La vida cotidiana

It has been too long since my last update!

Internet access is sparse but I hope that this message can give you an insight into my daily activities, including my work at the Shifa Al-Asqam Socio Medical Center. Within the first week of working at the clinic, I saw my first natural birth, cleaned wounds, and shadowed medical practitioners in general medicine and women’s health divisions. Although our “scope of work” highlighted the creation of systems and vaccination support, the field work experience is different! I was not prepared for such a clinical experience but I welcome it wholeheartedly. It will teach me a thing or two about the different functions in a medical setting. But…let’s go back to the natural birth. It was one of the most incredible experiences I’ve had. I am amazed by the human body!! In just a couple of hours, the patient had dilated and was ready for labor. Although family members can come into the room to accompany the expectant mother, the patient’s mother refused (which is not uncommon). She began to pray and the nurses held her hand from time to time. As she was pushing out her baby, the nurses also pushed her stomach to facilitate the labor process. This procedure looked very dangerous but the midwife (sache femme), Mama, commented that she performs this during most of the labors. This is just a glimpse into this experience but I hope to tell you more about these clinical experiences.

My experience in Senegal would not be as fruitful and challenging if I did not live with a family. My home is a small compound with a couple of small one bedroom houses and a large bare square in the middle. I am one of the lucky ones because I have a toilet and a small bucket of water for my daily showers. My bedroom is the hotspot of the house because it has the TV and the most comfortable bed. At any given time, I can find five to ten children glued to the TV. They stare intently as they watch a dubbed Mexican telenovela, chuckle as they watch some Senegalese comedy show, and cheer loudly when they watch the world cup matches. It’s wonderful to have so many younger sisters and brother because their cheerfulness is infectious. Sometimes it’s challenging to come back home because I have very little privacy. Sometimes I get lost in a good book but I don’t want to ignore these precious moments with my Senegalese family. I take it all in stride and enjoy the hot days as much as I can. I usually come back home to eat lunch (usually rice and fish) and to rest alongside my family during the evening hours. Everyone takes out mats or sheets to the bare square in the middle and lays down for a quick nap or chat.