First day at St Elizabeth's Hospital in Arusha

I spent my first day at the hospital. It was mostly walking around meeting all the staff, doctors, nurses etc. After we met EVERYONE! We went to the surgical theater ( Operating room) and watch an eye doctor preform 3 surgeries and start a 4th but the woman decided not to have her cataract removed after she had been given a needle to the eye to numb and had a 10 pound weight on her eye to "reduce the pressure so that when they start not everything pops out" (that is a direct quote from the doctor) So you can see it was an interesting day.

Bottom line it is so different and so rural that it is difficult to fit in everything I experienced today. But will put some "highlights" to give you guys an idea.

1) The smell (mom you would die!!!!) Everything from plain BO, to bowel movement, to vomit, to rotting flesh!

2) The shear number of people in one area. And the limited doctors and nurses.

3) The constant wet floors that are being cleaned, yet drip from the steps of the floor above because the water is never actually dried, but instead is left to dry by mother nature.

Now about the OR..... WOW

4) Sterile is not really a known word.....I mean of course it is but a very different attitude about how sterile one must be. Examples, the doctor used the same scrub gown for all the surgeries, they re-used instruments between patients.

5) The patients are FULLY awake with no meds! other than lidocaine locally!

6) A nurse even almost caught on fire from the caughtery system! Need I say more....

ok my time is up at the internet cafe and it is about to start POURING so I better go...more later this week.