This morning after a day of being sick yesterday I took a trip to Hospital Central Maputo. This is the main teaching hospital for the country of Mozambique, a place with "state of the art medicine" being practiced. Don't you worry it was not a trip for my health...I just had a little food poisoning and am doing just fine now, instead it was to get a chest x-ray of one of our tots, Latifo (I introduced you to him in my November update). He has a chest infection, along with several others in the Baby House/Bercario at the moment.
Anyway, I have been warned by many that the care given at HCM is horrific at best...IV's are started in the neck often, gloves are washed between patients, wiped dry on dirty aprons and used again, chest x-rays of babies are taken by hanging them from their arms in front of the back board, and many other things. So I was prepared for that...well as much as you can be. But I walked in to see patients laying on beds up and down the hallways, people sitting waiting for x-rays with bloody gauze taped onto scalp and face wounds. One lady was laying there with no clothes too sick to cover herself up and no one was doing a thing about it. They wheeled a man through with a trach (for non-medical people that's a hole in your neck that you breath through)...covered in blood and who knows what else...I guess all that nursing education on proper trach care went out the window. The workers are wearing masks, aprons (dirty mind you), and acting like people are toxic...when in actuality much of this disease could be avoided with education.
It was frustrating because it's hard for me to think that is the best thing out there for most people in this entire country (I say that but most of them can't even get to this hospital without dying if they are really sick anyway). There are several westernized clinics but they cost too much for the ordinary Mozambican. It's unfair; it makes no sense to me. I know the western way is not always the best, but I also know this is unfair.
I will say, it makes me thankful to work where I do in this center where we provide care that is unheard of in this country. Where we see children like little Latifo go from severely malnourished to a walking, talking, happy 3 year old. I sit thankful for where God has put me to make a difference in this little corner of Mozambique, but have to ask WHY? Why do some places in the world try to keep people alive on life support way longer than God intended and other places in the world people die from diarrhea? Why are God's children in Mozambique not able to get the same care and love from nurses as His children in the US are? These are the questions I am struggling with today...
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I can see where this scenario would really get you thinking. I find many people (myself included) shy away from finding out about such tragedy because it is too much to process/handle and devastating to think there is nothing you can do. It is at this point I find myself trying to think about what it is I CAN do and what it is I AM doing. These things may not save all those who are sad but at the very least it helps a few, models for others, and helps me to feel better in the sense that I contribute to all. I think the best thing we can do is always try to help (without losing ourself) and model happiness and helping for others.
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