30.04.04 - 18:18

the measles vaccination campaign (for kids under 15 yrs old) lasted ten days. each day, i arrived at the hospital before 9am to help. the first three days, i did crowd control. sadly, it was wildly necessary. in america, it is second nature to form an orderly line. here, it's a free-for-all. shoving, name-calling, grabbing, begging those in control "take my baby! look, he's so tiny!", verbally abusing everyone and everything. the first day, they actually pushed so hard that the vaccination table collapsed. i tried putting up ropes. not respected. i tried reasoning. not listened to. as a mater of fact, the only thing that inspired anybody to obey was the flailing belt of a gendarme (policeman). and even then, the crowd tried to sneak behind them!

a soap manufacturer contends that the human body has 2000 parts. if this is so, the crowd succeeded in pushing, slapping, grabbing, or caressing about 1,987 of mine. i learned to push back. to be rude. my repeated phrases were "Eb-dey! haani. HAANI!!! nimshu hewk. dhark! kavi!!" no! wait. WAIT!!! go there. now. stop/enough!!

after the first couple days, it got better. i began to give vitamin A to children under five. this consists of taking a little capsule, cutting of the top with scissors, and squeezing the sweet oil into the waiting - or screaming - mouth. i wore no gloves. a couple of children bit me (but didn't break the skin, alhamdillah!)

the injections were given in the upper arm. the area is "cleaned" with a bit of wet cotton. the injector wears no gloves (of course!) there were several accidental sticks int he hands of the injectors - I can only hope *before* the injection.

My day ended at 7pm. Highlights included listening to a screaming woman give birth and listening to a screaming boy get circumcised. o yeah! without gloves!! (the fact that the hospital walls are *literally* splashed with blood may be addressed later.)

previous - next