Hi everybody! It’s Rachael today and I’ll be writing my second blog! We split up into two groups again today. Ryan and Devin went to the Fonelisco Orphanage to spend some time with the kids and do some more teaching. Ryan taught English by using flash cards that he brought from home! Ryan really enjoyed his time teaching and playing soccer with all of the kids. Devin thought it was cool to hear their Swahili words for our English words.
Mikayla, Derek, Jake, Hailey, Crystal, Dr. K, Dr. Mohsin, Dr. Mark, Dr. Sarah, Dr. Marni, Gayle, and I went to Bugando Hospital. Derek and I really enjoyed the morning report with ENT because Dr. Sarah and Dr. Marni taught a lot about tinnitus, which is new information for us – we thought that it was very interesting. Derek was also able to sit in on a few surgeries and scrubbed on an elbow case. He liked this case because it was unique from all the other we have seen so far. Hailey’s favorite part of the day was scrubbing in for her first time with Dr. Sarah on a large tumor on a patient’s jaw. The surgery lasted 4.5 hours! Hailey was especially excited that she stayed scrubbed in the entire time and even took over the surgical tech’s job when he had to leave. She also mentioned that she is happy that the patients face looked normal after the surgery. Jake was with Dr. Mark today and got to scrub into two surgeries. He said that the first surgery was on a broken femur where they had to insert a rod (it went really well). His second surgery was on a child’s leg that was bowed from rickets – they were able to straighten the leg successfully. Mikayla thought that it was cool to be able to see all of the different cases in the OR today, especially Sarah’s 4.5 hour case. Mikayla also scrubbed into one surgery today that she thought was interesting because it did not go exactly as planned, but her and Dr. Mark were able to overcome the obstacles and close a successful surgery. Crystal also enjoyed seeing all of the different cases today and thought that it was really nice to be able to go from OR to OR and get a closer look at multiple cases. She especially liked Sarah’s 4.5 hour case! I went with Dr. Marni to audiology clinic where we tested three patients’ hearing. It was really interesting to learn about all of the different kinds of tests that can be done and the different ways that they can be interpreted. I really don’t have much prior knowledge so it was nice to get all of this new information from her, she is such a great teacher!
After a long day at the hospital and orphanage, we got back to the Yun Long Hotel where we ate dinner, told each other about our day, and went to bed for our last day of work here in Tanzania! We have been so blessed to be able to come to such a beautiful country and get all of this experience that we would never get in the US. We have learned so much and have had the experience of a lifetime! Please continue to pray for our team as we gear up for our last few adventures. Thank you and God Bless!
