28-2-12

Sannu!!!!

Well I woke up again at 1am but was able to fall back asleep pretty quickly this time! Alison and I slept in until 730am today and woke up feeling much more rested. After showering and getting ready, we walked over to the hospital with Greg at about 830am. Our first stop was at the fistula clinic. It is a completely brand new building and is Beautifully built. Right now they only have 5 patients because they don't have an anesthesiologist. The five girls must only have been no older than 15. A lot of them do not know how old they are when you ask.

A little medical history... A fistula sis caused my increased pressure during child birth, especially in the under developed pelvis. Here in Niger, girls are allowed to get married at age 9 but must wait until they are 12 to sleep with their husband. So usually, as soon as they turn 12 they become pregnant. Anyway, the increased pressure occurs when the babies head does not fit through the pelvic opening, gets stuck and often the baby or the mother dies. Then a fistula (large ishemic damage) occurs causing rupture of the bladder, urethra or rectum. If the baby becomes stuck, it will eventually die and be discharged slowly along with pieces of the mothers pelvis that has died. Unfortunately, the only prevention (c-section) and treatment (stitching the damaged bladder or rectum) is surgery. The down side is... Treatment is usually way to far away to receive the needed help and the women must have permission from their husband prior to seeking medical help. It's a very sad process and these poor girls who have to suffer.

After the fistula clinic we went over to the PT clinic which was actually quite full. There is no line or appointments. People just come in and patiently wait until they get their treatment. Way different than in the states.

My first patient was a little boy, probably 2 of 3, with burns on both his ankles and the tops of his feet. Cooking here is usually over an open fire so there are a lot of burn victims. My job was move his joints around And perform joint mobilizations so that he doesn't get too stiff. He was screaming because it hurt so badly. I almost broke down and cried while I was working on him because I had no way of telling him why I was doing what I was doing or tell him its going to help. I will see him again tomorrow and make sure I bring him a toy to cheer him up!

After lunch, which was at Toms familys home we went back to the clinic for round 2. I saw another burn patient. She was 9 years old and had a pretty large burn on her ankle. She too was in terrible pain when I was working with her. In fact, her wound opened up during the stretching, but I was good to release that skin. She was very brave!

I saw another cutie patient she was 5 probably and she had a burn on her wrist and hand. Her family was very nice. she walked around holding her arm up in the air almost as of she were saying.. Everyone look at my burn.. It really hurts! Haha

Our last patient was another little girl who ended up getting malaria. She hasn't been walking for 4 weeks because the sores hurt do badly. Now that she is healed we got her up and walking with a hand made child sized rolling walker. You could tell it hurt to walk but she was a trooper. Greg took a picture of her and then showed it to her and she got the biggest smile on her face. It was pretty cute!

Lastly, coming here I didn't know what to expect but had an idea based on reading and pictures I had seen. However, nothing could have prepared me for what Niger is really like. I mean what do you think of when you think of the poorest country in the world? Then, multiply that by a thousand and you're getting closer. I thank God for the many blessings in my life. Your prayers for our team here as well as for the people of Niger are greatly appreciated!

Sia gobe (see you tomorrow in Hausa)

27-2-12

Sannu! (Hausa for hello!)

I woke up last night at 1am Niger time which was about 6pm MN time.i was starving! Almost like I was craving dinner :) apparently sleep and food cycles take a while to adjust! So I ate a granola bar but couldn't fall back asleep for another 2 hours.

The 615 alarm clock rolled around way to quickly. I actually didn't even hear the alarm go off, or Jill say the alarm went off, or Alison getting ready. Instead I heard the rooster that hangs around the compound cock-a-doodle doo! Haha. I was so tired it took a rooster to wake me up!

We ended up leaving Niamey at 8am. The trip was long but very interesting. We saw a bunch of giant termite hills, handmade huts built off the ground on stilts to store grain (it stays clean and the animals can't eat it if it's off the ground), tons and tons of African villages, each with their own Mosque, goats were everywhere! The cutest ones would stand on their hind legs to eat the leaves off the trees (yes... There are trees here! Who knew), camels and baby camels just roaming around. They hobble them by tying their front legs together so they can't run away too fast. Homes made of clay that look like Hershey kisses, donkeys pulling water up from the well, little kids like 3 years old playing with each other... No sign of parents anywhere, markets selling everything and anything... Red onions are a big crop here so they sell them by the bag which weighs 100 kilos!, they also sell black market gasoline in old whiskey or run bottles which people actually buy because they don't trust they are getting the amount told at gas stations. We saw women and even young girls walking around carrying anything from a pile of wood to bowls or trays on top of their heads and making it look easy. They can even turn their head and look around without it even wavering!

We accidentally hit a goat with the suv going very slowly, but fast enough to break his leg in half... It was sad. But he will most likely be dinner tonight:(

We also had some car trouble, which I am not surprised by at all considering the roads are either paved (close to Niamey), partially paved and partially dirt or all dirt! Makes for a bumpy trip. Anyway, our belt for the alternator broke but thankfully for some reason there were 2 on there so we still made it.

Traffic again was a nightmare. People drive however they want. Our driver, Aiyumba, kept honking his horn to warn people a fast vehicle was coming.

We checked into our brand new guest house in Danja at about 7pm (11hr trip total). Alison and I are sharing a room. After tossing our bags into our room we went to eat dinner at another missionary who teaches a bible camp, Tom and his families home. Dinner was really good.

After a long day, I am exhausted and planning on sleeping well tonight. I will write again soon about my first day in the clinic!

Sai Angema (see you later in Hausa)

Love,

Kaitlin

We Made It!

After a long 2 days... which actually felt like 1 day, we finally made it into Niamey, Niger and MAN IS IT HOT! It was actually a little cooler when we arrived at 91 degrees, but it should get up into the low 100's the whole time we are here. 

It's 900pm here and I am exhausted so I won't be doing a complete email, but I am working on a written journal entry for the past 2 days and then I will try to send another email out to you.

Alison, Greg and I will be leaving for Danja tomorrow at 7am in a SUV that has some chilly air that blows out but nothing like AC in the states. There is also a girl here who has been volunteering all over Niger and her brother and mom are visiting her now. They will be traveling to Danja with us tomorrow. 

We were welcomed warmly today by the Nigerians and a family of missionaries who have been here for quite a while. Susan is a doctor and her and her husband Jeremey have 3 adorable daughters, 8, 6 and 2 years old. They are all extremely bright. There is a clinic outside of the guest house where people can come and get treatment for anything and everything. Jill will be staying here while Alison and I head out to the bush. 

My favorite part so far.... there are goats everywhere! They just hang out on the street. I may or may not come back with a baby goat in my trunk. :)

I miss you all! Will update as soon as possible!!!

Thank you so much for your prayers as this journey begins!

Love, Kaitlin