Monday was a day where time seemed to bend. It does not seem possible that so much action, so many activities, so many memorable moments could have taken place in the span of a day.
After a sleep in, a beatiful devotional time with the NEA staff and a delicious breakfast at 0730 our new team members toured the compound and witnessed the incredible development work happening here.* The old timers were tasked at finishing unpacking and then we all set up for a half-day clinic to see the development staff. Over 300 patients were seen by our doctors, nurses, dentist, eye team and surgical team! All areas of the clinic were in full swing!
The defining moment for me today involved watching our team kick into action when an semi-responsive child was carried into our clinic before we had even set up. Dr. Bill took charge of this boy who had severe malaria. Nurse Lynda got the malaria test done in a snap while Nurse Leslie got a very challenging IV going. Nurse Val in consultation with Linda from pharmacy prepared an injectable anti-malarial. Two hours later the boy was sitting up asking for water. He spent the afternoon under the watchful care of our nurses and by the end of the day was ready to return home to continue treatment there. A life saved before our eyes. One can’t help reflect on the timing of this massive medical team being here on the very day this boy developed severe malaria.
So many stories I could tell about today, including Dr. Chin winning a wet t-shirt contest when his dental tent was hit by a monsoon … but breakfast is at 0600 and we depart for a village clinic at 0630! I wonder what tomorrow will bring!
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*For a glimpse of the development work that team members would have seen today, watch our Sustainable Health video.
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