Huruma Hospital

We arrived at our hospital on Tuesday afternoon to learn that our appointment with the head of staff Dr. Kyejo was canceled. However, we did meet Skola the housekeeper of the hospital hostel, and she showed us to our rooms, yes plural, each equipped with king sized beds. The only catch is that the water is only on for about half the day at seemingly random times, and of course, no hot water. For the rest of the week Allie and I tried to figure out a good eating schedule. We are on our own for food, which is very different from last month having all of our meals provided. Skola showed us to the market in town where we got a start on our grocery shopping. Allie and I are both hesitant to buy meat here, as it generally comes freshly butchered and on the bone, so thus far, we have stuck to mostly cooking vegetables and potatoes. I’ve also started washing all of my clothes by hand this week. I can already say that I will be very grateful for washing machines when I get back to the U.S.

The first day of work, we attended the morning prayer and debriefing meeting for the hospital staff. I think we only slightly butchered our introduction of ourselves in Swahili. After that we were given a brief tour of the hospital, and then we were supposed to meet with the hospital technician. Unfortunately, he was in Nairobi acquiring a spare part for an autoclave, and did not return until the next day. We did end up meeting some of the doctors, including a Sister who had gone to medical school in Ohio Dr. Daria. She has been very welcoming and friendly over the past few days and seems to understand American culture very well because of all the time she’s spent there.

While waiting for Charles the first day, Allie and I started looking at an infant incubator that was sitting outside. We were unsure what the exact problem was, but we got it running and just need to patch up a broken closure on the frame. The next day couple days we worked on doing inventory for the hospital, logging each and every piece of equipment the hospital has. It was slightly long and tedious, but we were able to see into all the different rooms, including maternity and surgical rooms.

Nights have been pretty low key here, since Huruma Hospital is kind of out of the way, nearing Mt. Kilimanjaro. On the positive side, the surrounding environment is beautiful, and we have a gorgeous view of the mountain not far from where we’re staying. There’s all sorts of little trails we can hike around in as well. Unfortunately, the internet connection at most cafes is too slow to upload pictures, so I'll be uploading them when I get back. This weekend we’re visiting some of the other students and staying in Moshi and going to a waterfall nearby on Sunday. We arrived in Moshi this morning after a long and crowded drive from our hospital. I'm looking forward to seeing the other students in the program again!