The medical team worked in the clinic doing various tasks, like training the new Ethiopian nurses (thank you, Josh), prenatal care, and general medicine work while some of the nurses would take the afternoon off to hang out with Hannah and Mia (much needed girl time for them). On Tuesday, I was able to work with Shelley and Victoria at the Malnutrition clinic. This was one of the few times throughout our time that I was able to be amongst the locals. It was also a time when I had to reconsider my photography. On this day, I felt I was just taking pictures for great pictures. But I wasn't connecting with the people I was shooting. The language barrier and my inability to print off enough pictures kept me from really being able to tell their stories or give back to them. I had to put away my camera for the most part because it was more of a barrier to me than an aid to be with those at the clinic. Instead, I actually was able to help chart for the nurses. So my small drive to be medically helpful was filled by just doing that.
Throughout the week, there were 4 deliveries that the nurses were able to help with. Unfortunately, it's shameful for the women to 'expose' themselves for this section, let alone with a male present, so Josh, our PA, couldn't take part in any of this. Thankfully, however, Heather works in Labor and Deliver, so she was right at home. Another part about Ethiopian childbearing is that the mothers don't make a noise during delivery. Sure they scream afterwards, or really just a long grunt, but again, it's against their culture. Funny story...during one delivery, one of the nurses was getting ready to play catcher, so she went to grab a birthing blanket. And just that quickly, as soon as she turned back around to get in position, there was a newborn baby sprawled out on the ground. Talk about a quick and easy delivery. Don't worry about the child being on the ground, the mother was too. Really I think they were on a mattress, so no harm was done.
In Ethiopia, childbearing is a huge blessing, so the more children you have, the more blessings you have. It's fairly safe to assume that any women of child bearing age is pregnant or just had a baby. We met one man who had 3 wives and 31 children between them. Needless to say, that family stays busy. And speaking from simply a longevity perspective, the more children you have, the higher your chances that at least one will survive to adulthood to continue your bloodline. We had at least 1 still born, and one of the twins that came to the clinic didn't live much longer. And not too long after we left, there was another childbearing death. So anything you can do to increase the chance of your family line surviving, you try.
Outside of that, the medical team saw a little bit of everything: ear infections, STDs, possible leprosy, some never before seen stuff, TB, all sorts of bodily fluids, etc. It was really encouraging to see everyone really getting into the mix so easily. For the most part, they were all totally comfortable in that setting, and very much in the groove. I loved to see them being so much of a help to Allyson and the clinic staff, but more than that, I loved being able to hear how God moved in their hearts that maybe they could be doing this more long term. If you're still reading this, be sure to send some encouragement to the medical folks that went on this trip. I'm not sure any of us really know what kind of an impact that we had on the Langano compound.
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