Today, we went to clinics with members of the documentary and diagnosing autism teams. We went a little further out of the city than normal and the views were absolutely amazing.
After dropping off other teams along the way, we visited Kamabai Clinic. We started off with a tour of the facility as a whole team with one of Ukweli’s former members. The former member, Nakaesh, had been to this clinic on previous trips but had noticed something different this time around. There was nearly no medicine stocked in what they called “the store.” They blamed it on the nationwide medicine shortage and said they haven’t had a “normal” supply of medicine in a long time. The few things on the shelf included rapid malaria tests and Zinc. With no malaria treatment, they couldn’t do much for their patients at the time and often had to refer to the general hospital.
We were able to interview quite a few people at this community health center. We interviewed a screener, the nurse in charge, a sickle cell patient, and two other nurses. All the healthcare workers were familiar with sickle cell but due to lack of resources, they referred any suspected patients to the general hospital. They were very enthusiastic about out device and encouraging in the work we still have to do. We were also able to have a very enlightening conversation with the sickle cell patient. The workers called him over to the clinic after hearing about our project. He had been diagnosed with sickle cell very early in life, by the identification from his mother. His diagnosis was confirmed years later in a hospital. His eldest son now also has the disease. He emphasized to us the importance of awareness, stating that many people have the disease and do not. He was thankful to have learned about his disease when he did and by reputable sources. He is often in close contact with his doctor, a relationship that has proved extremely helpful in the management if his disease. Similar to other patients we have talked to, he was taking vitamin B and folic acid, along with painkillers during crisis. It was impactful to speak with someone so passionate about educating others about SCD that was impacted by the disease firsthand.
On our drive back to Makeni, we stopped at “the rocks.” It has been GSIF tradition to stop and take pictures at these rocks so that we did. We climbed up to the top of some rocks and saw the beautiful views surrounding us from every side. It was a great way to end a great day. And to make the day even better, we got spaghetti for dinner! A nice switch from the rice and beans we’ve had every night.
