Pembury Baptist Church

Basically, my work here now is getting more and more practical and I spend most of my time preparing to examine patients and then actually going out and seeing them. This is is completely different from what my job description said but, I was given the freedom to change things in it if I thought it was appropriate, or if I came across a certain need.

I have finally got aross the fact that I am only trained in paediatrics, but because this is a rare qualification to the Mozambicans, and so the demand for me to treat their children is getting more and more by the day!!!

The poverty that I have experienenced in the last two months has been mindblowing, but I have tried my best to put my "working head" on and not let it get to me. However I witnessed a situation yesterday which I have found really hard to deal with.

I saw a three week old baby girl at the clinic whose mother had died duirng childbirth due to complications. The mother was only 13 and was not with the father. So now the grandparents are taking care of the baby, but they are very elderly and sick themelves.
The baby has been entered into the nutrition programme at the clinic but they only provide 25mls of milk per day for each newborn baby which is nowhere near enough. A baby of this age should be feeding 300-400mls daily, but if they provided this amount for everyone, there is nowhere near enough to go around.

The grandmother brought the baby to see me because she had run out of milk. She had been using the water that she cooks her rice in to feed for the last three days. The baby had been treated for syphillis at birth and did not look like the healthiest baby. As I examined her, she was very lethargic and unresponsive and unless she gets fed and has some nutrients and energy replaced, I do not think she will live for much longer. However, the person who runs the clinic said that she cannot provide any more milk until friday.

I know that this situation occurs so much here, and that there has to be systems in place to ensure that the help that is given is done in the most effective way, but it is so frustrating when you see babies in this state, and it is so easy to stop them from being this sick.

So, my plan is to start up a programme that ensures orphan babies are fed until they have reached a weight and a size where they are able to sustain themselves better and can be fed on other things other than milk. I have talked this over with Jill, who directs Oasis here, and she has agreed that it would be a good project.