At about 5h00 this morning, the light in our room suddenly went on. I was so confused at first, but then realized that there must have been an emergency surgery. I thought briefly about going to the hospital to watch, but instead just turned off the light and when to bed. At breakfast Dr. Erdi told us that it was an emergency laperotomy for a woman who went into labor and delivered the head of her baby fine at home, but couldn’t get the sholders out. Because they waited so long to come here, she also ruptured her uterus, so they had to perform a total hysterectomy. Her baby didn’t make it.
This morning Elizabeth and Tanis gave a presentation at Morning Handover about interacting with coworkers and patients. It was definitely needed, because I’ve seen nurses yell at each other and patients, as well as nurses hitting patients and giving shots and so on without even telling the patient. They did little skits and everything, and all the nurses were laughing because they recognized some of the behavior and were able to see how ridiculous it really looks when you act that way. It was a lot of fun.
I spent part of the morning doing rounds with Dr. ABD and the other part working on my project. After lunch I went to the theatre to watch some hernia repairs. They were fairly straight forward, and there wasn’t anything more intense because the patients who needed them hadn’t paid yet, and if it’s not life threatening you must pay first.
In the afternoon I went back to the house to talk to David and help him cook so that I could write down the recipes. He was really nice and let me take pictures, and took pictures of me helping. He also asked me about life at home and if I have a boyfriend (I may have said yes) and followed that question directly with, “Do you and your boyfriend have children?” I was semi-shocked and said no of course, and then he asked if my boyfriend and I live together. When I said no, he asked why, and I told him that I either live with my parents when I’m not in school, or at the school while school is in session. He told me that because weddings are so expensive, couples get engaged, then live together and save up for their wedding. Sometimes it takes years to save enough, and David had three of his six children before he and his wife had enough to marry.
David asked me what my house looks like, and I started to tell him about my life back home, and eventually just grabbed my computer and showed him pictures. As soon as I came back with my computer and started showing him pictures, all the other workers came and watched too, and they were amazed. I also showed them a video of me singing, and they were very impressed, asking if I was famous back home, which made me laugh.
After showing David the pictures, he let me help him cook and showed me how to fry eggplant and how to make a batter for them, and how to make spicy meat stew (almost anything is spicy here) and a little concoction to soak cucumbers in that is delicious. He also told me that Sierra Leoneans like spice so much because it protects them from sickness. He told me that malaria can’t handle the spice in his body, so he hasn’t gotten malaria in a really long time. Just goes to show you how Sierra Leoneans view sickness and how that whole thing works. He also told me that he would take me to the market on Saturday so that I can help him buy dinner and then help him cook the whole thing so I can really know how to do it. He also told me that I should buy the powder that they make from drying the African peppers and grinding them up, so that I can take it home and use it when I cook for my family.
Dinner was excellent, of course, because I helped, and just as our Tuesday routine some of out expat friends joined us. Now we’re just relaxing and I’m thinking about going to bed early, since I’m exhausted! I find that I’m tired all the time here; the heat really takes a lot out of you.
On one final note, thanks to all for their well wishes and prayers, especially since my bout of sickness. I’m feeling so much better!
This post is dedicated to the infant who died this morning from complications, and his mother who had an emergency hysterectomy, as well as the child in children’s ward that died during the night.
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