Nurse Update

Wow, August 19th already. We've been very busy so time is flying by!

We’ve finished our handwashing and menstruation sessions at the schools. The last school we visited was Kamukatha, a primary school. As with all the schools the kids were very excited to have us and were very appreciative of the soap and the reusable menstrual pads we brought them. This visit was extra special because we were there for the official opening of the new boy’s bathroom. The bathroom was built with money raised by Kensington United Church. Prior to this, the boys were using very old and outdated “shacks” as washroom facilities. Jennifer Murogocho led the opening and the students and their parents were very excited and grateful for their Canadian friends. We were told to greet the people from PEI, especially those who belong to Kensington United Church!! We also go to see the beginning of the construction of a new cook house, which should be ready in October. Compared to the old cookhouse, this one will be much larger and more modern. It was great to see the impact that Farmers Helping Farmers has on the lives of the people here in Kenya, we wish that everyone who supports Farmers Helping Farmers could see firsthand the difference they are making in people’s lives. It is really amazing! Pictures to come with the next blog, as Kenyan internet isn’t cooperating this evening!

Last Wednesday Martin (who works with FHF) took us to Meru Methodist University where we met with the dean of Nursing. She told us about the nursing program, which was very interesting because it is very similar to our nursing program at UPEI. Martin took us on a tour of the university. It’s a beautiful campus and very modern. The students were in the middle of exams so we didn’t get a chance to meet with any of them.

We’ve been very busy working at St. Teresa’s Mission Hospital. We’ve had opportunities to work in the medical unit, surgical unit, maternity, outpatients, maternal child health clinic and the operating theatre. We are really enjoying this experience and getting a holistic approach to nursing practice. We are learning a lot as there are new learning opportunities for us to take part in. For example, having a very active role in caring for a labouring mother through labour and childbirth. We've even had some babies named after us and were asked to give newborns their English names! Last week we were asked to prepare a clinical presentation for the staff. They have them every week and it’s a really great chance for staff members to learn more about clinical practice. We chose to present on maternity care as it is the area we all seem to be enjoying the most. The staff were very interested in our presentation and were especially interested in how maternity care in Kenya differs from maternity care in Canada. The staff asked us to present again and highlight more differences in health care between Canada and Kenya so that we all learn from each other!

We have become especially close with one of the patients at the hospital. She is a ten year old girl who has been there for over six months. She has burns that cover about half of her body – on her back, her arms, the back of her neck/head and parts of her lower body. At first she was shy (maybe even afraid of us) and only speaks Kiswahili so it was difficult for us to communicate with her. Between non-verbal communication and having hospital staff translate for us, we’ve made friends with her. She’s really brave and strong and has a great sense of humour (she always laughs at us when we attempt to speak Swahili!). A few weeks ago she had a skin graft surgery that will hopefully heal the burns on her back. So far it’s looking like the grafts took, so we’re very hopeful that she will make progress soon!