. I think our staff shows a lot of concern towards the patients and really takes time out to explain to the parents what the child has, what medication we’re giving, how they can prevent sickness, how to feed them etc. I think for Sierra Leone it’s unusual for a parent to get so much information! Usually a child isn’t even examined properly in a clinic and the parent leaves the clinic not knowing what is wrong with the child, hoping that whatever injection the child was given will help. And we still wonder why so many kids are suffering here??? I’m thankful to be able to work in a place where we can provide a high standard of care.

Anyway, here are some pictures of the kids I see here. Of course, these were the less sick and happier faces among them!

For more info on the kids: http://www.flickr.com/photos/sandralako/