Mostly we just have minor cuts from 'falling down', headaches, sports injuries and skin rashes. More unusual conditions include one girl who had about 2cm of paper lodged deep inside her ear (I kept asking how it got there but she couldn't hear me!) and one lad who sliced open his upper eyelid by running into a wire clothesline late at night. We have had a couple of cases of unwell girls that have been referred to the doctor and diagnosed as 'malaria' whether it actually is or not is another story as Kenyan doctors are very quick to jump to the malaria conclusion.
The other day a student in my class asked me to go to her dorm after the lesson because her dorm mate couldn't walk and was in bed with a 'broken leg'. I raced there straight after class and fortunately it was only a sports strain that Desleigh was able to look after. Some things get a little lost in translation!
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| Three foot injuries in one night- and all girls from my football team! |
Usually I have at least one or two students per day with some kind of issue. If it is a weekend with a big football game then it can be many more. I was super glad to have my sister (and tropical nurse!) Jemima come to visit for three days so I could get her to take over and offer a more expert opinion on many of the conditions as well as bringing more supplies!! One night as she was expertly cleaning out a wounded foot that was cut and filled with gravel one of the watching students turned to me 'she is doctor?' I explained that she was a nurse and the student resumed watching, then turned back to me 'No, not a nurse, I think she's a doctor!'
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