week 7

I got ambushed leaving church as they had a blood truck outside and had announced that it would be greatly appreciated for anyone to give…and as I was talking on the stairs, Willeke and Reynier Ter Haar came and took us all down to the station. I of course gave my usual scared of needles but willing to give blood. Just wish the needle weren’t so big. And then all of the families were there so all the kids standing around giving me a hard time for being freaked out with the needle(in a friendly happy way)…but we got through it and I even felt good after…spent the rest of the afternoon having tea with the Ter Haars and then a braii (bbq) at Barbara’s…good to keep your strength up after losing blood.
Monday took Klaasje (pronounced clashia-dutch roomie) and me to James’s to look over a budget proposal for taking the student councils of selected schools to do a training on time management, setting goals, being a leader, making good decisions and other good subjects and then having the students go back to the schools and see if it makes a difference in the schools in discipline problems, grades or exam scores, and self-esteem. This will require quite a bit of prep work with training the people who will check on the schools, get the trainings together, train the trainers, train the students and do all the follow ups. What James thought would take about an hour took us all day to ask any questions we could come up with to make the proposal easier to understand and to make sure the budget made sense…
Tuesday I went to help at the hospital. There is a medical clinic and an epilepsy study going on and so lots of epileptic patients coming in. and as in a study (I assume as I’ve never really had to do one myself) there is quite a bit of paperwork to fill out. So the doctor sees the patient and talks about whether they’ve had seizures since they last came in, whether they’ve taken their meds, if they are feeling better or ok, etc. Loes (pronounced lucy without the y, dutch social worker) keeps the paper work in multiple binders that I didn’t figure out…some are in the study and others have come on referrals but still part of the program. I would then take the patient out of the room and get the translator to re-explain the medication and the notebook we give them to keep track of their meds and if they have seizures. As much as I’m not a hospital person—I like this way of helping.
Linn & Maria (nurses) arrived at the end of their 10 month stay and headed back to Norway. Jenn (burns physician assistant from US) headed back to the states for a new job in boston. Ngari (lab tech) was sent home to Australia by her insurance after having malaria, bilharzias, and vitamin deficiencies to rest and recover and undergo some more tests. The Ter Haar family and Nagy family went to the lake for the weekend. The Veitches went north for the week (to Nyika, Livingstonia and the lake)…felt like everyone was leaving me…but most are coming back…