servant hands

This clinic! What a blessing!

Full of wonderful Guinean staff, led by amazing American doctors - each of them with the biggest heart to serve the children of this country.

This pediatric clinic, the first in all of Guinea, sees close to 50 different patients a day, between 0830am and 05:00pm (most often later).

As a patient walks into the gates, they’re given a number at registration. When their number is called, the patient and family is brought to the triage area where the kiddo’s heart rate, temperature, oxygen saturation, blood pressure, body measurements, and respirations are recorded. Then they wait back outside for their number to be called again, to be taken back to the consultation rooms. In the consultation rooms, the doctors do an excellent job of assessing the patient, diagnosing, and providing the next step of treatment for them whether that be with the pharmacy, nutritionist, physical therapy, or in the emergency area.

My time at the clinic was with the Guinean staff nurses! Oh my new sweet friends!

I started each day at the triage area, taking vital signs, distracting babies, laughing with the parents, and attempting to communicate with the families (help was much appreciated, haha). I then would venture off to Salle d’urgence (the emergency room) for the rest of the day.

Oh wow, what experience I gained by working in this clinic. With them, I cared for patients from hours old to 18 years old, sometimes after days/months/maybe even years of the family debating, trying other methods, and finally coming in for medical care. I assisted with procedures for a heart fluid aspiration, burn and wound care, and abscess removal. The patients I cared for came in with sickle cell disease, developmental delay, heart complications, malaria, infant fever, infections, pneumonia, asthma, malnutrition, typhoid… and the list goes on and on.

In Salle d’urgence, there was an array of care that went beyond the typical nurse things…..

• Building inhalers out of water bottles !

Where else would I learn such a skill?! In many cases, we didn’t have the proper supplies, so we made do with what we had! A big plastic bottle, scissors, tape, the medication, and boom - a homemade inhaler.

• Giving stickers !

Oh what a joy this brought to the sweet kiddos. Stickers all up their hands, arms, and foreheads - smiles sooo big. You could catch me walking around with a sticker book at any point in the day!!

• Drawing smiley faces on balloons !

Balloon artist Kiley! First off, balloons on their own were SO COOL to these kids, they laughed so hard as we tossed the balloon back and forth. Then, add a smiley face on it, and that balloon becomes the closest buddy to the sweetest kids. To the ones who were stuck in the bed getting an IV, the smiley faced balloons became their comfort pal as they held onto the end of it soooo tight and close.

• Reading books !

There were two little books that had pictures of animals or tractors and had the English name for it underneath. Some kids simply enjoyed flipping the pages and looking at the pictures. Sometimes I would catch a sweet mom trying to read each English word to their kiddo - precious! Some kids would look at me and have me teach them how to say the word in English. THEN there were these two goofball little boys, they looked at me too, but their intention was to teach ME! FRENCH! I would flip a page, point at the animal, and the 5year old boy would sound out the word to me and his little 2year old brother, helping us learn how to say the word in French! Oh man that brought soooo many giggles and smiles. I want to be taught by that 5year old every day.

What a joy it is to serve in this place! With these people! To these kids!