Today started off slow, beginning with an extra hour of sleep! The buses did not depart to the hospital until 7:45am. When we arrived we were expecting to have a large possible patient turnout but found only a few waiting. We were unsure of how many would show up, but the slowly trickled in throughout the day, bringing our total number of patients screened to a little over 180.
The Student Team and I helped out different tasks throughout the day. They started off printing photos for medical records. Four photos printed per sheet and it was a slow process but they made it through, printing photos of every patient. The photos are added to the patient’s chart, which is helpful in identifying them during surgery week. I helped out with medical records. We pre-filled out some of the basic info (date, site location, chart number) on all the chart forms.
Since it wasn’t as busy, many team members were able to get to work on the OR and setting it up sooner in the day. Karina, Century, and I and some other non-medical volunteers helped put together “no-no’s” and IV boards made out of recycled cardboard. The “no-no’s,” mostly only needed for younger patients, go around both of their arms near their elbow, so that they cannot bend their arms to mess with the area that received surgery.
A woman from the Maasia Tribe came with her two year old son today. He had cleft and was extremely cute, curious, and eager to play with a ball, a truck and bubbles. He was walking everywhere. His mother seemed to also have a majestic nature to her, similar to the people from the Turkana Tribe. She wore brightly printed fabric wraps and her ear lobes had holes stretched long with earrings adorned with beads. She seemed somewhat uncomfortable in the surroundings, as she would stand off alone watching her son play and when she made eye contact with others she did not give any facial expression, acknowledgement or smile. It is so interesting to even see the different cultures, values, and ways of life within the country.
The Maasai Mother
and her baby waiting for Karina to blow bubbles:)
Today was an emotional day for us. There was a young girl who showed up with her mother. She was very beautiful. When we asked why she was there to see Operation Smile, the mother undid her daughter’s pony tail and pulled apart the braids. The back of her daughter’s head had been burned and the skin was scarred and she had no hair there. She had hair on one side of her front hairline and some on the very bottom of the back of her head. She wore her braids to the side and back to cover up the area.
Her mother wanted to know if Operation Smile could do some sort of skin graft to make it so that hair would grow back. The surgeon came out to take a look and said that it could be done, but unfortunately it is not something that Operation Smile would be able to do. It would take multiple surgeries and many months. He did give her the name of a very good surgeon in Nairobi, but it is likely that she will not be able to afford the care that she wants for her daughter.
After hearing the news from the doctor, she tried to stay strong but then broke down; we could sense her overwhelming feeling of defeat and see it, as she started to cry. The Kenyan nurses tried to console her as she got up to walk away, telling her that she had a beautiful daughter; some tried to hug her as she walked away. The little girl got up to follow after her. As they left, we were all so moved by the mother's despair that before you knew it, we were all watery eyed with tears following. Together we cried for this little girl and her mother. Though Operation Smile volunteers bring so much hope and happiness, there are many people that have to be turned away and it is truly heartbreaking.
After we all cried and then laughed at each other's emotional breakdown, with tears still coming, we were soon greated by new children and people to be screened. We met some special girls, Rachel, Marcy, and Loksana. They were adorable and smart. They spoke in English, sang us a song, played, and listened attentively to a Dental Hygiene presentation.
I also held my first Kenyan baby, a 7 month old girl, named Happiness. Yes, her name was Happiness and she was an extremely content baby and so beautiful. Marcy was her cousin, and though she was only seven, she was carrying Happiness around and then brought her to me and plopped her down in my lap.
All in all it was a great day. Tomorrow is our Team Day and we will be off to Lake Nakuru National Park at 6am sharp!! The word on the street is, the earlier you get there the more animals you are likely to seeJ
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