Today was our first day of work at Mnazi Mmoja Hospital,
which is supposed to be the biggest hospital on the island. We were told that
it is also the only hospital with specialized departments such as OT, PT, and
ENT. The wake up this morning at 6:45am was not fun since we weren’t able to
sleep last night. The electricity cut out in all of Stonetown last night from
6:50pm-11:30pm. We were too lazy to go out for dinner and I was just going to
make an instant ramen since my stomach was acting up a little anyways, but the
power went out before I had a chance to so once again we had Pringles and
crackers for dinner. I also hadn’t called home since I’ve been here cause the
first time I was supposed to call our internet cut out and then I still couldn’t
call last night cause the power was gone. Chels and I watched Pocahontas, and tried to go to bed at 8:30, but it got soo frigging hot in the apartment
that we couldn’t sleep. After the electricity finally came back, I called home
and attempted to sleep but failed, I think around 3am I fell asleep.
We barely had enough time to toast our bread this morning
and off we went with our half warm, way too hard peanut butter toast. We took
the route we knew would lead us to the hospital, it took about 20 min to get
there. At first it seemed pretty nice out, good breeze and not to hot yet. But
as we kept walking it got hotter and hotter and by the time we got to the
hospital we were once again dripping in sweat. I think that will be a key theme
for my two months here. We asked the guard for the OT department and accidently
wandered into PT where we were told OT was upstairs and Amina (our supervisor)
was not in yet.
There’s another OT student working as well, she’s from Australia and doing a 2 week placement. Amina arrived and showed us around a bit and explained that Mondays were set aside for children with Erb’s Palsy. It’s interesting to see children who have this diagnosis since it is not too common in Canada. We observed the treatment of the first few kids and learned more about the assessment, treatment and organizational style of the department. Because it’s a neurological condition in the upper arm, most children presented with low tone, decreased muscle strength and muscle mass. Main treatment for babies seemed to be incorporating range of motion of the shoulder and elbow into daily activities like feeding and play and educating the caregiver on how to dress and position the infant. With older children, more creative treatment options are possible. We were more interactive with the last couple children and actually got to do some activities. Tuesdays and Thursdays (on Thursdays we start at 7:30am) are busier days as it’s open for children of any diagnoses. Wednesdays are usually community outreach days and Fridays are meant for administrative stuff. By noon Amina told us there wouldn’t be any more clients and we could go home…8-12pm workdays, I could get used to this!
There’s another OT student working as well, she’s from Australia and doing a 2 week placement. Amina arrived and showed us around a bit and explained that Mondays were set aside for children with Erb’s Palsy. It’s interesting to see children who have this diagnosis since it is not too common in Canada. We observed the treatment of the first few kids and learned more about the assessment, treatment and organizational style of the department. Because it’s a neurological condition in the upper arm, most children presented with low tone, decreased muscle strength and muscle mass. Main treatment for babies seemed to be incorporating range of motion of the shoulder and elbow into daily activities like feeding and play and educating the caregiver on how to dress and position the infant. With older children, more creative treatment options are possible. We were more interactive with the last couple children and actually got to do some activities. Tuesdays and Thursdays (on Thursdays we start at 7:30am) are busier days as it’s open for children of any diagnoses. Wednesdays are usually community outreach days and Fridays are meant for administrative stuff. By noon Amina told us there wouldn’t be any more clients and we could go home…8-12pm workdays, I could get used to this!
Starting tomorrow we will have our own list of children to
see! It’s so exciting to be able to work with the pediatric population again, I’ve
missed it since being at Summit School. The kids are all so cute, but it’ll be
a lot more challenging since there is a language barrier. The department has
posters up with English translations on it that I will probably need to learn. At Summit I was used to working with just the child without the caregivers present, so this will be a good experience to have as most pediatric treatments won't be like Summit (I wish they all were though!). The methods and resources here are different from home as well so it’ll be a
process of learning, incorporating and adapting. But it’s nice to be doing
something hands on, OT related again! A week of vacation before starting work
was perfect. Chels and Mylene aren’t as keen about pediatrics, but it might
grow on them or they can ask to do adults.
For lunch we went to the Passing Show, had some yummy
biryani and a blackcurrent Fanta. Then we went to get more water and top up our
electricity for the apartment. We put in 40,000 TSH (~ 26 USD) last week and we’re
almost out already, so we topped up another 70,000 TSH. The AC drains
electricity like crazy, but I don’t think we could live without it!
Yahya (landlord) brought back our TV and it works now with the cable box, apparently we have 150 channels... I didn’t even have this luxury in Montreal. Tomorrow should be an interesting day, hopefully the electricity doesn’t cut out tonight! It's weird to think that we finished our first day and everyone at home are just starting their first day now. Good luck fellow OTs, we're off to souvenir hunt!
Yahya (landlord) brought back our TV and it works now with the cable box, apparently we have 150 channels... I didn’t even have this luxury in Montreal. Tomorrow should be an interesting day, hopefully the electricity doesn’t cut out tonight! It's weird to think that we finished our first day and everyone at home are just starting their first day now. Good luck fellow OTs, we're off to souvenir hunt!
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