Lalmba has a fantastic community health outreach program here in Kenya. One of the biggest components is our “mobile clinics”. Every month the team goes out to 6 remote villages and provides well child exams, vaccinations, deworming, and prenatal exams. We set up in a church or large classroom and have community volunteers help with registration and weighing. I think this is such a great program and enjoy it so much, that I have become a regular member of the mobile team.
When I am seeing patients at the clinic in Matoso I always have someone in the room to translate. I’ve only been here a month and a half, and my responsibilities keep me pretty busy. So, my Dholuo is still very limited and I need pretty much everything translated. On outreach, however, we do only well baby checks and there usually aren’t extra people hanging around to be my interpreter. There is always someone I can call over if the mother or I have a concern, but, mostly, I run solo. I now present to you the conversation I am having with the mother in my head.
“Good morning! Come on over and have a seat. Looks like it might rain a little. That’s okay, the gardens can certainly use it. Well hello there, little one. And who is this? Is it a baby boy or a baby girl? Oh, what a little sweetheart! And it looks like she is going to be 6 months old tomorrow. Well, happy half birthday, honey. How is her appetite? Any problems with breastfeeding? So we’re just going to check her out.” Insert some baby talk here. “Okay, her heart sounds great, lungs are clear. The little tummy is soft and her spleen isn’t enlarged, which means no malaria or sickle cell. Her eyes and mouth look good, no sign of anemia. No rashes, arms and legs look perfect. She’s doing fantastically. If you don’t have any questions or concerns, you can head over to the corner there and Peter will administer the vaccines. It was so nice to meet you both!”
And here is how it comes out (translated into English).
“Good morning! Welcome.” Points to chair. “Rain small. Good. Hi, baby. Name? Girl? Six months? Eat good?” Insert some baby talk here. Listens to heart. “Good.” Listens to lungs. “Good.” Presses on stomach. “Good.” Looks in eyes and mouth. “Good.” Inspects skin and limbs. “Good. Baby good. Question?” Points to corner. “There.” Makes shot gesture in own arm. “Okay, bye.”
At least they know I'm trying.
Too funny! The fact that you have even had time to learn that much is amazing. Have I told you lately that you're awesome? :)
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